“We’re kind of working out our plans for the future and what we’re going to be doing with that. And actually, in pretty short order, we’re going to have some stuff to talk about around that,” said Ayoub.

For some context, Hasbro owns Wizards of the Coast – the company in charge of the Dungeons & Dragons franchise, alongside other properties like trading card game Magic: The Gathering. While Ayoub didn’t expand too much on what kind of future plans were in store for Baldur’s Gate as a franchise, he did mention that a sequel to Larian’s RPG is something he would like to see.

“It’s somewhat of an unenviable position,” said Ayoub. “I mean, we’re not in a hurry. Right? That’s the thing, we’re going to take a very measured approach… We’ve got a lot of plans, a lot of different ways to go about it. We’re starting to think about, okay, yeah, we’re ready to start dipping toes a little bit and talking about a few things. And I think, in really short order, like I said, again, not to over-tease that point, we’re going to have some other things to talk about around that.”

Ayoub also spoke about how Hasbro would keep the momentum that Dungeons & Dragons as a property got from the release of Baldur’s Gate 3. Wizards of the Coast, for example, recently kicked off its refresh of the fifth edition rules for the Dungeons & Dragons tabletop RPG.

“I’m never one to shy down from a challenge,” he said. “And I think anything that forces us to raise our creative bar, and developers love to have a high bar to go after, and I think we’ve actually seen the team push some really interesting ideas that they’re like, ‘Okay, we need to raise our bar. We need to go bigger on this.’ And things like that. So, I think that’s our hope, right? We would keep raising the bar and everyone just tries to go a little higher.”

Ayoub’s statements are a reflection of similar ones made by Hasbro’s SVP of Digital Strategy and Licensing Eugene Evans, who spoke about the company talking to partners about the future of the Baldur’s Gate franchise back in April 2024. He Evans also spoke about the cast of Baldur’s Gate 3 showing back up in future games down the line, since they were beloved by players.

“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,” said Evans. “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.”

Baldur’s Gate 3 is available on PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. Check out our review for more details.

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.

However, when speaking to IGN, Vincke revealed that the developer did begin working on DLC for the title and even considered a sequel. “Because of all the success, the obvious thing would have been to do a DLC, so we started on one. We started even thinking about Baldur’s Gate 4. But we hadn’t had closure on BG3 yet, and to jump forward on something new felt wrong.

“We had also spent a whole bunch of time converting the system into a video game, and we wanted to do new things. There are a lot of constraints on making Dungeons and Dragons, and 5th Edition is not an easy system to put into a video game. We had all these ideas of new combat we wanted to try out and they were not compatible.”

While the team worked on a massive Epilogue and new gameplay features with its patches, it was ultimately unsure how to proceed with DLC. Upon actually getting to the task, Vincke reveals, “You could see the team was doing it because everyone felt like we had to do it, but it wasn’t really coming from the heart, and we’re very much a studio from the heart. It’s what got us into misery, and it’s also been the reason for our success.”

After a Christmas vacation, Vincke decided to cancel the DLC. “[I] came back, and I told the team, ‘You know we’re not going to do it. We’re going to shift around, and we’re going to start doing these other things that we talked about, that we planned on doing before we started on Baldur’s Gate.’

“Those were always the plans for afterwards, we have two games we want to make, and we have lots of concepts. So, let’s have closure on Baldur’s Gate 3. It’s been great. We’ve done our job. It’s a story with a beginning, a middle, and an end. Let’s pass the torch to another studio to pick up this incredible legacy.”

Surprisingly, or perhaps not, the team was “elated” by the news. “I thought they were going to be angry at me because I just couldn’t muster the energy. I saw so many elated faces, which I didn’t expect, and I could tell they shared the same feelings, so we were all aligned with one another. And I’ve had so many developers come to me after and say, ‘Thank god.’

“I’m always the one where it starts with the initial idea and then I give it to the team. They start iterating it and turn it into something much better. During Baldur’s Gate 3, I pitched them what the next game would be…If I see they’re excited, I’ll say, ‘Okay, let’s do that.’ If they’re not, it’s back to the drawing board. So they were very excited about a couple of the things we were planning on doing.

“Then the pivot to start doing Baldur’s Gate 3 DLC was expected because it’s what you do…We didn’t have any antagonism against Baldur’s Gate 4 or DLC, but the heart wasn’t there. It was more routine work than actually being excited. Now we have the excitement back in the room, and that’s a big important thing.”

As for the developer’s next title, Vincke unfortunately confirmed that it’s not Divinity: Original Sin 3. It’s “different than what you think it is” but “still familiar.” Earlier this year, he noted that it would be “quite some time” before discussing the next title, but after the release of Baldur’s Gate 3, Larian is encouraged to “push many boundaries.”

Baldur’s Gate 3 is available for Xbox Series X/S, PS5 and PC. It’s sold way over 10 million units and even though DLC isn’t happening, it will still receive updates, including mod support and cross-platform play. Stay tuned for more updates in the meantime.

Speaking at a panel during GDC 2024 (as reported by IGN), Vincke said the studio plans to shift away from Dungeons and Dragons and work on something new. What IP holder Wizards of the Coast wants to do is anyone’s guess.

Vincke, who also directed the critically acclaimed RPG, said last year that DLC wasn’t “undoable” but would still be “very hard.” As for what’s next, Larian may revisit the Divinity: Original Sin series. Before Baldur’s Gate 3 left early access, Vincke said the team was “definitely gonna get back there at some point.”

