Hasbro SVP Teases Quick Updates on Baldur's Gate's Future

Baldur's Gate 3, now a year-and-a-half old, continues to captivate fans, with many enjoying their second, third, seventh, and even 10th playthroughs. However, with developer Larian Studios choosing to step away from the series, the future of Baldur's Gate lies in the hands of Hasbro. Fortunately, it seems we won't have to wait long to learn about what's next for the franchise.

During a recent interview at the Game Developers Conference, Dan Ayoub, SVP of digital games at Hasbro, shared that there's significant interest in Baldur's Gate 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. And actually, in pretty short order, we're going to have some stuff to talk about around that," Ayoub stated.

While Ayoub didn't elaborate on whether this "stuff" would be a new full-fledged Baldur's Gate game or something like the previous crossover with Magic: The Gathering, he did express his desire for a Baldur's Gate 4. He acknowledged, however, that such a project would require time. "It's somewhat of an unenviable position," he remarked. "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 highlighted the immense pressure to ensure the next Baldur's Gate meets high expectations, which influences other Dungeons & Dragons-related projects as well. He expressed a willingness to embrace this challenge, saying, "I'm never one to shy down from a challenge. 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 broader gaming strategy. Look out for the full interview, which will be available next week.

Every IGN 10 of 2023