As sad as it is to say, the gaming industry has fallen from grace, as games are released incomplete, with multitudes of bugs and glitches. On top of that, they have the audacity to peddle microtransactions in their games, despite titles being sold at full price. What is even more disheartening is that these aren’t isolated cases but things that happen across the board. That is why gamers rejoiced when Larian Studios, developers of Divinity: Original Sin, released Baldur’s Gate 3 as a complete gaming experience.
When you think about it, it is quite depressing that people are happy with things that we once considered standard a decade ago and are now touting Baldur’s Gate 3 as the standard for RPGs moving forward. However, not everyone shares the same opinion, as leaders of other studios and development teams see Baldur’s Gate 3 as an “anomaly” and should be treated as such. Here’s what you need to know about the game that proved naysayers wrong.
For those who do not know, Baldur’s Gate 3 is a role-playing game set in the Dungeons & Dragons universe that was developed and released by Larian Studios. The mechanics of Dungeons & Dragons have had a significant influence on the game, and Larian Studios faithfully incorporated most of the mechanics from the actual tabletop version into the video game. Since its release on 3rd August, the game has received commercial and critical acclaim and is widely loved by gamers worldwide.
Despite not even being on the market for a full week, Baldur’s Gate 3 has peaked on Steam, attaining an overwhelmingly positive rating, and is currently the 9th most played game with an all-time peak of 814,666, with at least 530,000 of them currently playing at the time of writing. Even the CEO of Larian Studios, Swen Vincke, who said they only anticipated a peak of 100,000 players, was taken aback by the game’s phenomenal success. Furthermore, Baldur’s Gate 3 is shaping itself up to be the biggest game of the year that can go toe-to-toe with other AAA games.
Aside from its solid gameplay and great story, Baldur’s Gate 3 is highly respected for the bold statement put forth by the developers, affirming that the game will have no microtransactions, which they proudly highlighted in their official page under FAQs.
Gamers flocked to the game and played it wholeheartedly because they perceived this statement as a defiant stance against what the gaming industry has recently become. However, not everyone is eager to dip their toes into the game, and some are quite against it.
This is not a new baseline for RPGs–this is an anomaly.
Trying to do the same thing in the same way, especially without the same advantages, could kill an entire GROUP of studios.
7/— Xalavier Nelson Jr. (@WritNelson) July 8, 2023
While the game was still in its early access/testing phase, Xalavier Nelson Jr., head of Strange Scaffold Studios, voiced his concern on X about the game and the development team. There, in an 11-post-long thread, he addressed the idea of labelling Baldur’s Gate 3 as the new baseline of RPGs when, he believes, it should be treated as an anomaly.
He stated in the same thread how dangerous it is to place game development at such a high standard, as the expectation might ruin the game and the team that made it. He asserted that not all game development teams have the resources of Larian Studios, and that if they fail, they will trigger the collapse of at least seven other studios.
(Responding to different concerns folks have raised in a new thread, piece by piece! Always happy to reveal more of the context behind how we can make games healthier *and* better.) https://t.co/HS07SvLQvP
— Xalavier Nelson Jr. (@WritNelson) July 15, 2023
In a podcast interview with Skill Up, Vincke acknowledged Nelson’s remarks and clarified that Larian Studios only wants to release the game they have created, not set any standards for the industry. Vincke then proceeded to mention a similar concern when Assassin’s Creed initially launched, where many said that it would be the baseline for the industry when nothing really changed.
Baldur’s Gate 3 is out now for PC, with the PlayStation release scheduled for Wednesday, 6th September. Unfortunately, the Xbox version of the game has been delayed due to issues the development team had with split-screen co-op, and the launch has been moved back to an unspecified date.
Source: SteamDB, Baldur’s Gate 3, X, YouTube, Tech4Gamers, VG247
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