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Interview with Larian Studios on Baldur’s Gate 3, arriving September 30 on Stadia

StadiaTeam
Stadia Employee
Stadia Employee
39 19 14.1K

Baldur's Gate 3 Early Access Release Window Announcement Trailer.jpg

This week, Larian Studios announced on their Panel from Hell livestream that Baldur’s Gate 3, the next-generation RPG set in the world of Dungeons & Dragons, is launching into Early Access on September 30th. Today, we’re diving deeper into an adventure that gives you unprecedented freedom to explore, experiment, and interact with a world that reacts to your choices.


We caught up with Kieron Kelly at Larian Studios to hear more about the Early Access release of Baldur’s Gate 3 on Stadia.

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Hey! Can you introduce yourself and Larian Studios?

Hello! I’m Kieron Kelly, the Product Manager for Larian Studios. We’ve been making role playing games since 1996. For us, games are all about creating grand adventures where players have a real sense of freedom, with stories where choices matter and the world reacts. Following our last game, the award-winning Divinity: Original Sin 2, we’re creating a next-generation RPG with Baldur’s Gate 3, set in the world of Dungeons & Dragons.

We’re all looking forward to the Early Access launch of Baldur’s Gate 3 - when can we expect to play it on Stadia?

This week, we announced that Baldur’s Gate 3 will be playable on Stadia for day 1 of our Early Access launch on September 30th. This will just be the first Act of Early Access, but there’s much more to come!

Tuesday’s Panel from Hell livestream revealed Avernus, the massive new region that will be playable at Early Access launch. Can you tell us more about this area?

The final part of Baldur’s Gate 3’s introduction was shown for the first time during our panel, revealing that players will begin their journey in Avernus. Avernus is the first layer of the Nine Hells, and it featured heavily in the recently released D&D adventure “Descent into Avernus”. During that adventure, the nearby city of Elturel was dragged into hell. While the city was saved, the aftermath of that cataclysmic event cast a very large shadow over the events of Baldur’s Gate 3. Captive aboard a nautiloid, flying above the apocalyptic Blood War that ravages across this hellscape, players will take part in a daring escape as the ship jumps between planes of existence in an effort to return home.

What about Stadia makes you excited to bring Baldur’s Gate 3 to players?

For me it's how low the barrier to entry is thanks to Stadia. One thing I’ve noticed in the many years of seeing people play our RPGs for the first time is how easily the game clicks with them once they start playing. Some players don’t own a powerful PC or the latest console, but we know from experience that new players just need to jump in to experience the world we’ve created and explore on their own to get hooked. With Stadia, getting up and running in Baldur’s Gate 3 and exploring for yourself is a lot more accessible.

Why is releasing Baldur’s Gate 3 into Early Access important to the team at Larian Studios?

We’ve found that working directly with the community is the key to creating the best games possible. Community feedback is what makes it possible to create RPGs this large with so many possibilities for players, especially as new features and fixes are continually added to the game. Put simply, working directly with our players over the course of Early Access makes our games better.

For both experienced fans of the series and new players, what should we expect to see in terms of the story?

You’ve been kidnapped by mind flayers. A tadpole that gives the expression “invasive species” a new meaning has burrowed deep into your head. You escape from your cage only to find yourself stranded and hovering over a war torn hellscape. You manage to get away, but barely survive crash landing a nautiloid, and then if that’s not enough, you still find yourself stranded in the middle of an inhospitable wilderness. And that’s just the beginning!

Fans can expect an epic journey with lots of twists and turns, with a host of interesting characters to interact and potentially journey with. You’ll discover that the parasite inside your mind is a ticking time bomb, and you have limited time to find a solution before you turn into a Mind Flayer yourself. You need a cure, and while there may be a few potential ways to solve it, the easiest options are not without their own risks.

How big is Baldur’s Gate 3 compared to its predecessors?

I can’t comment on the size of the full game just yet since it’s still in development, but I can certainly give you some detail as to how Early Access for Baldur’s Gate 3 compares to the Early Access content for Divinity: Original Sin 2.

While the play time for both games will be quite similar for Act 1, the difference will be in the depth. Baldur’s Gate 3 Early Access will contain nearly three times as many lines (in English) as Divinity: Original Sin 2 Early Access. It’ll have almost four times as many possible combat encounters, and four times as many NPC’s. The exciting part is that it’s not just bigger than its predecessor, it’s also deeper. The amount of branching choices in the adventure means that the choices you make matter more now than ever. You’ll need to play this version of Baldur’s Gate 3 multiple times before seeing all the content that's on offer.

