Larian Studios head Swen Vincke suggested during an acceptance speech at an awards ceremony in Malaysia today that fans could expect the studio’s next game in around 2028 or 2029. Speaking on stage at the SEA Game Awards 2024 where the company received a Special Recognition Award, Vincke said, “We need to work hard on the next game so we can be back here in five years”.
But speaking to IGN immediately afterwards, he walked it back, saying with a chuckle, “I knew you’d pick up on that. It was just a joke. I don’t know, we’ll release it when it’s ready. They’re big games and it takes time, so don’t hold us to a date.”
Larian Studios opened multiple development studios around the world to aid with the development of Baldur’s Gate 3, as part of its “following the sun” concept of 24-hour game development, with teams handing off work to the next time zone at the end of their work day to speed up development without the need for crunch. In addition to Kuala Lumpur, the company also has studios in Barcelona, Dublin, Guildford, Quebec, Warsaw and its original home of Ghent.
“We make very large games,” observed Vincke, explaining how the global teams work together for more efficient development. “An easy example to understand is testing the game. Our KL team can give the game to Europe at the end of their work day, and then Europe can give it to North America, and then they can give it back to KL – and that way we can test Baldur’s Gate 3 in a week, whereas usually we would need a month to test it. It doesn’t work for every element but it works for quite a lot of things.”
Vincke chose Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia as the location for Larian’s Asia studio after he was impressed by the city’s large English-speaking talent pool. “There was also a very vibrant art and animation industry here, so we thought there was a grounds to build from,” he said. “The studio in KL owns quite a lot of the game. Dark Urge was made in Malaysia, and the lead scripter for House of Hope was here too.
“One of our team members told me yesterday that she used to feel she was just an outsourcer, but now she feels like a game developer, so a shift has happened in their heads, which is nice to see.”
Regarding its next project, Larian has previously announced that it is making more than one game, at least one of which will seemingly be a brand new title instead of an entry in the Baldur’s Gate or Divinity series. At the SEA Game Awards today, Vincke declined to comment on which of their multiple projects will be next or what kind of game it will be. But in more general terms, he said that following up a hit as massive as Baldur’s Gate 3 is “very stressy”.
“Expectations are incredibly high, so I told the team, ‘Just follow your gut, and we’ll see where we end up’,” said Vincke. “It’s OK to fail – failure has always been in the DNA of the studio; failing is part of creativity, and we have to remember that. I’m happy that we’re out of the circus now and we can focus on what we’re doing.”
When asked about the core tenets of Larian’s approach to game development, and elements he’d like to take forward after Baldur’s Gate 3, Vincke said, “Something that you would be proud to show your friends, and something that you would want to play. That’s the core. If that’s there, we’ll be fine. These are very talented and skilled people, so if you give them freedom and trust them to do their best, you can’t go wrong.”
Daniel Robson is Chief Editor of IGN Japan. Follow him on twitter here.
