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Larian CEO Swen Vincke on Baldur's Gate 3 Mod Tool Support: 'We're not a tools company.' | MMORPG.co

SystemSystem Member UncommonPosts: 12,599
edited March 26 in News & Features Discussion

imageLarian CEO Swen Vincke on Baldur's Gate 3 Mod Tool Support: 'We're not a tools company.' | MMORPG.com

Larian CEO Swen Vincke set expectations on the game's mod tools in an interview with PC Gamer at this year's GDC, stating, "We are a game development company, we're not a tools company."

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Comments

  • ScotScot Member LegendaryPosts: 24,427
    edited March 26
    Well WotC can look for someone else to do BG4, it just makes business sense for them to do so. When you think about it, how invested are Larian in BG3 now? Maybe a dlc but do they really want to tie themselves to modding tools as well? My guess is they told the fans a modding tool was on the way so feel bound to that. Cue lowering of expectations for how extensive the modding tool will be. I don't blame them, they want to make their own mark with something they see as totally their own.
  • waveslayerwaveslayer Member UncommonPosts: 607
    maybe showing some "full of themselves" vibes...they put out a great game but...

    Godz of War I call Thee

  • KnightFalzKnightFalz Member EpicPosts: 4,583

    Scot said:

    Well WotC can look for someone else to do BG4, it just makes business sense for them to do so. When you think about it, how invested are Larian in BG3 now? Maybe a dlc but do they really want to tie themselves to modding tools as well? My guess is they told the fans a modding tool was on the way so feel bound to that. Cue lowering of expectations for how extensive the modding tool will be. I don't blame them, they want to make their own mark with something they see as totally their own.



    Larian has no interest doing DLC for BG3 either. Expectations for anything going forward in regard to it should be lowered.
    Scot
  • KnightFalzKnightFalz Member EpicPosts: 4,583

    waveslayer said:

    maybe showing some "full of themselves" vibes...they put out a great game but...



    Maybe. Some of the phrasing could be that but it's hard to tell with words alone. If would be easier to judge if some non-verbal cues came along with.
  • KirzanKirzan Member UncommonPosts: 70
    edited March 27

    waveslayer said:

    maybe showing some "full of themselves" vibes...they put out a great game but...



    I'll agree his wording could have been better. If you have good enough programmers to produce such a clean game, they can also work on tools. Our studio is a game dev studio primarily, but we also have a dev tooling squad. Programming isn't field specific, it's language-specific.

    You could translate it to: We can't afford to have a team dedicated to maintaining tools like these, but we can open up areas of the game to be more easily modded.

    Honestly, it could also be that since the WotC deal break, they're contractually not allowed to develop any more new content than what was established during the contract. That could very well include making third party apps for the game.
    Sovrath
  • ScotScot Member LegendaryPosts: 24,427
    KnightFalz said:

    Scot said:

    Well WotC can look for someone else to do BG4, it just makes business sense for them to do so. When you think about it, how invested are Larian in BG3 now? Maybe a dlc but do they really want to tie themselves to modding tools as well? My guess is they told the fans a modding tool was on the way so feel bound to that. Cue lowering of expectations for how extensive the modding tool will be. I don't blame them, they want to make their own mark with something they see as totally their own.



    Larian has no interest doing DLC for BG3 either. Expectations for anything going forward in regard to it should be lowered.
    You keep an eye on studios more than me, what do you think is really behind that? They know a dlc would be a cash cow, are they really so fed up of BG and DnD that they will just throw that away?
  • kitaradkitarad Member LegendaryPosts: 8,177
    It's possible that Larian wants to get as far away as possible from Wizards of the Coast. I doubt that relationship was easy. 

    The person who said that since they have given up the licence they can no longer develop content may not far from the mark. 
    Sovrath

  • ScotScot Member LegendaryPosts: 24,427
    Or maybe WotC said sure you can do BG4 but the license we are adding 25% to the license fee?
  • ArglebargleArglebargle Member EpicPosts: 3,481
    Hasbro is now full-on bean counter MBA-ville.  Usually bad for the games.  Doesn't surprise me that Larian would want to get the millstone licensing off their necks.

    If you are holding out for the perfect game, the only game you play will be the waiting one.

  • cameltosiscameltosis Member LegendaryPosts: 3,847
    I read an interview with the Larian boss (I think on Eurogamer).


    He said that they tried the DLC route in the past with previous games and had a terrible time of it. It caused the business a lot of stress, the devs weren't happy doing it, and it didn't make them much money either. So, the way he made it sound was that they decided not to do DLC when the first took on the project.


    As for not doing BG4, that sounded like a pure creative decision. They've done Baldurs Gate, they've built a game using D&D rules, they've obeyed the lore. So, what would they get out of BG4? They might make money. Might even make a lot of money. But creatively, he made it sound like doing another one wouldn't really offer them much. Larian would rather do something original.



    Personally, I really like Larian's approach. It's old school: build a complete product, charge a fixed price for it, move on. Sure, they used early access to help fund development, but it worked, we got a complete product which did really well.




    Beyond all of that, there was an undercurrent in the article from the Larian boss, along the lines of (paraphrasing) "well, if you build a good game, enough people are going to buy it that you'll make a lot of money. so, why would I bother with things like DLC, microtransactions or gamepass? I don't need to scam my customers out of extra money, im just gonna make good games".
    SovrathkitaradScot
    Currently Playing: WAR RoR - Spitt rr7X Black Orc | Scrotling rr6X Squig Herder | Scabrous rr4X Shaman

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