Hasbro SVP Teases Quick Updates on Baldur's Gate's Future

Baldur's Gate 3, now a year-and-a-half old, continues to captivate players with multiple playthroughs. However, with developer Larian Studios stepping away from the series, the future of Baldur's Gate is in the hands of Hasbro. Fortunately, it seems we won't have to wait long for news about what's next for the franchise.

During the Game Developers Conference, Dan Ayoub, Hasbro's SVP of digital games, shared with IGN that there is significant interest in Baldur's Gate from various parties since Larian's departure. "We're kind of working out our plans for the future and what we're going to be doing with that. And actually, in pretty short order, we're going to have some stuff to talk about around that," Ayoub stated.

While Ayoub didn't specify whether this "stuff" would be a new Baldur's Gate game or something like the previous crossover with Magic: The Gathering, he expressed a desire for a Baldur's Gate 4. However, he emphasized that creating such a game would be a long-term project. "It's somewhat of an unenviable position," he remarked. "I mean, we're not in a hurry. Right? That's the thing, we're going to take a very measured approach... We've got a lot of plans, a lot of different ways to go about it. We're starting to think about, okay, yeah, we're ready to start dipping toes a little bit and talking about a few things. And I think, in really short order, like I said, again, not to over-tease that point, we're going to have some other things to talk about around that."

Ayoub also highlighted the immense pressure to ensure the next Baldur's Gate meets expectations, which also influences other Dungeons & Dragons-related projects. "I'm never one to shy down from a challenge," he said. "And I think anything that forces us to raise our creative bar, and developers love to have a high bar to go after, and I think we've actually seen the team push some really interesting ideas that they're like, 'Okay, we need to raise our bar. We need to go bigger on this.' And things like that. So, I think that's our hope, right? We would keep raising the bar and everyone just tries to go a little higher."

In addition to discussing Baldur's Gate, Ayoub touched on other topics such as Magic: The Gathering, Hasbro's partnership with Saber Interactive, and the company's overall game strategy. Keep an eye out for our full interview next week for more insights.

Every IGN 10 of 2023

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