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It will take time but hopefully not another 25 years.
Image credit: Larian Studios
By now, the success of Baldur's Gate 3 is pointless to talk about – everybody knows how good the game is, even though D&D is not everyone's cup of tea. While Larian Studios is still actively updating the game, it is done with the franchise and already working on a new experience, which has nothing to do with its latest hit.
Naturally, Hasbro, the owner of Wizards of the Coast and thus D&D, is not going to let Baldur's Gate go, especially after the last installment brought it over $90 million. Eugene Evans, senior vice president of Digital Strategy and Licensing for Hasbro and Wizards of the Coast, shared that the company wants another BG game and is discussing the possibility with its partners, although don't expect it to arrive any time soon – hopefully, it won't take almost a quarter of a century this time.
"We're now talking to lots of partners and being approached by a lot of partners who are embracing the challenge of, what does the future of the Baldur's Gate franchise look like?" Evans told PC Gamer. "So we certainly hope that it's not another 25 years, as it was from Baldur's Gate 2 to 3, before we answer that. But we're going to take our time and find the right partner, the right approach, and the right product that could represent the future of Baldur's Gate. We take that very, very seriously, as we do with all of our decisions around our portfolio. We don't rush into decisions as to who to partner with on products or what products we should be considering."
Now that BG3's characters belong to Hasbro, I expect to see them in this new game, whenever it comes. "I would like to think that all of those characters, for the sake of the fans, could potentially appear in future products," commented Evans.
Larian did a great job creating loveable characters that fans are ready to fight for, although it might get crazy sometimes. Evans doesn't seem too concerned about their ire but he's aware of how they worry about what Hasbro can potentially do:
"Oh, we never have any doubt that our community are passionate and will be the first to let us know if they didn't like something that we did! And that's part of what we love about them," he said. "The bar has been set very high, and it's our job to reach and surpass that bar."
Image credit: Larian Studios
Once upon a time, Baldur's Gate 2 was put on a pedestal of all-time favorite classic RPGs, and 23 years later, its sequel might repeat the feat. Some players speculated that Larian is moving on from D&D because of its conflict with Wizards of the Coast, but its CEO Swen Vincke denied the rumors.
"[Larian] have just done a remarkable job with the product. It's an amazing celebration of D&D," Ecans said. "That team are incredible fans of D&D itself, obviously. And they've done just an amazing job of bringing that world to life, which has not only been celebrated by lifelong fans as we celebrate this 50th anniversary of D&D, but it's also brought many new players to D&D, which has obviously made us very happy."
Happy but not too surprised "because D&D fans are just so engaged with the hobby."
"They love every expression of it, whether it was the movie that was greatly celebrated by the fanbase, or Baldur's Gate 3. But certainly it has demonstrated, or confirmed if you like, the voracious appetite the fans have for content around D&D, in particular video games. Which is good, because we have been investing in new D&D game development ourselves."
Considering Hasbro's determination to bring more AI into its games, I wonder what kind of adventure its next title will be. Evans believes that D&D has room for all kinds of genres and experiences "as long as we remain true to the things that people love about D&D and keep it authentic to the IP. And we're committed to doing that."
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