The Impact of Baldur’s Gate 3’s Massive Critical Success on Development

Baldur’s Gate 3, developed by Larian Studios, achieved a level of critical success that was beyond what the team had anticipated. The overwhelming awards success of the game started to have an unexpected impact on the development process. According to Larian CEO and game director Swen Vincke, the sheer number of awards the game was winning started to affect the development of the game itself. The need to send developers to different award shows to collect the accolades was becoming a significant challenge for the team.

Emotional Toll

Vincke expressed that the continuous success of Baldur’s Gate 3 was starting to take an emotional toll on the team. While winning awards is a moment of celebration, the ongoing need to attend award shows was draining on the soul. The inability to get closure on the project due to the persistent attention and success of the game was unexpected. Vincke mentioned that the team wanted to move on to new projects but the lingering awards season for Baldur’s Gate 3 was making it difficult to do so.

Closure and Moving Forward

Despite the desire to shift focus to new projects, the continuous success of Baldur’s Gate 3 meant that closure was hard to come by for the team at Larian Studios. Vincke mentioned that he is close to being done talking about the game in public and wants to concentrate on the two new RPGs that the studio is currently working on. However, even as the awards season technically came to an end, the team was still picking up accolades for the game. This prolonged success not only delayed closure but also required more travel than expected, putting additional strain on the team.

The unexpected and prolonged success of Baldur’s Gate 3 had a significant impact on the development team at Larian Studios. While the recognition and awards were appreciated, the continuous need to attend award shows and the emotional toll of not being able to close the chapter on the game created challenges for the team. Moving forward, the team is eager to focus on new projects and put the success of Baldur’s Gate 3 behind them.