Larian don't know what their next game is yet, but it won't be Baldur's Gate 4, or Baldur's Gate 3 DLC
The studio is moving on from Dungeons & Dragons
Larian Studios, the makers of the enormously successful and multi-"so-many-awards-they-probably-need-ten-new-trophy-cases-to-house-them-all"-winning Baldur's Gate 3, will not be making Baldur's Gate 4, founder and CEO Swen Vincke has announced. Nor will they be making any DLC or expansions for Baldur's Gate 3, for that matter - a stance I 100% respect as the studio starts to think about what's next for them.
As reported by IGN, Vincke broke the news during his GDC panel yesterday, saying the studio would be moving away from Dungeons & Dragons entirely for their next game, and that they'll be putting the Baldur's Gate licence back into the hands of Wizards Of The Coast.
Vincke also took to Xwitter yesterday saying: "I understand there will be disappointment because people fell in love with what we created but it was a story with a beginning, middle and an end and it doesn’t need more," adding, "I’ve never been more sure about a strategy shift. This is the right thing for Larian."
This will no doubt come as a disappointment to anyone hoping for a Definitive Edition of Baldur's Gate 3, which is what Larian have typically done for their big RPGs in the past - such as Divinity: Original Sin II, whose Definitive Edition followed a year after the game's original release, consolidating performance improvements, additional story quests and other enhancements to become the best and, well, most definitive version of the game.
Then again, the Definitive Editions were also usually mark the time when these games would arrive on consoles, too, but with Baldur's Gate 3 on PlayStation 5 and Xbox already, I can see why Larian would feel little need to release another version of the game, especially when they've been continually adding patches and improvements across all platforms since it first came out last August.
Larian had previously made some small rumblings about potentially adding more DLC or expansions to Baldur's Gate 3, telling IGN they were having "discussions" about what to do next, but unsurprisingly, they've never made any formal announcements about it - until now, of course.
What's next for Larian, then? It will probably be some time before we know for sure. And honestly, that's fine. Let these folks have a rest. They've worked hard enough for it. Let them enjoy their success. Of course, the most obvious assumption might be to say Divinity: Original Sin 3, which Vincke has said (also to IGN) will "definitely" happen "at some point", but really, who knows. Whatever it is, Vincke closed out his Xwitter thread yesterday saying: "The team has grown a lot during Bg3 and I think you can be very excited for what that growth means for our next game."