Baldur's Gate 3 has been captivating players for over a year and a half, with many still engrossed in their second, third, seventh, or even 10th playthrough. However, with developer Larian Studios stepping away from the series, the future of Baldur's Gate now lies in the hands of Hasbro. Fortunately, it seems we won't have to wait long to get some updates on what's next for this beloved franchise.
During a conversation with IGN at the Game Developers Conference, Dan Ayoub, Hasbro's SVP of digital games, revealed that there is significant interest in Baldur's Gate from various parties 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 stated. While he didn't specify whether this would involve a new Baldur's Gate game or perhaps another crossover like the one with Magic: The Gathering, Ayoub did express a desire for a Baldur's Gate 4, acknowledging that creating such a game would take time.
Ayoub described the situation as "somewhat of an unenviable position," emphasizing that Hasbro is taking a measured approach to the franchise's future. "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," he explained. He teased that more information would be forthcoming soon.
Ayoub also highlighted the immense pressure to ensure the next Baldur's Gate installment meets fans' expectations, a pressure that extends to other Dungeons & Dragons projects as well. "I'm never one to shy down from a challenge," he said. "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.'"
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 gaming strategy. Look out for IGN's full interview with Ayoub next week for more insights.
Every IGN 10 of 2023

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