Swen Vincke Is Still Embarrassed by the First Presentation of the Idea for Baldur's Gate 3. Wizards of the Coast Was Disappointed
Game of the Year 2023 didn't always promise to be as perfect as we know it when it was released. The first presentation went particularly awry.
The success of the third installment of the Baldur’s Gate series is due to six years of hard work and the enthusiasm that drove Swen Vincke to the very end. The founder of Larian Studios was the one who conceived the idea of reviving a classic from the 90s, which, despite appearances, posed quite a challenge - after all, the rights to the brand were still held by Wizards of the Coast.
Vincke gathered his courage and contacted the publisher, which agreed to a meeting. Unfortunately, this didn't quite go according to plan for Larian's CEO, as he told IGN.
Unlucky date
The situation in question took place on September 14, 2017. Wizards of the Coast arranged an "audience" with Swen, during which the developer was to present the project of the new Baldur's Gate. Fortunately, the release of Divinity: Original Sin 2, another game from Larian Studios, happened to be on the same day.
So it's no wonder that Vincke most likely couldn't fully focus on the presentation. Although we don't know the details of the unfortunate meeting, Swen is still embarrassed by it.
That was the best that we could do. [Wizards of the Coast] said, 'This is not very good.' We said, 'We know.' 'Give us more time.' And then they gave us more time.
-- Swen Vincke for IGN
"Every game has its own language"
In hindsight, we know that the following presentation went much better, allowing Larian to proceed with developing BG3. In 2020, the game was released in early access, giving fans a chance to leave their feedback - and there was plenty of it. The player's opinions motivated the studio to completely rewrite several things, including the introduction, characters, and even the DnD system.
This system, despite requiring a lot of time and patience, performed exceptionally well. On the other hand, however, Vincke isn't sure if he would opt for the same method in future Larian Studios games.
[Early Access] has a tremendous amount of benefits but every game has its own structure – its own language – so I think you need to judge that game by game.
-- Swen Vincke for IGN
Baldur's Gate 3 has been out for over a year now, and the game is soon to receive its seventh patch, adding more elements to the endings and storyline - who knows what the future holds for other titles from Swen?
