Based Baldur's Gate 3 devs slam and call out "greed" of games industry and publishers

[@YongYea]

And this is why Larian Studios are the most based AAA game publisher and developers right now. PATREON: www.patreon.com/yongyea TWITTER: twitter.com/yongyea INSTAGRAM: instagram.com/yong_yea TIKTOK: www.tiktok.com/@yongyea TOP PATRONS [BIG BOSS] - Devon B - gergely oggolder - Jonathan Ball [BOSS] - Charlie Galvin - Gerardo Andrade - Marketing aag - Michael Redmond [LEGENDARY] - azalea - dirt

[@Arctraxiel]

.

[@luluna5228]

So as they based or did we see you defend dragons dogma

[@youngimperialistmkii]

They are based. Because they don't think of themselves as a "AAA" studio. They make the games that they want to play. Like you said.👍🏾

[@josephmatuszak3855]

It would be MORE than refreshing at this point, for a developer to make a good game FIRST...if you don't offer a product that worth a damn, why ya think they gonna stick around to keep throwing money at it.... Larian Studios nailed Baldur's Gate 3.

[@MyNameIsBucket]

i wish these companies even cared what they're doing to the industry when they lay off their veterans but no - literally the only thing going through their stupid little heads is, "this guy is making $100k with benefits. replace him with a college kid for less than half and no benefits, and we pocket the rest." pure unfettered capitalism is to blame.

[@Hexenkind1]

They are a private company. They serve the customers, not the shareholders. And it shows.

[@warbossgegguz679]

I mean... it's not like they didn't make money off of it or Divinity. In fact, they made more off of the latter since it was self-published and kickstarted. People talk about Larian like they're an indie dev and not a 30 year old AAA studio. And I say that as a fan of BG3 and all 6 Divinity games.

[@MoleculeXmolecule]

@@warbossgegguz679Where are you going with this? Are you mad that they made profit on a game they worked on? It's a studio that puts their employees and customers first. Just because they made money, doesn't invalidate that.

[@DamashiTheKaotic]

@@warbossgegguz679People don't talk about them that way, because they aren't. They are a 28 year old indie studio, that recently gained the ability to compete with AAA scope games, within the last few years. Prior to DOS1 (and even during DOS1's development) they were constantly struggling to keep their heads above water, because of their publishers screwing them over.

[@J.A.Z-TheMortal]

Yup. Wished more people understood what being publicly treated means in modern times.

[@heramaaroricon4738]

Indie means "Independent", not that they are some "fresh new studio that used to make small games"@@warbossgegguz679

[@cordingdesert9566]

I still can't believe they were shooed off stage at the game awards after they dared to take more than a couple of minutes.

[@Linklex7]

They had to make room for Anthony Mackie’s 10 min skits

[@general_GAS]

Don't forget kojimas 30 min presentations lol

[@AdaWongMistress]

meanwhile Kojima gets infinite time to speak nonsense, and Simu Liu gets to talk about his broken foot

[@Chris_Sizemore]

The Game Awards are broken on a fundamental level. It isn't about the developers. The Game Awards are about doing promotions for games, game companies and itself. I just don't think the Game Awards are worth watching. I'd rather hear about it from reporters that have nothing to do with the Game Awards.

[@warbossgegguz679]

To be fair, that was literally everyone and it was entirely Jeoff/the event organizer's faults for prioritizing ads.

[@TheGravityShifter]

The English version of that Saying goes like this. "Lying has speed, but Truth has endurance."

[@simmonslucas]

great saying!

[@SanDukey]

I honestly thought he meant "honesty is the best policy". Thanks for clarifying!

[@IncognitoActivado]

BG3 is w@ke, soooo...

[@TheGravityShifter]

@@IncognitoActivado It's not.

[@TheGravityShifter]

@@SanDukey That was the first thing that came to mind for me too lol. But when he tried to say it, I immediately recalled what I read from a motivational picture at some gym years ago lol.

[@NeoTokioo]

"Shareholders" killed the gaming industry, we need to step back to 2010's.

[@Bedlam83]

Shareholders are killing everything they touch, no matter the industry.

[@calebpace8788]

​@@Bedlam83private equity firms have established a pattern, it is always the same M.O. every time, they gut the talent, cut the quality out and jack up the prices till the company dies, and then they move on to the next one. Private equity firms are the business version of rabies. As soon as symptoms are visible, it's already dead.

[@spellsnare]

shareholder should stay out of the video game industry they bring nothing

[@paledrake]

I've been saying that, shareholders are the worst.

[@phdonme1]

Yes yes yes. These people know nothing about the lifestyle or even enjoying games recreationally.

[@X_Potato]

24 hour peak for bg3 was at 94k today, this is a single player game.

