LogInWe don't know the sales numbers, but they have to be impressive.
Image credit: Larian Studios
It's been almost a month since Baldur's Gate 3 was released, although it feels much longer. Larian Studios hasn't revealed how many copies it managed to sell yet, but there must be a lot – enough for both Larian and Wizards of the Coast, a subsidiary of Hasbro that has the rights for Dungeons & Dragons, to be happy with how the game's doing.
In an interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Wizards of the Coast and Hasbro Gaming president Cynthia Williams confirmed that Baldur's Gate 3 is a commercial success but, again, didn't specify what this implies in terms of sold units. Well, at least the game has met everyone's expectations.
"We're very pleased with how it's performing, and Larian is very pleased with how it's performing," Williams said. "There are a lot of definitions of 'commercially successful,' but everyone's very happy now because our fans are happy."
Image credit: Larian Studios
Larian is a big independent studio that had three years to publicly test Baldur's Gate 3's Act 1 and adjust the game based on the feedback, but it doesn't diminish its efforts. I think this makes the game's success even more impressive because it's very easy to lose relevance several years after the initial announcement.
"Larian Studios is a terrific partner for Wizards of the Coast because they are among the best in the business at building deep RPGs and CRPGs in particular," said Hasbro digital games group's head of digital games Tim Fields. "Their history as a studio is terrific, and the amount of love they have put into the products they've built and to building out a really faithful and deep incarnation of the Dungeons & Dragons ruleset and world is amazing. We love working with people like Larian."
He added that the company is excited to partner with "those who are the best in the world at the types of games they make," whether they are "publicly traded or privately held."
Wizards of the Coast would like to talk to teams that have a great idea for a game that would benefit from representing one of Hasbro's brands.
Image credit: Larian Studios
Notably, one of the studios Wizards of the Coast owns is Archetype Entertainment, led by former BioWare developers James Ohlen, Chad Robertson, and Drew Karpyshyn. The company is focused on story-driven RPGs and is busy developing a multiplatform sci-fi game.
"We see a way we can bring that to life and to fans not only through the game, but through role-playing adventures associated with it, and folks on the Hasbro side are seeing you've got some folks pretty excited about some cross-expressions," Williams said. "There's fully a possibility of licensed consumer products with it, you could end up seeing things happen on the toy side with it.
"But the main thing is this is a creator who is so passionate about the game and doing a phenomenal job of bringing it to life. We're not going to do lots of original IP, but when a great idea comes to you, you have to consider it."
Image credit: Larian Studios
I hope we'll see the result of Larian's efforts in numbers when Baldur's Gate 3 launches on all expected platforms.
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