Baldur's Gate 3 represents a shift for AAA RPGs that's hard to put into words without sounding overly trite but needs must. If Breath of the Wild was an event horizon for exploration in open worlds, then BG3 does the same for depth and character choice in RPGs. It's been causing other developers no end of anxiety, with lots of pre-emptive sandbagging being done over the last month in an attempt to brand the game as an anomaly, that gamers shouldn't expect this "raised standard" moving forward. The conversation was largely spurred by this viral post on X.
Apparently, the murmurs have grown such that outspoken Larian Studios CEO and founder, Swen Vincke, felt the need to respond. He acknowledges that "obviously, yeah, if you're a 50-man studio or 10-man studio, you shouldn't try to make a game like BG3" before proceeding to roll a 20 on a Charisma check, firing a shot across the bow of the AAA video game industry writ large. Speaking to PC Gamer, Vincke declared:
"The problem I have is with the use of the word 'standards'. This is video games, standards just die every day. Things get reinvented. New things appear all the time. When I was starting out in the industry, Assassin's Creed set a new standard. It was over: nobody could make games like Assassin's Creed, there was too much budget behind it, that was going to be the future, everybody had to consolidate, blah blah blah. That didn't materialise. In video games, there's so much free space to explore, still, in the creative tree."
As far as we can tell, big-bad, fiercely independent developer Larian Studios' huge advantage was that it took its time crafting something worth playing and implemented player feedback through an extended Early Access phase. Larian was afforded the luxury of doing so by already earning the goodwill of a loyal player base with its previous effort, Divinity: Original Sin 2.
Should players expect this new RPG standard moving forward? Is any of this the consumer's concern at the end of the day? Let us know in the comments section below.
[source pcgamer.com]
Comments 27
Baldur's Gate 3: "Don't get used to this level of standards."
Most of the other AAA games: "We will sell our game for full price first and take care of standards in a later patch. Maybe."
LOTR: Gollum: "What is a standard?"
I don't know which I am more impressed with, Larian Studios gumption or the fact that PushSquare gave such high praise to Breath of the Wild. 😁
@Krysus Yeah for anyone that hasn't seen how bad Diablo 4's shop and intentionally greedy the monetization is I highly recommend watching Act Man's recent video on it.
@GamingFan4Lyf Credit where it's due! Without it, I don't think you get an Elden Ring, or at least not in the same form. My own opinion, anyway
That IGN video is one of the worst, most ill-judged pieces I’ve ever seen from game journalists. Not often you see devs and other journos alike slating something like that. Citing ‘anti-woke’ outrage merchants as evidence of fan grumblings is insane, using that to essentially attack the entire industry should be career-ending.
It's weird that devs are getting defensive about "standards" when they were pretty quiet when Botw or Elden Ring were out. Why is BG3 causing this anxiety on Twitter (don't encourage Elon by calling it X PS) is strange.
@Theaussiegamer92 It is technically isometric, but you can zoom right down to essentially third-person while exploring. Combat is definitely top-down, however, haha
@AdamNovice Elden Ring is souls game. They don't care if it is long or short, good or bad, has deep story or is plain until calculations work. They focus only on core of souls game and that is mathematics.
RPGs unfortunately fall into abyss of live service sh*t and they cannot understand that someone has made "game to be played as it is" while they are making "product that -if catches- generate more money via mtx"
Excellent ad placement on this article, I got:
“firing a shot across the bow of the AAA video game industry writ large. Speaking to PC Gamer, Vincke declared:
ELDER SCROLLS ONLINE: 70% OFF”
Can’t argue with that logic.
@AdamNovice erm of course they gunna call it X as that's what it's called now whether you like it or not.
Honestly, I'd really respect the guy more if he just came out and said "Yeah we raised the bar. Get over it. Stop being lazy other devs".
Passion Projects are what move games forward. As passion leads to care and attention and fine details. It doesn't matter in what genre, or to what budget. If it's made with true passion, it's going to be a joy. The only studios that should be worried about this are the ones that don't really care about what they are making as long as enough people buy it, because that mask will soon slip and people will start to realise they want more from their games.
I'd use Rockstar as a huge example. They basically lost all of their passionate writing team, and it's going to be a big ask for the same level of love to be put into the games going forward, especially when all that matters to their overlord is big sales and keeping people hooked online, it all feels like it could end up as vast as an ocean, but as shallow as a puddle.
