Hasbro SVP Teases Quick Updates on Baldur's Gate's Future

As we continue to enjoy multiple playthroughs of the year-and-a-half-old *Baldur's Gate 3*, developer Larian Studios has announced their departure from the series. This leaves Hasbro with the task of steering the future of *Baldur's Gate*. Fortunately, it seems we won't have to wait long for updates on what's next for the franchise.

During a conversation with IGN at the Game Developers Conference, Dan Ayoub, Hasbro's SVP of digital games, shared that interest in *Baldur's Gate* remains high, even with Larian moving on. "We're kind of working out our plans for the future and what we're going to be doing with that. And actually, in pretty short order, we're going to have some stuff to talk about around that," Ayoub revealed.

While specifics about the upcoming announcements were not disclosed, Ayoub hinted that they might involve more than just a new *Baldur's Gate* game. Past collaborations, such as the crossover with *Magic: The Gathering*, suggest a variety of possibilities. Despite this, Ayoub expressed a clear desire for a *Baldur's Gate 4*, acknowledging that its development would be a lengthy process.

"It's somewhat of an unenviable position," he admitted. "I mean, we're not in a hurry. Right? That's the thing, we're going to take a very measured approach... We've got a lot of plans, a lot of different ways to go about it. We're starting to think about, okay, yeah, we're ready to start dipping toes a little bit and talking about a few things. And I think, in really short order, like I said, again, not to over-tease that point, we're going to have some other things to talk about around that."

Ayoub also highlighted the immense pressure to deliver a worthy successor to *Baldur's Gate 3*, which extends to other Dungeons & Dragons projects, including a game announced by Hasbro last year. "I'm never one to shy down from a challenge," he stated. "And I think anything that forces us to raise our creative bar, and developers love to have a high bar to go after, and I think we've actually seen the team push some really interesting ideas that they're like, 'Okay, we need to raise our bar. We need to go bigger on this.' And things like that. So, I think that's our hope, right? We would keep raising the bar and everyone just tries to go a little higher."

In addition to discussing *Baldur's Gate*, Ayoub touched on several other topics, including *Magic: The Gathering*, Hasbro's partnership with Saber Interactive, and their overall gaming strategy. Stay tuned for our comprehensive interview next week.

Every IGN 10 of 2023

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