Is there an exciting gameplay moment from the new Avernus region that you can share with us?

During the Panel from Hell livestream, we showed a gruesome moment where we find a human laying back on a chair and their brain exposed. After inspection, we realise the brain inside is none other than an Intellect Devourer! These Mind Flayers creations are the truest form of deadly body snatchers. After removing the creature, we showed the possibility of bringing this foul aberration with you on your journey as a party follower!

19 Comments
Deleted User
Not applicable

I know a ton of people are excited for this. I wonder though if the price it'll land at in early access is the same price it'll be when it officially launches out of early access

I believe One Hand Clapping stated it's cheap now and will progressily get more expensive as it nears launch.

Fosojr1855
Stadia Player
Stadia Player

I can't wait for crowdplay and crowdchooicd with this game 

Ericstreameru
Founder
Founder

Cant wait to play this! Anyone from europe that need a Coop partner? Add me on stadia ,Erictheslayer :slightly_smiling_face:

Waldorf
Community Member

Is it possible to find out whether save games are cross-compatible with the PC version? I'd love to be able to play the same game on my high-end gaming PC and on my Chrome devices too.

Chufu
Platinum Stadia Guide
Platinum Stadia Guide

This will be amazing! Can't wait to finally play Baldur's Gate 3 even though the story plays more than 100 years after BG2 so it's very unlikely to see some of the old favorites, but let's see.

Personally I am looking forward to it and I can only encourage if you want to play it too, don't wait and start with Early Access. There is nothing better than improve a game than test it as well and leave feedback for it. And of course, getting the hands on it as soon as possible is something nice as well. :grinning_face_with_smiling_eyes: Can understand though if some of you rather wait a bit for it, Early Access games usually have of course some bugs or other glitches might appear, but well I am hoping Larian is good in fixing things soon. They did a good job on Destiny - Original Sin though so I have no doubt that this one will be a good one too.

Kalamajo
Stadia Player
Stadia Player

La lingua Italiana sarà presente al lancio in accesso anticipato?

LekoPhantom
Founder
Founder

TBH, this was one of the reasons I purchased Stadia as a founder. I am incredibly psyched.  If we purchase the early access, will it automatically convert to the full game on launch, or will we need to buy it again?

Babaganuche7
Founder
Founder

@LekoPhantom i can't say with 100% certainty, but based on how other stores handle it, you will automatically upgrade to the full version for free.

lloydbus
Stadia Player
Stadia Player

I was never really into Baldur's Gate when I was younger but when I saw the trailer during the stadia announcement I'm all on board so everything extra is just gravy

OriginalMarvX
Founder
Founder

I bought Stadia Founder Edition day one to play Baldur's Gate 3 day one  and have the best experience playing it!!!! :smiling_face_with_sunglasses::glowing_star:

SqueezyDonutz
Stadia Player
Stadia Player

I don't really understand the point of early access on Stadia. The whole point is to use the players as play testers, but with no review system and no dedicated forums there isn't an easy way to give Stadia specific feedback on bugs and performance issues.

ChronosP
Community Member

20+ hours early access sounds yummy! :beaming_face_with_smiling_eyes::thumbs_up:

Day one buy for me!

Ranger
Community Member

Was my reason for buying stadia as others have said so I can't wait. All the gameplay released so far has looked fantastic and Larian has already taken feedback making great changes to the combat system so I'm looking forward to the impact EA will have. Anyone looking to party up add me as a friend: Ranger18 love to get a regular game/party going eventually

@Ericstreameru @LekoPhantom @Chufu @OriginalMarvX 

Bucciarati
Stadia Player
Stadia Player

When Call of Duty?? 

Riott
Stadia Player
Stadia Player

I've always been very interested in this game.   I can't wait to play. What do you have coming to Stadia after Baulder's Gate?

JediMind
Community Member

Sounds bloody

Lethos
Founder
Founder

This will be a day one purchase no doubts!!!

Well done Stadia.

Add me for party @Lethos

rolexdpracer
Stadia Player
Stadia Player

I can't wait to get my hands on this. I've been waiting on a new Balder's Gate for years! 

romansfc80
Founder
Founder

Tic tac tic tac....treinta de septiembre y no está aún en stadia...no se como sé quedan con los usuarios de esta manera...mal,muy mal