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!
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