Baldur’s Gate 3 dev nearly lost its chance at the D&D license because its previous RPG meant its pitch to Wizards of the Coast was “really s***”
Baldur’s Gate 3 lead Swen Vincke admits that Larian Studios’ beloved Dungeons & Dragons RPG may never have happened – all because of stress surrounding Divinity: Original Sin 2.
Divinity: Original Sin 2 launched in September of 2017, just one month after Larian Studios head Swen Vincke landed the monumental deal with Wizards of the Coast that would result in the Baldur’s Gate 3 we now know and love. Not everything was smooth sailing for developers, though – considering the team’s focus on the final phase of work on its Divinity sequel, there was hardly any energy left to pitch a Baldur’s Gate 3 design document.
Speaking in an interview with Edge, Vincke recounts the stressful time Larian had to present the publisher with a plan. “We need to write something guys,” he describes himself as saying. “Or we’re going to lose this deal.” Both he and a small group of developers then huddled in a hotel room, working quickly to craft a design doc in just a couple of days. “It was really bad,” Vincke says, “but we didn’t have the brainpower to deal with it because we were trying to do Divinity: Original Sin 2.”
The director details Wizards of the West Coast’s disappointing reaction and Larian’s response: “Wizards then sent it back with the corporate equivalent of ’this is really shit.’ And we said, ‘We know, but we’re releasing a game. Give us an extension.'” Thankfully, Vincke states “Luckily they understood, and so we got another chance.” It isn’t easy to imagine what the gaming sphere would look like today if the publisher hadn’t approved – I know that I’d be down my all-time favorite game at least.