Larian Head Says Not To Blame Wizards Of The Coast For No Baldur's Gate 4

23.03.2024 - 12:53 / thegamer.com / Swen Vincke

Larian Studios head Swen Vincke has confirmed that it's not Wizards of the Coast's fault that the team is moving on from Baldur's Gate and that it's simply something the studio wanted to do.

When Baldur's Gate 3 fans heard that Larian Studios head Swen Vincke would be at GDC to present a panel called "The Secrets of Baldur's Gate 3", they probably expected to hear about some neat hidden details and content that didn't make it into the final game. Although we did get that with the confirmation of cut Wyll content and Astarion originally being a Tiefling, the panel had a much bigger bombshell in store.

Towards the end of the panel, Swen Vincke announced that Larian would not be making Baldur's Gate 4 and that it had previously been working on DLC for Baldur's Gate 3 that it ended up cancelling due to a desire from the studio to move on. That means that, beyond some smaller updates that are coming to the game soon, Baldur's Gate 3 is nearly done and Larian is moving on from Dungeons & Dragons.

Since the announcement was made, Baldur's Gate fans have reacted in a number of ways. Many of them have been understanding about the situation and appreciative of what Larian managed to do with the D&D license, but there are some who have been a little less happy about it and have taken to looking for someone to blame, something that Vincke has since had to speak up about.

One such target of that blame is Wizards of the Coast, the publisher of Dungeons & Dragons. Considering Vincke's previous comments about everyone he knows from WotC having been fired in a recent round of layoffs, it's easy to assume that Larian might have some beef with the company and be keen to move on from it.

Reading the reddit threads, I would like to clear up something. WOTC is not to blame for us taking a different direction. On the contrary, they really did their best and have been a great licensor for us, letting us do our thing. This is because it's what's best for Larian.

That apparently isn't the case at all, though. Over on Twitter, Vincke said that he's seen all the theories about why Larian has moved on, but that Wizards of the Coast is not to blame. Vincke says they "really did their best" and let the studio do their own thing, and that the choice to move on from Baldur's Gate is simply being made because it's "what's best for Larian".

Baldur's Gate 3 is the long-awaited next chapter in the Dungeons & Dragons-based series of RPGs. Developed by Divinity creator Larian Studios, it puts you in the middle of a mind flayer invasion of Faerûn, over a century after the events of its predecessor.