When you’re a team that fans can trust, you must do your best to continue earning that trust. In the video game industry, that “team” is the developer or publisher who makes the games that people love to play. Sure, there are natural “ups and downs” that are natural with game design, but the overall quality of a title is directly tied to how a team goes about making its title. In the case of Larian Studios, they have always been a team that has focused on creating special games that people can enjoy, with Baldur’s Gate 3 being the peak of their philosophy.
The title is now over a year old, and people still can’t get enough of it, to the point where many are still sad that Larian Studios isn’t making a 4th entry in the saga. However, in a chat with IGN, not only did the team note its own insecurities while making the game, they made promises to do what they could to elevate the next RPG they make. For example, art director Alena Dubrovina had this to note about what’s coming next:
“In practice, not much has changed We are still hard working bees, ready for new adventures. The quality bar was set high by BG3, so we are wrapping our heads around how to raise it even higher.”
That might seem insane, as the bar truly is high for whatever Larian makes next. However, in that same interview, Larian head Swen Vincke stated multiple times over that he wasn’t sure that the game would be as great as it turned out to be, even arguing with the publisher about potential sales figures due to the publisher thinking it would sell higher than Swen thought.
Fast forward to now, and he can’t wait to see what his team makes next:
“We’re in the luxurious position now that we can pick our own destiny and our own path, which is really cool. So I hope that we can sustain that. [I have] two main goals for the studio: being able to make things that we like to make and making sure that it’s sustainable so we can continue doing so.”
In many ways, Larian is the blueprint for how a studio should handle itself in this modern gaming industry. It doesn’t compromise in quality; it strives to do something special every time, and they’re not afraid to walk away from something familiar to try and do something new.
