Larian boss says 'Baldur's Gate 3 effect' "sucks"

Some Baldur's Gate 3 fans who are waiting on the arrival of their physical copies of the game's Deluxe Edition may have to wait longer than expected, as Larian Studios has announced it is experiencing additional production delays for certain regions. The Deluxe Edition copies of Baldur's Gate 3 had all been originally been announced for the first quarter of 2024, but an earlier round of delays had already pushed it back.

We've had a lot of rampant success stories recently, ranging from small indie titles such as Palworld, to behemoths such as Larian Studios and Baldur's Gate 3. Some developers have been unfortunate to get swept up a little in the social media frenzy surrounding these titles, and the topic of Starfield's close launch next to Baldur's Gate 3 was brought up in a recent interview with Bethesda's Todd Howard.

For all long as the Fallout franchise has been around, it has never been set outside of the United States. Of course, its over-the-top, retro-futuristic Americana satirization is a core aspect of what makes Fallout, Fallout, but on new few occasions, large chunks of the series’ fanbase have wondered how locations outside of the US are faring in Fallout’s post-apocalyptic setting, and whether they could fare as suitable settings for a future Fallout game.

Bethesa’s RPGs are typically gargantuan experiences that players end up playing for years and years on end, and while a lot of that is down to their sheer longevity, it can also be attributed to the fact that new instalments in those franchises take an inordinate amount of time to come out. For instance, The Elder Scrolls 6 only entered full production last year, with Skyrim approaching its 13th anniversary. Meanwhile, though the Fallout TV’s show’s success has brought about a sudden uptick in sales and engagement for Bethesda’s Fallout games, the series’ next mainline instalment is several years away, to say the very least.

Todd Howard says Bethesda is working on getting games into players' hands more quickly.

Baldur's Gate 3 launched last year to widespread acclaim, and you can count Mr. Skyrim, Starfield, and The Elder Scrolls 6 himself to its many admirers.

With all things Fallout now enjoying a significant boost following the breakout success of the Fallout TV show, Fallout 76 is enjoying a significant rise in player numbers. Last week, Bethesda announced that Fallout 76, its most recent mainline Fallout game, saw over one million people play in a single day.

Wow, remember Starfield? I do, just about, although any interest in it feels like a distant dream now. But not to Todd Howard! The Bethesboss had a chat with Kinda Funny and confirmed that Shattered Space, the first big DLC for the brave little space RPG that could, has a release window of "in the fall". Shattered Space adds new locations and stories and gear, and is the sort of DLC that was announced before the game came out, and you got it bundled with some of the super mega hyper awesome pre-order editions (you can still get it bundled with the Starfield Premium Edition if you want to spend an extra 30 quid).

Every Fallout game, dating back to the original in 1997, has been set in America. We've gone from New California to the Capital Wasteland to The Commonwealth, but never outside the USA.

Bethesa’s RPGs are typically gargantuan experiences that players end up playing for years and years on end, and while a lot of that is down to their sheer longevity, it can also be attributed to the fact that new instalments in those franchises take an inordinate amount of time to come out. For instance, The Elder Scrolls 6 only entered full production last year, with Skyrim approaching its 13th anniversary. Meanwhile, though the Fallout TV’s show’s success has brought about a sudden uptick in sales and engagement for Bethesda’s Fallout games, the series’ next mainline instalment is several years away, to say the very least.

Todd Howard has said Bethesda is working on solutions to shorten the length of time between its game releases.

The Escape From Tarkov developers' efforts to escape from a DLC paywall quagmire of their own quagmiring continue with an update and apology from Battlestate chief operational officer Nikita Buyanov, who says he "did not foresee" the adverse reaction to selling a new PvE mode as part of a new special edition, after telling purchasers of a previous edition they'd get "all subsequent DLC" for free.