Baldur's Gate So... Which Studio Should Replace Larian As The Developer of Baldur's Gate 4?

[cyborgboy95]

Less than a month after news of Larian Studios announced it was moving on from Dungeons & Dragons following Baldur’s Gate 3 to explore new ventures, Hasbro and Wizards of the Coast have assured fans they are seeking out a studio to make Baldur’s Gate 4 already, so it is worth discussing which studio would be the least bad option to be given the license to develop Baldur's Gate 4 in your opinion?

Owlcat is the most appropriate candidate imo, they have experience working with DnD-like ruleset thanks to their Pathfinder rpgs already, but their game tend to be over-complicated and hardcore, therefore a Baldur's Gate 4 made by them is unlikely to resonate with mainstream mass like Hasbro expect. I still prefer Owlcat to make a Pathfinder game based on Iron Gods adventure path first though.

Although Tactical Adventure (Solasta) did cross my mind when I ponder this question, the reason I didn't include them in the poll is because they are too small to handle a big-scope project like Baldur's Gate 4.

 

[GuiltyofBeingTrite]

Get the original Leisure Suit Larry team on it

 

[Infinitron]

I say it'll never happen. Hasbro are clowns and they'll fail to get another Baldur's Gate project off the ground.

 

[motherfucker]

Spiders.

 

[Wirdschowerdn]

Wizards owns James Ohlen's studio, Archetype. Maybe they should start asking them.

 

[gabel]

We don't need any more Baldur's Gate.

 

[mediocrepoet]

Bioware. They've got what it takes to make next gen cringe. If they still exist.

 

[NecroLord]

Spoiler

 

[SixDead]

InXile in collaboration with Digimancy + Chris Avellone's writing

 

[Beans00]

Hopefully Obsidian because it would be funny to see infinitron and roguey(nothing personal you're just the biggest obsidian fans I can think of) cope about bg4 struggling to sell 500k copies after bg3 sold like 20 million.

 

[Old One]

Let Jeff Vogel do it.

 

[ropetight]

Considering the success and wide adoption of fantasy sex elements in BG3, there is really only one real choice.
Time to hire people who really know how to do it.
https://alicesoft.fandom.com/wiki/AliceSoftWiki:Main_Page

 

[ds]

What has Baldur's Gate done to you that you want to see it defiled a second time?

Sequels shouldn't ever be done by a different developer.

 

[Hydro]

We don't need any more Baldur's Gate.

We didn’t need a third one to start with

 

[Ryzer]

Beamdog, I heard they made all the Baldur's Gate games before 3. It must be a good developer.

 

[Froila]

AliceSoft.

 

[Wirdschowerdn]

David Gaider and his team of indie fruities should make a Baldur's Gate musical.

 

[Gibson]

Let Jeff Vogel do it.

Now THAT would be a plot twist!

We don't need any more Baldur's Gate.

For real. 2 was more than enough. (I consider larians game as only a mod of divinity,maybe ds v2.5)

 

[processdaemon]

I think Owlcat would be the studio mostly likely to make a BG4 I'd enjoy, but given how much has changed I'm morbidly curious as to what a Bioware BG4 would look like (I know it wouldn't be good, but it would be interesting to see how many dimensions it could be bad in). I'd be worried that Obsidian would turn it into a first person aRPG given how they're trending.

 

[Wise Emperor]

It will be some random studio which never touched anything that was remotely named cRPG. It will be assembly line product: 2 years of financing, Unreal 5 engine, stock assets from Fortnite, some twitter/blogger writers supported by ChatGPT with ideas taken from reddit, full of funny memes and some stupid cameos, with MBA filled execs in their early 30s who proudly call themselves gamers because their older siblings had PS2 in 2000s and they played classics like Skyrim and Final Fantasy XXL. Either some Eastern Europeans or studio based in Mobile, Alabama. Obviously with day one gamer edition, neckbeard edition, shitton of DLCs straight from Korean mobile games.

I have a vision of similar "product" as Bloodlines 2, which I guess is already huge money sink for Paradox and they would gladly pull the plug with financing if it wasn't for sunk cost fallacy.

 

[Fedora Master]

Nobody.

Let it rest in peace.

 

[Atlet]

Duh, Josh Sawyer should lead it, ofc. He deserves it and BG4 deserves it. If you know what I mean.

 

[Baron Tahn]

Well if you were to pretend BG3 didn't exist but wanted to tell more stories in that thread/setting (why would you as opposed to other DnD settings) then Owlcat is the obvious choice.

But a direct sequel now that BG3 dragged the brand into the campy mocap trying-to-be-soap-opera corner? Well fuck. I can't think of anyone except Bioware but they have their own established setting....CD Project still on Witcher...Obsidian has their shite...Bethesda has Elder Scrolls and it'd be first person anyway.

I think it's dead. What are the chances WotC starts it's own games studio? Probably wise in modern era...Someone dig up SSI and use that brand name?

 

[Zed Duke of Banville]

The project lead for Baldur's Gate 4 should be someone with over a quarter-century of experience making RPGs, who has already proven a success as lead designer on a D&D-licensed RPG, and who particularly excels at writing.

 

[Tenebris]

Baldur's Gate 4 is very likely to expand on romances, cinematic cut-scenes and stupid zany jokes. It's not worth getting even remotely excited for.