Even the team at WotC working to get Baldur’s Gate 3 greenlit with Larian has been hit by the Hasbro layoffs.
Swen Vincke, Baldur’s Gate 3 director and CEO of Larian Studios, recently offered his condolences to the massive group of Wizards of the Coast workers affected by Hasbro’s latest round of layoffs, drawing specific attention to the fact that nearly everyone at the company who was part of early discussions about the Dungeons & Dragons-based game is now gone.
“I also want to thank [Wizards of the Coast], and specifically the Dungeons & Dragons team, for giving us carte blanche, I’m really sorry to hear so many of you were let go. 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.”
Larian CEO and creative director Swen Vincke took to his X account to give the acceptance he wanted to give at the Game Awards but was not allowed to.
Incredibly lucky with Larian Studios–they are some of the finest and they did a truly amazing job.
Over 2000 people are listed in the credits and since I can’t call out everyone, I want to focus on a group of people that don’t always get the credit they deserve.
Team QA, Team Localisation, Team Customer Support, Team Operations, Team Publishing, Team Play Testers, and every other developer at Larian, BG3 wouldn’t exist without you and you all deserve to be very proud of this.
I want to dedicate this award to the friends and family members we lost during development including Jim, our lead cinematic animator, who passed away last month and personally, to my father, who passed away the week before we launched our Early Access Campaign.
You don’t get to make something like BG3 if you don’t have the support from the people around you. Personally, I really want to thank 5 special people, a crazy dog, and a one-eyed cat for sticking with me.
Big shout out also to our localization partners and PitStop Productions who had to use every corner of their building to record and performance capture what was an insane number of lines.
To our actors — you did great. I hope our paths will cross again in the future and your agents will remain their usual reasonable selves.
I also want to thank Wizards of the Coast and specifically the Dungeons & Dragons team for giving us carte blanche. I’m really sorry to hear so many of you were let go. 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.
There are many more partners I want to thank. We asked much of you all, but you delivered and without your efforts, BG3 would not be what it is.
I want to end with a story of a conversation I had a long time ago with a publisher. He told me, luckily for them, games are driven by idealism. He meant it as an exploitative way but he was right.
Games are a unique art form, as important as books, music, or movies. Many developers, myself included, make games because they love seeing others engage with their creation in a way only games can offer.
Edit (added continuation): They don’t care that much about the money made beyond it being the fuel they need to create new and better games. It’s worth reminding everyone that fuel is but a means, not a goal. Whereto and how we journey are what matter and what we remember.
Thank you.
Also — BG3 is now out on Xbox.
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