Larian Studios may be done with Dungeons & Dragons after the brilliant Baldur’s Gate 3. But the video game adaptations of the popular role-playing game haven’t yet cast all their dice.
Baldur’s Gate 3 has undoubtedly set the bar very high in the field of Dungeons & Dragons video games. Wizards of the Coast, the license holders, are not giving up and have other video game adaptations in the pipeline. These could also be subject to major changes in the future.
The hard burden of succeeding Baldur’s Gate 3
C-RPG and Dungeons & Dragons fans have been superbly spoiled by Baldur’s Gate 3. Unfortunately, there will be no DLC or sequel to this masterpiece from Larian Studios. It will be more difficult for any game based on Dungeons & Dragons to come close to it. However, Wizards of the Coast has many plans to take advantage of its flagship license in the small world of video games. Many productions are currently in the works for this purpose.
For example, we have a cooperative game developed by Starbreeze (PayDay), expected in 2026. This will take place in Waterdeep, Gayle’s home town in Baldur’s Gate 3. We also have a VR game by Resolution Games (Demeo) . Finally, Invoke Studios, behind the (really) not very good Dark Alliance of 2021, has been working on a game under Unreal Engine 5 since 2022. It would currently be the most advanced D&D game with the greatest potential nowadays. According to a job offer recently posted about it, this title could incorporate elements of Players versus Players. Such a thing has rarely been attempted for a video game adaptation of the iconic role-playing game. It could be that Invoke Studios’ work features asymmetrical multiplayer, with a Game Master trying to stop his players. In any case, this is a fairly original idea and adapted to D&D.
Other big changes coming to Dungeons & Dragons?
In addition to this attempt to integrate PvP into a Dungeons & Dragons game, other changes to diversify the video game adaptations would be planned. For example, we will be entitled to games taking place outside of Faêrun and the Forgotten Realms. As a reminder, this is the most well-known and popular world in role-playing lore. It is also there that most of the events of Baldur’s Gate 3 take place.
As if trying to break away from it, future games could exploit other worlds known to D&D. Among these, we have Greyhawk, Mystara, Ravenloft and Spelljammer. Interviewed during GDC 2024 by GameSpot, Dan Ayoub, director of digital product development at Wizards of the Coast (formerly at Microsoft), had some interesting things to say to gamers who are fans of D&D. “ We have big plans for D&D games, while still allowing studios their creative freedom. So you’re going to see many kinds of D&D experiences coming up. “. However, we can’t help but think that all these future experiences will have to live in the shadow of the titan of matter that is Baldur’s Gate 3.
