As a result of Hasbro’s layoffs, nearly the entire team Wizards of the Coast DnD team that helped make Baldur’s Gate 3 happen is gone. Larian Studios’ CEO has addressed the loss of the people who gave him ‘carte blanche’ to make BG3.
Baldur’s Gate 3 is an absolute gift, a fantasy RPG game that will be remembered and played for years and years to come. But while Larian Studios isn’t going anywhere, the people Larian dealt with at Hasbro are all but gone.
Larian CEO Swen Vincke is tweeting his condolences to those affected by Hasbro’s layoffs, which includes virtually every member of the Wizards of the Coast DnD team he dealt with.
Baldur’s Gate 3 uses Dungeons and Dragons’ Forgotten Realms campaign settings. DnD is owned by Wizards of the Coast which is in turn, owned by Hasbro.
Approaching Hasbro’s DnD division was no doubt a daunting prospect but Vincke found them surprisingly easy to deal with. According to him, they gave Larian “carte blanche”. Had that not been the case, Baldur’s Gate 3 might have been a very different game entirely.
But, just in time for Christmas, Hasbro announced it was laying off 1,000+ people across the whole company, due to weak toy sales. That’s on top of the 800 or layoffs earlier this year. Consequently, the staff that Larian dealt with, the ones that worked to make Baldur’s Gate 3 happen, are no longer at the company.
“It’s a sad thing to realize that of the people who were in the original meeting room, there’s almost nobody left. I hope you all end up well,” Venke remarked.
His comments are part of a Twitter thread containing the speech he wanted to give at The Game Awards. However, since recipients were only given around thirty seconds to speak, he wasn’t able to fit it all in.
In particular, he praises the Q&A department and the game’s playtesters. Given how massive Baldur’s Gate 3 is and the sheer number of bugs they’ve helped squash, they deserve a Halsin-sized pat on the back.
I hope that anyone at Hasbro, DnD or otherwise, lands on their feet. It’s worth reading the whole of Vincke’s thread, because it gives you an appreciation of how much work went into Baldur’s Gate 3.
If you’re just starting out with BG3, these are the best Baldur’s Gate 3 builds. Or if you’re here for its much-vaunted romances, here’s our Baldur’s Gate 3 romance guide.
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