The Ambitious Vision for Baldur’s Gate 3 and the Hurdles Faced
Reflecting on the early development of Baldur’s Gate 3, director Swen Vincke shared insights into the project’s ambitious goals and the challenges encountered.
During a presentation at Digital Dragons in Poland, Vincke revealed that Larian Studios initially aimed to include a “dungeon master” voiceover, but this concept proved too ambitious. Vincke noted that the studio’s inexperience with cinematics became evident early on, despite their confidence from previous RPG successes.
“I was so confident, in fact, that I’m gonna do something I would never do again,” Vincke said. He recalled telling Wizards of the Coast and Hasbro that Baldur’s Gate 3 could be the “RPG of the decade,” a statement he immediately regretted.
Vincke shared that the early development was fraught with challenges, including the team’s desire for perfection leading to endless discussions. The studio also struggled with the sheer number of features planned for the game and their inexperience with creating cinematics. At one point, the programming team significantly underestimated the time required to complete tasks, leading to further complications.
Larian Studios had to continuously optimize performance for multiple platforms, adding to the complexity. The team grew from around 120 people to about 450 by the end of development.
Looking ahead, Larian is working on two ambitious RPGs and recently opened a new studio in Warsaw, Poland. This experience will hopefully streamline future projects, making them less chaotic.
