Larian Studios' Baldur's Gate 3 became a massive hit following its full launch in early August. With over 5 million downloads, the long-awaited sequel to BioWare's classic Dungeons & Dragons-inspired CRPG has achieved crossover success, putting the sub-genre into the spotlight for its open-ended approach to storytelling and player choice.
Larian Studios CEO Responds to 'Raised Standards' Concerns: 'Standards Die Every Day' | Push Square
20.08.2023 - 00:15 / pushsquare.com / Swen Vincke
Baldur's Gate 3 represents a shift for AAA RPGs that's hard to put into words without sounding overly trite but needs must. If Breath of the Wild was an event horizon for exploration in open worlds, then BG3 does the same for depth and character choice in RPGs. It's been causing other developers no end of anxiety, with lots of pre-emptive sandbagging being done over the last month in an attempt to brand the game as an anomaly, that gamers shouldn't expect this «raised standard» moving forward. The conversation was largely spurred by this viral post on X.
Apparently, the murmurs have grown such that outspoken Larian Studios CEO and founder, Swen Vincke, felt the need to respond. He acknowledges that «obviously, yeah, if you're a 50-man studio or 10-man studio, you shouldn't try to make a game like BG3» before proceeding to roll a 20 on a Charisma check, firing a shot across the bow of the AAA video game industry writ large. Speaking to PC Gamer, Vincke declared:
«The problem I have is with the use of the word 'standards'. This is video games, standards just die every day. Things get reinvented. New things appear all the time. When I was starting out in the industry, Assassin's Creed set a new standard. It was over: nobody could make games like Assassin's Creed, there was too much budget behind it, that was going to be the future, everybody had to consolidate, blah blah blah. That didn't materialise. In video games, there's so much free space to explore, still, in the creative tree.»
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As far as we can tell, big-bad, fiercely independent developer Larian Studios' huge advantage was that it took its time crafting something worth playing and implemented player feedback through an extended Early Access phase. Larian was afforded the luxury of doing so by already earning the goodwill of a loyal player base with its previous effort, Divinity: Original Sin 2.
Should players expect this new RPG standard moving forward? Is any of this the consumer's concern at the end of the day? Let us know in the comments section below.
Khayl Adam is the second best video game journalist Australia has ever produced, and his ambitions of world domination have (thus far) been curbed by the twin siren songs of strategy games and CRPGs. He has always felt an affinity for the noble dachshund, the best kind of dog.
Baldur's Gate 3: «Don't get used to this level of standards.» Most of the other AAA games: «We will sell our game for full price first and take care of standards in a later patch. Maybe.» LOTR: Gollum: «What is a standard?»
Larian-Takes years and smart investment of early access purchases to create a once in a generation RPG
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pcgamer.com
07.09.2023 / 15:33
Larian Studios' Swen Vincke is loving players' systems-based hijinks in Baldur's Gate 3: 'everybody knows about the Owlbear now'
Much of the joy in writing about Baldur's Gate 3 has been seeing its players' absolutely hairbrained tactics play out. It's a Dungeons & Dragons tradition old as time to mash rules together in unique and interesting ways, like one player sneaking 15,000 gold into a boss's pockets then hitting them with an otherwise terrible magic mace, or another minmaxing a monk into a 240 damage-per-turn monster.
gadgets.ndtv.com
07.09.2023 / 06:15
Baldur’s Gate 3 Cross-Play Between PC and Console Is in Development at Larian Studios
Baldur's Gate 3 finally dropped on the PS5 last night, and with that developer Larian Studios has confirmed that cross-play will be coming to the game eventually. Speaking to Eurogamer, director of publishing Michael Douse claimed that cross-platform co-op has always been on the roadmap, but the team never planned it as a launch feature. Just like the tabletop roleplaying game it's based on (Dungeons & Dragons), Baldur's Gate 3's immersive story can be enjoyed with friends in online co-op, albeit for now it is limited to those on the same platform/ system.
ign.com
06.09.2023 / 21:43
Larian Studios Responds to Questions About Baldur's Gate 3 Crossplay on PS5 and PC
Baldur's Gate 3 is out on PlayStation 5 today, finally giving console owners a chance to see what the fuss is all about with Larian Studios' critically-acclaimed RPG. Many are eager to play with their friends on PC, but Baldur's Gate 3 does not currently support crossplay... at least not right now.
thegamer.com
06.09.2023 / 21:21
Larian Studios Has Already Started Working On Its Next Game After Baldur's Gate 3
Baldur's Gate 3 has only been out of Early Access for around a month, and has been on PlayStation for just a few days, but it looks like developer Larian Studios is already primed and ready to start work on its next game. That might sounds surprising considering the developer is pumping out patches and hotfixes at an alarming rate, but Larian co-founder Swen Vincke has claimed that he's already moving onto something new and that he's "closing the chapter" of his career that was Baldur's Gate 3.
pcinvasion.com
06.09.2023 / 19:59
Larian Studios director confirms Baldur’s Gate 3 should come to Xbox between September and October 2023
PC and PlayStation gamers have had some time with the critically-acclaimed Baldur’s Gate 3. Soon enough, Xbox gamers will join the party. In an exclusive interview through IGN with the Larian Studios director, the Baldur’s Gate 3 release on Xbox was confirmed to be between September and October 2023. Now the developers are in the final stages of optimization, and the release date for the Xbox version is imminent.
techradar.com
06.09.2023 / 10:59
Baldur’s Gate 3 crossplay is on the way, Larian Studios’ director of publishing confirms
Baldur’s Gate 3 will eventually be getting PC and console crossplay, Larian Studios’ director of publishing, Michael Douse, has confirmed.
pushsquare.com
06.09.2023 / 00:06
Despite Being on PS Plus Extra, Sea of Stars Tops 100k Sales in One Day | Push Square
Sea of Stars, the thoroughly likeable throwback JRPG which released earlier this week, may be available to download as part of PS Plus Extra (and, whisper it, Xbox Game Pass) but has still managed to surpass 100,000 sales in one day. It’s likely the vast majority of these units were purchased on PC and Nintendo Switch, but it’s still an impressive achievement in just 24 hours.
ign.com
30.08.2023 / 22:41
Larian Studios Talks About When to Expect Baldur's Gate 3's Release on Xbox
Larian Studios recently confirmed that Baldur's Gate 3, its surprise hit RPG due out soon on PS5, will also be out on Xbox before the end of 2023. That leaves a lot of room for the release date, so we took a moment to ask director Swen Vincke when fans can expect Larian's RPG on Xbox.
gameranx.com
30.08.2023 / 13:11
Larian Studios Addresses Issues With Baldur’s Gate Chapter 3
Baldur’s Gate 3 was an overnight sensation after it proved in reviews that it would be standing as one of the big GOTY contenders of 2023. However, a lot of that mystique has washed away in recent weeks, and as one might say, the chickens have come home to roost.
techradar.com
29.08.2023 / 11:37
The Darkness could be getting a PC remaster, Nightdive Studios CEO hints
Stephen Kick, the CEO of Nightdive Studios and director of the 2023 System Shock remake, has hinted on Twitter that the studio may be looking to remaster and port the 2007 first-person shooter The Darkness over to PC.
pushsquare.com
28.08.2023 / 00:26
Random: Explosive Results of Baldur's Gate 3 Testing Revealed to Developer Larian's Delight | Push Square
Baldur's Gate 3 is a reactive game, but not just in terms of narrative and choice. Some of its most exciting gameplay aspects come from developer Larian Studio's previous outing, Divinity: Original Sin 2, such as the explosive elemental reaction system, which might come as a surprise to more casual observers.