Baldur's Gate 4 Was Playable But Ultimately Abandoned by Larian

As Larian Studios, the creators of the 2023 Game of the Year, Baldur's Gate 3, prepare for their future endeavors, CEO Swen Vincke has shared intriguing insights into a project they've decided to leave behind.

A Follow-Up to BG3 Was Already “Playable” According to Larian

BG3 DLC and BG4 Ultimately Shelved as Larian Moves On from Franchise

In a recent interview with PC Gamer, Swen Vincke revealed that Larian Studios had been working on a follow-up to Baldur's Gate 3. This sequel, already in a "playable" state, was something that fans "would have liked."

"It's something that you all would have liked, I think," Vincke stated. "I'm sure, actually. And we actually went pretty fast, because the production machine was still warm. You could already play stuff. But you played it and you looked at it, and, like, you know, this is OK." However, after years of dedication to a Dungeons & Dragons-related title, the team was hesitant to continue investing more time into the same IP. "I mean, we'll probably have to redo it 10 times. And do we really want to do this for the next three years?"

Although Baldur's Gate 4 was an appealing concept, the prospect of spending additional years on a similar project was not enticing for Vincke or his team. He emphasized that the studio wanted to pursue their original ideas and bring them to life.

Morale Remains High at Larian Studios

"We should be looking at how we can do stuff that we get excited about," Vincke explained. After consulting with his teams, they reached a consensus to move forward. Following their triumph at The Game Awards 2023, Larian Studios chose to step away from Baldur's Gate 3 and declined to develop a sequel to the 2023 Game of the Year winner.

"I don't think, as developers, we ever felt better since we took that decision [to not make BG4]," Vincke remarked. "Honestly, you really cannot explain or express it, how liberated we are. So morale is super high, just because we're doing new stuff again."

"We'll carry on patching for a while and then we're all going to take a holiday and then we'll figure out what we do next," senior product manager Tom Butler stated at the time. With both the ideas for Baldur's Gate 4 and an expansion to Baldur's Gate 3 set aside for similar reasons, Larian is now focusing on two upcoming, undisclosed projects, which Vincke claims will be their greatest yet.

Before their work on the Baldur's Gate series, Larian Studios was known for the Divinity series, which might see a new entry now that they've moved away from Dungeons & Dragons. Just before the release of BG3 in August of the previous year, Vincke mentioned that a sequel to Divinity: Original Sin was "definitely on the horizon," but the team needed to focus on Baldur's Gate 3 first. While specifics about these projects remain under wraps, Vincke clarified that their next project in the series will not be Divinity: Original Sin 3 and will differ from what fans might expect.

Meanwhile, the final major patch for Baldur's Gate 3 is scheduled for release in the fall of 2024, promising official mod support, cross-play, and new evil endings.