I read the entire X post, it smacked of bitterness for me. I agree with some of his notions, similiar to Fromsoft, Larian's journey has been iterative, since the 90's. They have been singularly focussed on building deep CRPG's and that momentum/experience has bore potentially their Magum Opus in Baldurs Gate 3. To suggest this game is an anomaly is frankly disrepsectful. And therein lies Venkce's challenge back, the possibilites are endless with the right focus and yes - investment. Lets use TOTK as an example, cost effective (ITERATIVE) choices in using the same map and fundamentals as BOTW to build upon. And essentially gave dev tools to the players, to shape their own experiences. There's a sky island up there, we can make some suggestions, but ultimately how you get there, is up to you - the possibilities are endless. What Larian, Fromsoft and Nintendo are now doing, is shining a light on the creatively vacuous, homegenised gaming industry that is currently at risk of becoming like the ailing film industry. By seeing what works from a lucrative perpsective and simply replicating that again and again and again (see Fortnite). And frankly as a Playstation guy (obviously) I fear SIE are treading the path of mundanity. As much as I love 1st party titles, they are all story driven, 3rd person action experiences. That is why Larian should stand proud in their position as a shining beacon amongst the quagmire of clones, clamouring for profit, not providence.
It really grinds my gears that these AAA studios already trying to make their bed for the upcoming mediocrities from them -even though some of them are much powerful than Larian in many aspects- instead of stop and think like: "Oh! Gamers reacted to this game so positive, let's try to do something passionate like that!". But they try to copy every ***** live service model to the no end in sight right? Hypocrisy all around. *****!
"It's been causing other developers no end of anxiety, with lots of pre-emptive sandbagging being done over the last month in an attempt to brand the game as an anomaly, that gamers shouldn't expect this "raised standard" moving forward."
Two words - Bethesda, Starfield
Also (after reading the tweet, or 'X'), saying BG3 is an anomaly is like saying the moon landing was an anomaly.
Just something that happened and can't be expected to be repeated, so just enjoy what you saw and move along.
Of course, ignore all the knowledge, expertise and advancement created from doing the moon landing in the first place.
Keep standards low and expect little seems to be the message, as a consumer I want more and tech to be pushed.
Standards raise all the time, from metal gear solid 1 on psone (cut scene and voice acting), morrowind (the game open world), uncharted & tlou 1 (movie-like story telling), elden ring (amazing gameplay & open world packed with things to do and get) and many others.
It kind of suck to other games company but if you want $70 customer money, you have to prove your games are worth that much, you can't ask customer to lower their standard.
@Khayl
Also mine. It's like Elden Ring is harder and more unsettling version of BotW. And not TotK is almost exactly the same as what Elden Ring did.
I like BG3 fine but I don’t find it mind blowing, aside from the dialogue options and characters which are good.
I find the actual playing of the game clunky and monotonous.
@AdamNovice Elden Ring caused a similar outcry.
@djlard You're right about From not caring much about story, but it's highly unfair to say they don't care about how long or good the game is. They are one of the best developers in the field and have earned and deserve that praise and recognition.
@Shakybeeves Well said and well-written post.
@doctommaso It was ment that other developers look at elden ring, game math works and rest they don't care BECAUSE it is souls game.
But suddenly somebody released succesful RPG focused on story, characters and choices and that is perplexing because their narrow-minded brains cannot understand outside of the box containing only multiplayer, coop, mtx and live service.
...in next 2 years we can expect storm of Baldurs-like games...
@doctommaso thanks my friend, frustrated writer over here 😁
@djlard Oh! Thanks for clarifying! And I agree.
@AdamNovice Elden Ring did cause some uproar, in fact. Look up the criticisms leveraged by UI/UX designers, if only for a look into how out of touch the AAA games industry is these days.
@nessisonett Are we talking about the same IGN video ("Baldur’s Gate 3 is Causing Some Developers to Panic")? I don't recall "anti-woke" factoring into it at all, just a wide sweep against microtransaction-heavy AAA titles that dominate the industry.
Try not putting out the same iterative crap or COD 38 because you know it will at least sell. Try putting out a game that you know is going to be fantastic not just keep the lights on. Having said that, most of these masterpieces have been years in the making. Nintendo could be putting out a decent, but not great, Zelda every two years. If that's what they wanted to do. Don't complain about standards or goal posts being moved. Celebrate and rise above them. We know every game can't be this great but unless you are an Indie company, you have zero excuses, and when people cry about it not being out yet, keep going. I had forgotten all about BG3 and didn't realize I played the open beta a couple of years back until I started the game and it all felt too familiar. I love the game (already clocked over 150 hours) but I don't think they've done anything here that's beyond the capabilities of any major studio. Stop whining and build a better one.
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