Larian lead has a little 'crash out on main' over Baldur's Gate 3 show announce, but big boss Swen Vincke says HBO is in touch about the writing, so now I don't know what to think

Baldur's Gate 3 villain Raphael, staring intently at the viewer.

(Image credit: Larian Studios)

HBO is cooking up a Baldur's Gate TV show helmed by Chernobyl and The Last of Us (the show) creator Craig Mazin, and boy you better believe that people have feelings about that. With Larian decisively moved on from Dungeons and Dragons and the new series likely featuring a whole new adventuring party anyway, can it rightly be called a Baldur's Gate game? And if it can, can HBO and Mazin be trusted to do it justice?

Well, depends who you ask. For instance, if you ask Larian CEO Swen Vincke, the future seems pretty bright, all things considered. In a post on X, Vincke said that "The endings of BG3 were created so they could serve as narrative soil for new adventures," so a series that builds on them makes perfect sense.

Hooray! Perhaps the Baldur's Gate show will be… good? Well, here's me dropping the other shoe: at least one Larian honcho is less keen. Publishing lead and serial tweeter Michael Douse reacted to news of the series thusly, "I've spent the last eight to 10 years of my life with the writers & creators of Baldur's Gate 3 and they're the most incredible storytellers & creators in the space… I genuinely don't think anyone can trump our writers."

Withers Big Naturals mod image - Withers with big naturals — I just need to know how big Withers' naturals are going to be. (Image credit: MaybeAdam)

But amid threats to "crash out on main," Douse pitches himself as, well, maybe not a cautious optimist, but not a full-blown doomsayer either. "Don't abandon hope, but do expect the world. That's the job."

So where does that leave us? You do you, my friends, but personally the news that Mazin and his team are at least in touch with Larian gives me a little bit of optimism. I'm not quite in a space to start posting Gomer Pyle gifs over the show's announcement. And if it sucks? We'll always have the game.

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One of Josh's first memories is of playing Quake 2 on the family computer when he was much too young to be doing that, and he's been irreparably game-brained ever since. His writing has been featured in Vice, Fanbyte, and the Financial Times. He'll play pretty much anything, and has written far too much on everything from visual novels to Assassin's Creed. His most profound loves are for CRPGs, immersive sims, and any game whose ambition outstrips its budget. He thinks you're all far too mean about Deus Ex: Invisible War.

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