Baldur's Gate 3 is arguably one of the biggest and best games to launch this millennium, with D&D holders Wizards of the Coast and RPG specialists Larian Studios coming together to make something truly special. Looking back on it now, it felt like a match made in heaven, but Larian CEO Swen Vincke recently revealed that there were two other big franchises that the studio wanted to work with if Wizards of the Coast didn't want to play ball.
In an interview with Edge Magazine (thanks GamesRadar), Vincke says that there "was not a lot to choose from" when it came to big RPGs that could match the ambitions that Larian had at the time, and that the only realistic options were Baldur's Gate, Fallout, and Ultima. Those choices make a lot of sense, especially when you consider the top-down CRPG roots of the first two Fallout games that were made by Interplay and Black Isle Studios.
Black Isle Studios also happens to be the publisher of Baldur's Gate too, though it was developed by BioWare.
Of course, you could probably spend all day thinking up RPGs that Larian could work on, and there would be plenty of hype for another Divinity: Original Sin game, but Vincke explains that he wanted the studio to tackle a title with "triple-A production values" to propel its name forward into one of the industry's biggest names. It’s safe to say Baldur's Gate 3 did just that.
"I felt like there was a glass ceiling that we wouldn't be able to break through unless we had triple-A production values, budget, marketing, all the triple A things."
Larian Is Already Working On Its Next Game
With a mountain of experience, fans, and cash now under its belt, Larian is free to start working on whatever it wants, though we know for sure that it won't be returning to the Baldur's Gate franchise any time soon. Swen Vincke has stated in the past that Larian intends to move away from Dungeons & Dragons with its next two titles for more creative freedom, but we have no idea what the studio is up to at the moment.
Our last update on Larian's next game came just a few days ago, as the studio held a summit recently to discuss the "lift off" of its next project. Whatever it may be, I'm sure Baldur's Gate 3 fans will be queuing out of the door to get their hands on it, ly followed by the Fallout fans that have their fingers crossed that Larian may have revisited the idea.
