When you picture a “bankable video game,” what comes to mind? That answer will probably elicit some wildly different answers depending on who you are.
It’s a hit, but one that stands in direct opposition to everything we’ve been led to believe makes money over the past decade. Baldur’s Gate 3’s success may be an anomaly that isn’t easy to replicate, but it offers some insightful lessons to anyone treating creativity like a math equation to be solved. Sometimes the only thing players are hungry for is a damn good video game — though it’s not as simple as it sounds.
Those projects are all part of an aggressive push into the wild world of “live service” games, which is another pitfall Baldur’s Gate 3 avoids entirely. Rather than giving players an evolving world meant to keep them engaged over time, Larian launched a fully featured 100-hour RPG. That stands in stark contrast to another PC game this year, Blizzard’s Diablo 4, which has worked hard to maintain its initial player base amid a seasonal content schedule and a slew of controversial balance tweaks.
“Creating a Final Fantasy is such an endeavor where your development costs can go upwards of $100 million just to create one game,” Yoshida said. “To recoup that development cost, you need as many people playing your game as possible. While a lot of older fans are used to the Final Fantasy of the past, a lot of young fans grew up playing first-person shooters.
What does it mean? There’s an idealist read of all this that might make players feel some vindication. After years of live service gambles, battle royale cash-ins, battle passes, and Hollywood storytelling, there’s undeniably something cathartic about the success of Baldur’s Gate 3 . It feels small and rebellious, like David taking down Goliath.