With *Baldur's Gate 3* now a year-and-a-half old, fans are still eagerly diving into multiple playthroughs. However, with developer Larian Studios stepping away from the series, the future of *Baldur's Gate* rests in the hands of Hasbro. Fortunately, it seems we won't have to wait too long to get some clarity on what's next for the beloved franchise.
During an interview with IGN at the Game Developers Conference, Dan Ayoub, SVP of digital games at Hasbro, revealed that there is significant interest in *Baldur's Gate* from various parties following Larian's departure. "We're kind of working out our plans for the future and what we're going to be doing with that," Ayoub explained. "And actually, in pretty short order, we're going to have some stuff to talk about around that."
While Ayoub did not specify whether this upcoming news would involve a new *Baldur's Gate* game or something else, like a crossover similar to the *Magic: The Gathering* collaboration, he did express his desire for a *Baldur's Gate 4*. However, he noted that creating such a game would be a lengthy process. "It's somewhat of an unenviable position," he said. "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 acknowledged the immense pressure to deliver the next *Baldur's Gate* correctly, which also influences other Dungeons & Dragons projects, such as a game announced by Hasbro last year. "I'm never one to shy down from a challenge," he stated. "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*, the partnership with Saber Interactive, and Hasbro's overall game strategy. Look out for the full interview next week for more insights.
Every IGN 10 of 2023
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