„It’s a brave decision.” Former Rockstar director praises Larian for walking away from Baldur’s Gate

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Developers often find it safer to continue building on successful, established brands because players tend to stick with what they already know and trust. That’s why a former developer on the Grand Theft Auto series recently praised Larian Studios for taking a risk and creating something new, rather than continuing with the Baldur’s Gate series and the Dungeons & Dragons license.

A bold move by Larian Studios

Obbe Vermeij, who worked at Rockstar Games for fourteen years (from 1995 to 2009) and helped create several Grand Theft Auto games, understands the challenges of starting something entirely new. That’s why he recently told GamesHub he admires Larian Studios for their bold move to move away from the Baldur’s Gate franchise.

It’s great that Larian, the studio behind the recently released Baldur’s Gate 3, has decided to work on a new project instead of immediately starting Baldur’s Gate 4. It’s a commendable choice, though a risky one. Many studios would simply continue with what’s already proven successful, but Larian is taking a different path.

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It’s easy to see why the developer feels this way – we’ve often seen game companies prioritize their biggest, most reliable franchises because they’re a safe bet financially. Even the developer once worked on projects at Rockstar Games that never came to fruition, with the studio instead continuing to release new Grand Theft Auto games.

Look, if our studio finally had a massive hit with a game, why would we risk messing with what works? Any cool, out-there ideas we have? Let’s just add those to GTA instead of trying to launch a whole new franchise. It just makes more sense to build on something we know is successful.

It’s not unexpected that developers stick with well-known brands. While many have noted that companies generally prefer secure investments, major publishers have so much capital that they can’t afford to experiment frequently – as Paul Sage highlighted last year. Larian Studios, while once a small indie developer, is now a large studio with hundreds of employees.

While Larian Studios is finishing up with Baldur’s Gate, they aren’t starting from scratch. They’re revisiting their popular Divinity series, known for the success of Original Sin 2. Plus, they plan to continue building on the gameplay features they’ve honed over the last ten years, so fans will likely have a good sense of what their next game will be like.

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2025-12-31 15:02