Baldur's Gate 3, now a year-and-a-half old, continues to captivate fans, many of whom are on their second, third, seventh, or even tenth playthrough. However, with developer Larian Studios stepping away from the series, the future of Baldur's Gate rests in the hands of Hasbro. Fortunately, it seems we won't have to wait too long for news about what's next for the franchise.
At the Game Developers Conference, Dan Ayoub, Hasbro's SVP of digital games, shared with IGN that there is considerable interest in Baldur's Gate following Larian's departure. "We're kind of working out our plans for the future and what we're going to be doing with that. And actually, in pretty short order, we're going to have some stuff to talk about around that," Ayoub revealed. While he did not specify whether this would entail a new installment like Baldur's Gate 4 or something akin to the previous crossover with Magic: The Gathering, Ayoub expressed his desire for a Baldur's Gate 4, albeit acknowledging that its development would likely take time.
Ayoub highlighted the challenges of living up to the high expectations set by Baldur's Gate 3, describing the situation as "somewhat of an unenviable position." He emphasized a measured approach to future developments: "We're not in a hurry. Right? That's the thing, we're going to take a very measured approach... We've got a lot of plans, a lot of different ways to go about it. We're starting to think about, okay, yeah, we're ready to start dipping toes a little bit and talking about a few things. And I think, in really short order, like I said, again, not to over-tease that point, we're going to have some other things to talk about around that."
The pressure to deliver a successful follow-up extends beyond Baldur's Gate to other Dungeons & Dragons-related projects. Ayoub views this challenge as an opportunity to push creative boundaries: "I'm never one to shy down from a challenge... And I think anything that forces us to raise our creative bar, and developers love to have a high bar to go after, and I think we've actually seen the team push some really interesting ideas that they're like, 'Okay, we need to raise our bar. We need to go bigger on this.' And things like that. So, I think that's our hope, right? We would keep raising the bar and everyone just tries to go a little higher."
In addition to discussing Baldur's Gate, Ayoub touched on other topics such as Magic: The Gathering, Hasbro's partnership with Saber Interactive, and the company's overall game strategy. Look out for our full interview with him next week.
Every IGN 10 of 2023
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