Baldur’s Gate 3 director says the game won so many awards that it affected development
In brief: It really says something about a game’s success when it wins so many awards that it actually becomes a problem. This was the unique situation the Baldur’s Gate 3 team found themselves facing when the brilliant RPG won virtually every industry award last year, which negatively impacted the game’s development.
Larian Studios CEO and Baldur’s Gate 3 director Swen Vincke told Edge that winning so many awards was “a real problem” for the devs. The studio even started to send out “rotating teams” to different ceremonies to collect the awards. This spread out the time commitments so no one section of the development team fell behind too much.
“It affects development. There’s a lot of them [award shows],” Vincke said. “This has been a real problem.”
Vincke might sound slightly ungrateful, but Baldur’s Gate 3 has won an incredible 32 awards since it launched to universal praise last year. There have been multiple GOTY awards, and it’s been picking up accolades in 2024, too, including wins at the DICE Awards and BAFTAs. Not surprising for a title that is regularly voted one of the greatest games of all time.
Vincke emphasized that he appreciated Baldur’s Gate 3 winning so much. “It’s great that you have a moment of celebration,” he said, adding that Larian does “really appreciate it,” but sending key members of the team to so many shows can take a toll, both on the continuing development of the game and the emotions.
It “would be cool if everybody could agree to do it all at the same time,” Vincke said, referring to the awards season being so spread out. “It is surprisingly draining on the soul.”
The continuing focus on the game and seemingly unending awards meant Larian struggled to find closure. “We’ve all been more emotional because we can’t get closure. And you want to have closure at the end of a project.”
In March, Larian Studios confirmed it was walking away from Baldur’s Gate 3 and the Dungeons and Dragons universe. After selling more than 10 million copies, Vincke said the studio had no interest in continuing the saga. He clarified that fans shouldn’t expect any DLC, expansions, or a Baldur’s Gate 4. The final major update is due in September 2024, when Larian will be releasing official mod support.
