Larian Studios: Embracing New Horizons Beyond Baldur's Gate 3

The Next Chapter for Larian Studios

Flippin’ heck, what a journey it’s been for Baldur's Gate 3, eh? It feels like just yesterday I was green with envy at Matthew Castle (RPS in peace) for getting to preview the sequel to my beloved Shadows Of Amn. Fast forward a few turns, and Larian’s RPG banger is now officially one year old since release. These days, there's a much higher chance that strangers in pubs understand why my failed romance with Jaheira was such a deeply heartbreaking experience. Baldur’s Gate 3 seems to be wrapping up with its upcoming patch, but Larian is already gearing up for their next big moves. They've launched a new “community focused” YouTube channel and teased two new games currently in development.

The Channel From Hell

Larian’s new YouTube channel, aptly named "The Channel From Hell," follows the naming convention of their sporadic Panel From Hell hype-casts. Pitched as an anniversary celebration, the channel currently sits empty, but videos are supposed to be on their way soon. It’s meant to be community-focused, so we might see showcases of the wild mods sure to follow the release of Patch 7’s modding toolkit. I wouldn't be surprised if they end up running some sort of “thirstposts of the week” segment either—surely, an endless well of content if I ever saw one.

New Ambitions

Meanwhile, Larian is hard at work on two new games. Back in May, they announced the opening of a new Polish studio based in Warsaw, adding to their 24-hour dev cycle. “Our plan for the Polish studio is very simple,” said CEO Swen Vincke. “Build a team that can work on our two very ambitious new RPGs and enjoy the fruits of their labor.”

In a recent interview with PC Gamer, Vincke shared more about their ambitious plans. "The machine is meant to make large games," he said. "We actually know what we want from our gameplay systems, how to evolve them, how to do new things … and they're all big." He emphasized that this approach, carried forward from Baldur’s Gate 3, is only possible because of the studio’s independence.

"If you see it, it'll scare you, as a shareholder, as a publisher. The very first thing you will try to do is get it under control—you will try to scope it, you will try to box it, you will try to control it, which is exactly the opposite of what we want to do. Because it's like, why are we spending a million dollars on a dragon, which nobody's ever going to see, except like five people who made that obscure choice? Because if they see it, they have to be happy too. So that's why I put the bloody dragon there, because that's the logical consequence of the things that they've done."

Moving Forward with High Morale

While many of us would have loved to see a full-on Throne Of Bhaal-style expansion for BG3, it's clear that moving on to new projects has reinvigorated Larian. The studio was on the verge of burnout with the Dungeons & Dragons setting, and now Vincke tells PC Gamer that he doesn’t think “as developers, we ever felt better,” since deciding to move on. "Honestly, you really cannot explain or express it, how liberated we are. So morale is super high, just because we're doing new stuff again. We're doing our own thing again, we're not rehashing, we're not trying to convert rules from 50 years ago into something new."

Larian Studios is excited to venture into uncharted territory, leaving the confines of D&D behind to create fresh, innovative RPG experiences. With their new projects on the horizon, it's an exhilarating time for the studio and its fans. Stay tuned to The Channel From Hell for all the latest updates and community highlights as Larian embarks on this exciting new journey.