Baldur’s Gate team wants other devs to get ‘weird’ with their games

Baldur’s Gate team wants other devs to get ‘weird’ with their games
Images via Larian Studios

Written by 

Joseph Kime

Last updated 

11th Dec 2023 15:40

The immense successes of Baldur's Gate 3 were accentuated massively by the fantasy epic's sweep at The Game Awards, but it didn't confirm anything that fans didn't already know. The game is massive, sprawling, and frankly, chuffing brilliant.

The sheer endlessness of the outcomes of rolls in Baldur's Gate 3 is a testament to how much care went into its development, and players have felt that love in their playthroughs. Now, the team is hoping that its work will be something of an inspiration for the industry going forward.

Baldur's Gate 3 team wants more weirdness in the gaming industry

A character sits at a camp in Baldur's Gate 3.
Click to enlarge

Speaking just before their deluge of wins at The Game Awards, the team at Larian Studios have revealed that they're hoping that Baldur's Gate will help to inspire game developers to get a little bit kookier with their ideas.

"I want to see people go off on all kinds of weird tangents, trying to look for how we improve this," Lead Systems Designer Nick Pechinen says to GQ. Lead Writer Chrystel Ding adds that it would be "really nice to play a game like this where I don’t know the ending."

There's certainly a lot more room for games like this in the industry, as proven by the fact that The Game Awards' closest competitor to Larian was Remedy Games' Alan Wake II, a game that folds its narrative over and over in such a way that it becomes entirely unpredictable.

Larian wants Baldur's Gate 3 to "kick the doors open"

Characters bracing for combat in the face of a masked foe in Baldur's Gate 3.
Click to enlarge

"I hope [Baldur’s Gate 3] kicks the doors open," said Adam Smith, the Writing Director of the game. "If you look at the indie space, RPGs never went away. People can go to a publisher and say, 'Well, look what it fucking did for them.'"

It's a very hopeful goal for the team, but to be perfectly honest, it already looks as though the gaming industry is taking notes. Baldur's Gate 3's win was expected at The Game Awards despite going up against some of the most anticipated sequels the gaming industry has seen in years.

We've not known the coveted Game of the Year award to be so hotly contested but to come away still a winner is a testament to just how successful Baldur's Gate 3 has been. Either gaming companies are taking notes, or they're fools.

The impact that Baldur’s Gate 3 has made is already coming into focus, and the next few years are likely to see projects revealed that echo its brilliant design - just wait and see.

Joseph Kime
About the author
Joseph Kime
Joseph Kime is the Senior Trending News Journalist for GGRecon from Devon, UK. Before graduating from MarJon University with a degree in Journalism, he started writing music reviews for his own website before writing for the likes of FANDOM, Zavvi and The Digital Fix. He is host of the Big Screen Book Club podcast, and author of Building A Universe, a book that chronicles the history of superhero movies. His favourite games include DOOM (2016), Celeste and Pokemon Emerald.
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