Dungeons & Dragons publisher plans to make Baldur’s Gate 4, once it finds the right developer for the job
“We certainly hope it’s not another 25 years.”
Dungeons & Dragons publisher, Wizards of the Coast, is currently on the look-out for a developer to make a new title in its Baldur’s Gate video game series.
Released last year, Baldur’s Gate III is a sequel to the D&D video game Baldur’s Gate II, which was originally released in 2000. In the roleplaying game, players create their own character within the world of Dungeons & Dragons, choosing their species, D&D class and appearance, before venturing out into the Sword Coast. During their adventures, players will meet a cast of characters and have the opportunity for them to join their party, thereby taking control of them and utilising their respective abilities.
The combat for Baldur’s Gate III is based on the Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition gameplay system, with players selecting their actions, spells, attacks, movement and abilities in a turn-based order. As in the tabletop RPG the video game is based on, players will be able to improve their characters’ stats and abilities as they level up, as well as equip them with new armour, weapons, spells and items as they go.
Baldur’s Gate III has become one of the most acclaimed video games released in the last few years, after the title collected several BAFTA video game awards last week: including for Best Game, meaning that it has become the first video game in history to win Best Game in each of the industry’s major game awards. Other notable wins for the title include BAFTAs for Best Music, Best Narrative and the public-voted EE Player’s Choice award
Following the 2024 BAFTA awards ceremony, Eugene Evans, senior vice president of Digital Strategy and Licensing for Wizards of the Coast, and its owner Hasbro, confirmed that the company was currently planning for a new entry in the Baldur’s Gate series. (Thanks PC Gamer.) With Baldur’s Gate III’s developer and publisher, Larian Studios, moving away from the series with its next title, Wizards and Hasbro will now need to look elsewhere for a creator for its next title in the D&D series.
“We’re now talking to lots of partners and being approached by lots of partners,” confirmed Evans. Though the Wizards representative hopes that “it’s not another 25 years,” until a new Baldur’s Gate game is released - as it was between the release of Baldur’s Gate II and III - the company will not proceed any further with the project until they “find the right partner, the right approach, and the right product that could represent the future of Baldur’s Gate.”
Evans also teased the return of beloved characters from Baldur’s Gate III in future entries in the series, admitting that “Larian created a much loved cast of characters [...] I would like to think that all of those characters, for the sake of the fans, could potentially appear in future projects.”
The Wizards representative stated that “they (Larian) have just done a remarkable job with the product (Baldur’s Gate III). It’s an amazing celebration of D&D.” Evans mentioned the upcoming 50th anniversary of Dungeons & Dragons taking place this summer and confirmed that Baldur’s Gate III has “brought many new players to D&D.”