D&D General Hasbro Is Looking For Partners For Baldur's Gate 4

Last month, Baldur's Gate 3 developer Larion Studios revealed that it was 'elated' not to be working on further D&D video games, expansions, or DLC.

However, Wizard of the Coast's Eugene Evans says that a sequel is still "very much on the cards". Evans is Senior vice president of Digital Strategy and Licensing for Hasbro and WotC, and was talking in an interview with PC Gamer.

“We’re now talking to lots of partners and being approached by a lot of partners who are embracing the challenge of, what does the future of the Baldur’s Gate franchise look like? So we certainly hope that it’s not another 25 years, as it was from Baldur’s Gate 2 to 3, before we answer that. But we’re going to take our time and find the right partner, the right approach, and the right product that could represent the future of Baldur’s Gate. We take that very, very seriously, as we do with all of our decisions around our portfolio. We don’t rush into decisions as to who to partner with on products or what products we should be considering.”

Fans of the characters, such as Shadowheart and Astarian, created by Larion and introduced in BG3 will be pleased to know that they are now owned by WotC, meaning that it's not impossible that they would show up in any sequels. Evans said "Larian created a much loved cast of characters, who were even celebrated by their nominations, the voice actors behind them and the talent behind them was celebrated at the [BAFTAS]...And they are now essentially part of D&D canon."

 

[Zardnaar]

Parts of FR have always been interesting. 5E version has been ultra safe bland land.

There's been no real deep dive into the mythology BG3 touched on or nothing like Lost Empire's or Serpent Kingdoms in 5E.

 

[Wolfpack48]

They should do a Ravenloft game.

 

[Anon Adderlan]

The foundation of BG3's popularity are the characters and their voice actors. Not the brand. Not the setting. Not the mechanics. And any sequel matching the level of BG3 will take at least half a decade to complete once a studio starts working on it. Meanwhile BG3 will be generating both fan and official content for years to come. And were modding easier it could easily rival the likes of #Skyrim and #Source in that dept.

#WotC does not understand why their products are successful or how to leverage that. They continue to shoot the darkness and see what sticks, which doesn't work as a strategy when it comes to projects like this.

 

[Zardnaar]

The foundation of BG3's popularity are the characters and their voice actors. Not the brand. Not the setting. Not the mechanics. And any sequel matching the level of BG3 will take at least half a decade to complete once a studio starts working on it. Meanwhile BG3 will be generating both fan and official content for years to come. And were modding easier it could easily rival the likes of #Skyrim and #Source in that dept.

#WotC does not understand why their products are successful or how to leverage that. They continue to shoot the darkness and see what sticks, which doesn't work as a strategy when it comes to projects like this.

I would say it's the characters and story. The Absolute and deity parts (dead 3, Shar/Selune).

Pretty much everything in there was from precious editions.

 

[ValamirCleaver]

#WotC does not understand why their products are successful or how to leverage that. They continue to shoot the darkness and see what sticks, which doesn't work as a strategy when it comes to projects like this.

I think Wizbro should focus on the "long tail" effect of video games that are easily moddable by the community. There's a reason why the Gold Box games (originally released in 1988), Baldur's Gate (originally released in 1998), the other Infinity Engine games, Neverwinter Nights (originally released in 2002), the other Aurora/Electron Engine games, etc... still have active mod communities 36, 26, and 22 years later. They may not be large, but these communities still exist.

I think a updated clone of one of these type of games with modern graphics & audio that is easily moddable would have the potential to do regular sales over a long time span. I would be very happy with a Neverwinter Nights 2 clone with modernized graphics, an increased level cap & increased part limit.

 

[Reynard]

#WotC does not understand why their products are successful or how to leverage that. They continue to shoot the darkness and see what sticks, which doesn't work as a strategy when it comes to projects like this.

No truer statement.

it is like they are constantly stepping on rakes -- that shoot gold right into their mouths. 5E was literally the "good enough" edition until pop culture made D&D cool again.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

I think Wizbro should focus on the "long tail" effect of video games that are easily moddable by the community. There's a reason why the Gold Box games (originally released in 1988), Baldur's Gate (originally released in 1998), the other Infinity Engine games, Neverwinter Nights (originally released in 2002), the other Aurora/Electron Engine games, etc... still have active mod communities 36, 26, and 22 years later. They may not be large, but these communities still exist.

I think a updated clone of one of these type of games with modern graphics & audio that is easily moddable would have the potential to do regular sales over a long time span. I would be very happy with a Neverwinter Nights 2 clone with modernized graphics, an increased level cap & increased part limit.

But the original creators and IP owners don't make any significant amount of revenue from the mod community, no matter how popular or long lived it is. To try and do so would be another OGL fiasco. People will use something so long as they don't have to pay for it, but as soon as they do they go elsewhere.

 

[ValamirCleaver]

To try and do so would be another OGL fiasco.

There was an OGL fiasco for the Gold Box games, the Infinity Engine games, and/or the Aurora/Electron Engine games???... I must have missed it, when was it?...

 

[Paul Farquhar]

There was an OGL fiasco for the Gold Box games, the Infinity Engine games, and/or the Aurora/Electron Engine games???... I must have missed it, when was it?...

No there wasn’t, because there was no attempt by the IP owner to make a profit from the mod community. But not making money from something is of no benefit to the companies. They only benefit if people BUY something.

 

[ValamirCleaver]

no attempt by the IP owner to make a profit from the mod community. They only benefit if people BUY something.

I think you may not understand what the "long tail effect" means & how it applies in this instance. It does not mean that the publisher resells community created mods. It means that the active community of active modders is a selling point for the game & because of it the game has regular sales over an extended period of time. The modding community is a buy in for new fans to purchase the game. The previous customers of the game become evangelists of the company's products. It creates market mindshare (consumer awareness or popularity) of the publisher's other products & helps to creates a favorably-minded audience to the company's future offerings.