Baldur’s Gate fans have had to wait an exceptionally long time for the beloved series to make its long-awaited comeback. After BioWare developed its duology of Baldur’s Gate titles, we had to wait 23 years before Larian Studios came out with the widely acclaimed Baldur’s Gate 3. But with Larian having confirmed that its next game isn’t going to be Baldur’s Gate 4 (or connected to Dungeons and Dragons at all, for that matter), what does the future of the franchise look like? Well, apparently, Hasbro – parent company of Dungeons and Dragons owner Wizards of the Coast – is already looking into where to take things from here- and more importantly, with whom.
Speaking with PC Gamer, Eugene Evans, senior vice president of Digital Strategy and Licensing for Hasbro and Wizards of the Coast, revealed that the company is currently in the process of “talking to a lot of partners” – which includes being approached by several potential partners – about what the future holds for Baldur’s Gate, and though nothing is set in stone just yet, Evans says it’s unlikely that we’ll be waiting another two-and-a-half decades for the series’ next mainline instalment.
“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?” he said. “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.”
Interestingly, Evans added that the characters created by Larian Studios for Baldur’s Gate 3 who have gone on to be received with widespread acclaim from fans have a good chance of appearing in future games and stories- which means we likely haven’t seen the last of the likes of Shadowheart and Astarion just yet.
“Larian created a much loved cast of characters, who were even celebrated by their nominations, the voice actors behind them and the talent behind them was celebrated at the [BAFTAS], and they are now essentially part of D&D canon,” he said. “I think it’s too early to express specifics and I think that there’s a much bigger question about how we approach Baldur’s Gate in the future. But I would like to think that all of those characters, for the sake of the fans, could potentially appear in future products.”
As for Larian Studios itself, it’s unknown as of yet what exactly the studio intends to work on next (but we do know it won’t be Divinity: Original Sin 3). Either way, it’ll be a while before the developer is ready to talk about its next game- but whenever it launches, Larian is likely to release it in early access first once again, just as it has done with its past titles, Baldur’s Gate 3 included.
