The CEO of Larian, the developers of Baldur’s Gate 3, says that if they hadn’t managed to reach an agreement with Wizards of the Coast, the company would have made Fallout, Ultima, or something similar.
It’s hard to overestimate how powerful Baldur’s Gate 3 has turned out to be. It’s a huge hit, it got all game awards and transformed Larian, already respected for its to the outstanding Divinity: Original Sin games, on the flagship RPG. In the latest issue of Edge magazine, Larian CEO Sven Winke said that the studio had and still has big ambitions.
Divinity games are good and popular among dedicated role-playing game fans, but they don’t have the same brand recognition as Baldur’s Gate and Dungeons and Dragons. Winke believes that getting the right to operate in this «territory» should have put Larian in the «big league» (and did).
«I felt like there was a glass ceiling that we couldn’t break through unless we had triple AAA [AAA] production assets, budget, marketing, all triple A stuff… It would be Ultima, it would be Fallout, it would be Baldur’s Gate, there was nothing to choose from,» said Winke.
The CEO also talked about how close Larian was to not getting a license for Baldur’s Gate. The studio had to develop a design document for the game while completing work on Divinity: Original Sin 2, the studio had to come up with something quickly, and according to Winke, «it was very bad».
«Wizards sent it back with the corporate equivalent of a response: «This is really shit». And we said: «We know, but we’re releasing the game — don’t ask us to do it now». Fortunately, they understood and we got another chance».
Despite the good Baldur’s Gate 3, the prospect of Larian’s Fallout seems tempting — especially if it were something in the style of Interplay games. Ultima — is also interesting, but not as much popular and famous is now a brand.
Back in March, Larian announced that after the huge success of Baldur’s Gate 3, the company was moving on to other games — no sequels or DLCcreated by Larian will not be released. Instead, the studio is working on two «very ambitious RPGs»none of which are based on D&D.
Source: PC Gamer