- Baldur’s Gate 3 was a massive hit that shocked the whole industry.
- A Larian Studios developer has claimed it happened because people judge a game based on its genre.
- This is why the developer urges the publishers to take more bets on different genres.
The success of Baldur’s Gate 3 is now known to the world. Ever since its release, people have been talking about it due to its massive scope, gameplay, and RPG elements. Not only did it win the Game of the Year award, but it has also sold over 15 million units.
The game continues to impress everyone due to its achievements and still has a 24-hour peak of over 100K players. Following this success, Larian Studios urges publishers to explore more genres instead of taking bets on the tried and true ones.
Why it matters: CRPGs don’t immediately come to mind when thinking about the biggest genres today, highlighting why risk-taking is so necessary in the industry.
In a recent interview with Game File, Michael Douse, the director of publishing of Larian Studios, claimed that Baldur’s Gate 3 proves niches don’t exist anymore.
This industry is still obsessed with genres.
– Michael Douse
Douse explains in the interview that the industry is still obsessed with playing it safe. He thinks publishers need to take more risks, and even within the same genres, two games can end up quite different.
Douse further stated that publishers would look at Baldur’s Gate 3 in the past and refuse to take the risk of supporting a CRPG. Little did they know the game would ultimately blow up.
It’s a f***ing CRPG. Why would we take a bet on this?
-Michael Douse
Douse then clarified his points through the biggest launch of 2024. He explained that the developers of Palworld didn’t bother deciding what a game should be. They just took risks with the genre without looking back, and the success spoke for itself.
Similarly, Lethal Company surprised the internet last year. The game’s development cost was low, but it sold many copies because of its approach. A similar approach is still working, as Content Warning is the latest example.
Players often like new things in a game. Recently, footage of the canceled Batman game appeared online, showing the Nemesis system. However, the game was scrapped, and the Nemesis system was never introduced in the series.
The publisher didn’t want to take this risk, but it did debut the system with another game.
The success of games is often surprising, mainly because people judge games by their genres too often. Douse believes publishers should open up and use recent examples to experiment with future titles.
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