Regardless, it will be “quite some time” before the studio is ready to talk about its next game. There will still be updates for Baldur’s Gate 3, with mod support coming this year and crossplay also in the pipeline. Stay tuned for more details and other interesting bits from the developer’s panel.

Red Dead Redemption 2 – The Donkey Lady

Red Dead Redemption had all manner of odd “glitches” but they were so elaborate that one could have thought them easter eggs. One was the Donkey Lady who had the body of a woman but the face of a donkey (obviously). Even if it was a glitch, Rockstar included her in Red Dead Redemption 2. Unfortunately, it seems that the world wasn’t kind to her existence, tying her to a horse mill until her death at Cholla Spring in Two Crows.

Physics-Based Weaponry – Half-Life 2

Remember the Gravity Gun in Half-Life 2? Manipulating objects like saw blades and exploding barrels to kill foes was always a treat. However, it also helped to make cover during gun fights or for clearing away obstacles. In terms of physics-based gameplay, there was nothing quite like it. The Portal Gun from the Portal series is another great example as you have to use momentum and ingenuity to solve puzzles.

Several years later, there are a number of big-name games that incorporate physics into their. Remedy’s Control sees protagonist Jesse holding and throwing objects at foes. Even The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild has some fairly strong physics manipulation. That being said, we’re still waiting for that next big leap forward.

Earlier in the year it was announced that a slew of old-school RPGs were making their way to consoles, all for the first time in their enhanced editions. Baldur’s Gate, Baldur’s Gate 2, Baldur’s Gate: Siege of Dragonspear, Icewind Dale, Planescape: Torment, and Neverwinter Nights were all said to be coming to PS4, Xbox One, and Switch, though there were no details as of then on when or what they would look like. Now we know, and boy, they are hitting us hard and quick with these.

All of the games will have both digital and physical releases across all three platforms. Baldur’s Gate, Baldur’s Gate 2, Baldur’s Gate: Siege of Dragonspear will come bundled together. Planescape: Torment and Icewind Dale will release in another bundle at the same time. Neverwinter Nights: Enhanced Edition will be the only one that is a solo release, and it will also launch a few months later.

The Baldur’s Gate: Enhanced Edition pack and Planescape: Torment: Enhanced Edition/Icewind Dale Enhanced Edition bundle will both launch for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Switch on September 24^th in North America and September 27^th everywhere else. Neverwinter Nights: Enhanced Edition will launch on the same platforms December 3^rd in North America and the 6^th in other regions. All three releases will retail for $49.99 USD. You can check out the announcement trailer below and, of course, all of these games are currently available on PC.

https://youtu.be/4fI0p4dSKlQ

In this feature, we’ll be taking a look at all the games that BioWare has ever made (barring a couple that were on mobile devices or made for web browsers), and ranking every single one of them, starting with the worst one, and counting down right to the very best.

Without further ado, let’s get started.

#17. SHATTERED STEEL

Though BioWare is a studio associated with RPGs and storytelling, the first game they ever made was something completely different. Shattered Steel was a mech action title, which took cues from the MechWarrior series, but went for a more accessible and action-oriented style of gameplay (which you can translate to “it had more mindless explosions).

Shattered Steel was a decent enough game, with enjoyable action and a story that, for its time, was at least mildly entertaining. It was, however, a far cry from the kind of games BioWare would build its reputation on and go on to be associated with, and is, as a result, often altogether forgotten.

Before they morphed into WRPGs, cRPGs used to be an entirely different beast. They would adopt the Dungeons and Dragons rulesets for computer games, and prioritize actual role playing with proper RNG and stat management, unlike what RPGs of later days would become. The zenith of this movement of cRPGs is represented by games like Baldur’s Gate 2, Icewind Dale, Neverwinter Nights, and Planescape Torment, arguably the greatest cRPG ever made.

Now, all of those, as well as the original Baldur’s Gate and Baldur’s Gate: Siege of Dragonspear, will be brought to modern consoles, exposing them to a modern audience for the very first time. Skybound Games and Beamdog announced today that all of these games will be launching on Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, and PS4 in 2019. These will all be “Enhanced Editions”, according to the press release they made, which means they’ll be polished up with unpressed graphics and the like.

No specific release dates were announced, but I hope they come soon. I can’t wait to play them on my Switch.

We are bringing these amazing titles to #XboxOne, #NintendoSwitch, and #PS4! https://t.co/NbbPN8tQFO

— Skybound Games (@skyboundgames) February 7, 2019

Earlier today, there was a rumour about Larian Studios – better known for developing the critically acclaimed Divinity: Original Sin series – acquiring the Baldur’s Gate IP. Anyone who enjoyed BioWare’s series, either back in the day or recently with the Enhanced Editions, would realize that that is a pretty big deal.

Though the source was an RPG Codex user claiming his new colleague to be a former Larian employee, inXile Entertainment founder Brian Fargo further added fuel to the fire. Fargo said on Twitter that he happens “to know who is working on BG3“.

Sadly, it doesn’t seem to be. When WCCFTech reached out to Larian Studios, it denied the rumour, stating it hadn’t purchased any IP. Furthermore, the studio continues to work on the Divinity franchise and its upcoming Project Gustav. The latter will be announced when the right time comes.

While we haven’t given up hope yet, it is good to hear that the studio has enough going on. We already know that Larian Studios is thinking of how to top Divinity: Original Sin 2 with Project Gustav. Time will tell just how good it actually is.