Baldur’s Gate 3 is one of the most legendary games ever and Larian Studios one of the most legendary developers. That’s why we won’t get a DLC.
Baldur’s Gate 3 has easily been the best CRPG in recent history, and one of the best RPGs of all time. And yet, despite all its success, developer Larian Studios has made one thing crystal clear: there will be no DLC. If the first thing you thought upon reading that was, “why?” Well, we’ve been given so many reasons so far.
The idea of not making a DLC may sound counterintuitive given the current state and nature of the industry. But Larian’s reasons come down to something surprisingly honest. According to CEO Swen Vincke, the studio simply wasn’t passionate about making DLC. And for Larian, the developer’s passion is non-negotiable.
Baldur’s Gate 3 isn’t getting a DLC because it’s “boring“
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Speaking to GameSpot in a recent interview, Vincke revealed that Larian had initially explored the idea of DLC. However, after some serious internal reflection, the team realized they weren’t passionate about creating additional content for the game.
We tried to be in the DLC business, talked about that with BG3… there’s just no passion… I mean happy player, happy business, but you also need a happy developer for a happy player. What we’re doing now makes developers way more happy.
He also described the idea of Baldur’s Gate 3 DLC as “boring.” He explained that although they initially nodded along with expectations to release expansions, the team quickly realized it wasn’t what they truly wanted. And we already know from experience that Vincke is all about the passion.
We just nodded and said, ‘Yeah, we’ll make DLCs. Then the moment that we had some time to think, we realized: ‘What are you doing?’
That doesn’t mean that the studio has completely abandoned the game post-launch. Even though DLC was off the table, Larian has continued to add to Baldur’s Gate 3 through a lot of different small and big updates.
Patch 8 is the last update for the game, but we could really argue that everything we’ve gotten so far could’ve been a small DLC. Back in GDC last year, Vincke also said the studio was moving on from the D&D style entirely.
We’re not going to make new expansions, which everybody is expecting. We’re not going to make Baldur’s Gate 4, which everybody is expecting us to do. We’re going to move on. We’re going to move away from D&D and we’re going to start making a new thing.
So, if we aren’t getting a DLC or a sequel, what is our favorite developer working on next?
Larian Studios is working on “crazy ambitious” projects next
The studio is already working on two different things. | Image Credit: Larian Studios
As Larian Studios turns the page, we’re all waiting for what comes next from these talented developers. While we still don’t know any concrete details, Vincke also offered some words on this topic. He described the upcoming projects as “crazy ambitious” and noted that the team is “deep in the trenches” working on them.
Many other studios in the industry might have viewed the opportunity for Baldur’s Gate 3 expansions as too lucrative to pass up, but Larian chose a path less traveled. The studio has remained independent since its founding in 1996, and that’s been one of the reasons why Larian has done all the right things for us.
“As an independent studio since 1996, we value the freedom to follow our creativity wherever it leads,” is what the studio had to say in an official Steam post last year. And honestly, we’re all in for this. The studio has given us no reason to doubt thus far, and we can say it will probably remain this way in the future.
