After Baldur’s Gate 3 has won awards by the dozen, Larian boss Swen Vincke hints at the next big project
Baldur’s Gate 3 apparently motivates the development studio Larian to keep reaching for the stars. No wonder, after all, the role-playing game is a huge success, both financially and in the eyes of its fans. It has just bagged six Joystick Awards (seven if you count “Studio of the Year” for Larian.
In addition, it has been nominated eight times at the upcoming Game Awards. This prompts studio boss Swen Vincke to drop a hint about the next big project
What comes after Baldur’s Gate 3?
On X (formerly Twitter) he writes:
This is a real honor, especially in a year with so many releases. Seeing our little “niche rpg” make such waves is very motivating. I wish I could tell you about our next big game but this is really encouraging us to ensure it pushes many boundaries. I’m very excited about it. https://t.co/b6fBssUF7n
– Swen Vincke @where? (@LarAtLarian) November 14, 2023
This is a real honor, especially in a year with so many releases. It’s very motivating to see our little “niche role-playing game” making such waves. I wish I could tell you about our next big game, but this encourages us that it will break many boundaries. I’m really looking forward to it.
The studio boss had already announced a few weeks ago that he was working on the next project. The big question is, of course, which game will be next? Baldur’s Gate 4? Divinity: Original Sin 3? Or will Larian venture into a completely new brand? There is no official information on this, the best we can do is make assumptions.
That a new Divinity is coming at some point, Vincke explicitly confirmed a few months ago. He told IGN that they had created this universe themselves and would certainly return to it one day – but only after a well-earned break.
After its huge success, another Baldur’s Gate does not seem unlikely either. The Dungeons&Dragons licensors Wizards of the Coast will certainly want to follow up after the role-playing game universe has become increasingly mainstream in recent years, be it through the Netflix series Stranger Things, streaming shows such as Critical Role or Baldur’s Gate 3.
Theoretically, it could also go into another genre, as Larian has already released strategy titles in addition to role-playing games. However, the studio now has a lot of experience with classic RPGs with tactical battles, so it will probably go in this direction again
We will need a lot of patience, the next game is probably only in the earliest stages of development. We probably won’t hear much about it for the next few years.
And then there’s the question of whether something smaller will be released before this next big game, such as a DLC for Baldur’s Gate 3. We’re definitely expecting a Definitive Edition, as we’ve already had them for the last Divinitys. But nothing has been confirmed yet.
If there is another long Early Access phase for Larian’s next game, would you play it this time? Have you already supported Baldur’s Gate 3 in this way? Or would you rather wait patiently until the final release so that you don’t keep losing your savegame and having to get used to new features?
