Ideas for Baldur's Gate 4 Existed but "Didn't Excite" Larian
The development team just didn't want to make another Baldur's Gate.
Earlier this year, developer Larian Studios shocked fans when it revealed that it had no intention of making a sequel to Baldur's Gate 3. The game was considered one of the best titles of 2023, and many fans had hoped the developer would move directly on to a sequel. We now know that won't be happening, but apparently Baldur's Gate 4 was discussed by the team before the decision was made to work on something else entirely. In a new interview with Games Radar+, Baldur's Gate 3 narrative director Adam Smith revealed that the studio just couldn't get excited about a follow-up.
"For us, we didn't have anything unfinished that we wanted to say, we wanted to move on to other worlds," Smith tells Games Radar+. "And we tried, we did start pushing around ideas for Baldur's Gate 4, and they didn't excite us, we didn't have the fire. It feels like it should have been a harder decision than it was, but it wasn't."
Creating Something New
That desire to "move on to other worlds" lines up with what we've heard from Larian over the last few months. Back in March, Larian founder and CEO Swen Vincke revealed that the developer is currently working on two new projects. Those projects are, presumably, in the very early stages, and there's no real indication when we might see either of them released. However, given the critical success of Baldur's Gate 3, most fans will probably be patient and trust Larian to show things off only when it's ready to do so.
When the announcement was first made that Larian would not be continuing work on Baldur's Gate, many had assumed that there might have been internal conflicts between Larian, Hasbro, and Wizards of the Coast. However, it seems that's not case, and things ended on positive terms between the companies.
Will There Still Be a Baldur's Gate 4?
While Larian won't be handling the next Baldur's Gate game, Hasbro and Wizards of the Coast have indicated that the series will continue. In an interview with PC Gamer last month, the company revealed that it's "going to take our time and find the right partner." Whoever does take over from Larian is going to have a difficult task, but Baldur's Gate has been going strong for more than two decades, under a number of talented development teams. At the end of the day, if Larian wasn't passionate about continuing to work on the series, it's for the best that they focus on something else instead. Hopefully the end result will be better for everyone at Larian, and for the Baldur's Gate franchise, as well.
Are you excited to see what Larian does next? Do you wish they had decided to make Baldur's Gate 4? Share your thoughts with me directly on Twitter at @Marcdachamp, on Bluesky at @Marcdachamp, or on Instagram at @Dachampgaming!