[@MyNameIsBucket]

that people have been playing for 3 years

[@Lunaria.Praesentia]

This should be the future, it used to be the past and we have the power as a community to bring back the glorious, beautiful days of this industry, as long as there's people like those from Larian, there's a glimpse of hope, we must support them more than ever and make the message CRYSTAL clear

[@masterofbloopers]

"Only 94k? Baldur's Gate 3 fell off!" -Live service addicts

[@ItsOnlyGenjutsu]

Yeah, but Call of Duty has more. Lol to be honest, I don't even know if that's true XD. Hopefully, Sven has a long life. And, figures a successor who won't tarnish Larian's name. That way they can consecutively bring upheaval to the industry of games. That's been crusty and brought only shame.

[@emanuel81111]

BG3 is still peaking at 127k players HELLO! ITS A SINGLE PLAYER! Making hundred millions of dollars in 3 months HELLO! SINGLEPLAYER GAMES ARE DEAD GUYS?

[@SigganGaming]

I'm just some random guy living in Sweden, and I've had a few interractions with Sven. He's so down to earth as a person, and you can tell he's genuinly passionate when it comes to the industry and all the people working with him. Not for him, but with him. He's a good egg and unfortunately we don't have a lot ot those left. But I'm so happy for Larians success with Baldur's Gate 3.

[@hairycoo]

Dude could not be more inspiring. Bladur's Gate 3 (a game created out of love for players) -- 83,000 current steam players Suicide Squad (a game created to satiate corporate greed) -- 781 current steam players The very definition of poetic justice.

[@luiso1149]

you could say that larian is the poetic justice league

[@dalberttran8134]

Even call of duty on stream couldn't reach the highs of baldur's gate 3 which reach 875k and cod highest reach is 488k players

[@Hakriusthebird]

My favorite part is that Suicide Squad is losing out to BG3, a game which is almost a year old at this point

[@AmukaAkuma]

It's WAY WORSE than this. WB, who very recently published Hogwarts, a hugely successful SP game, will make more Suicide Squad, because shareholders prefer stable revenue generating IP's as opposed to potential huge windfalls every 3-4 years. For the suits, It is a basic risk calculation, they will continue doubling down. They look at the overall market, and see freemium and live service games generate the lions share of the "gaming revenue market". They are literally compelled to chase those trends to maximize shareholder value. Stop caring what these publishers/developers put out. The games are not made with you in mind.

[@kraosdadafusfus8034]

@@AmukaAkuma Then they will have to learn the hard way that doing the same thing over and over won't work, and the suits' heads shall roll.

[@kanaria-cu3uv]

oh no, they can’t use the “you’re not a game developer you don’t know what you’re talking about” defense against him! someone find a different excuse quick!

[@falloutrains2641]

Racism!

[@Shredius]

The options are: -Racism -Misogyny -Metoo -Old white male -His speech is harassment Place your bets! My money is on a female ex-employee saying that 20 years ago he "did something" that made her "feel uncomfortable".

[@coranbaker6401]

Um, receding hairline!

[@artgokrew]

they thugshakers 😊

[@cokeweasel1064]

Receding taint line!

[@teamtim87]

Best Buy employee here. Today the company held yet another round of mass layoffs. As of this writing, Geek Squad installers, field agents and project managers were let go, with more employees at a store level expected to follow. I truly hate corporate greed.

[@johnnyflannigan136]

If the company doesn't need those employees why is it bad to lay them off?? Should businesses just hire employees they dont need out of the kindness of their hearts? There are some situations where I would agree with you though. I dont know the details about the best buy layoffs but if they don't need those employees anymore then I dont think they should havr to keep them

[@general_GAS]

​@johnnyflannigan136 the issue is the fact that businesses over-hire and then fire hundreds of employees when profits go down slightly. They are the issue here

[@matthewbreen1951]

If it's corporate ineptitude, maybe we should cut those payouts first? It seems logical that saving a lot of money and inconveniencing less people would make the most sense?

[@teamtim87]

@@johnnyflannigan136 Had this been one of those situations, your point would've been valid. But it is not. The company, like many others, is severely understaffed. Employees are stretched thin and "leadership" barely does anything to support them. I'm sure you've probably noticed the customer experience is less than favorable if you've gone to a store recently.

[@CaptnNuco]

@@johnnyflannigan136 I think they understands this, they are on the ground watching skilled co workers be let go while the head office get raises. It’s frustrating to be in that position being punished for the bad decisions of leadership who never take the brunt of punishment

[@Nightlizard1564]

Honestly good for them. More devolpers need to be called out for being incredibly greedy with their games especially with how SS and skull and bones released.

[@DreamyLoops-b6r]

What is SS?

[@lekrashar]

@@DreamyLoops-b6r took me a minute as well, but I'm pretty sure it's Suicide Squad

[@tami3456]

It's not the developers that are behind the greed

[@warbossgegguz679]

I mean, those devs are owned by the publishers, they don't really have a say in the matter. Larian is a private contractor that Hasbro reached out to after seeing Divinity: OS blow up. These are two very different things in terms of bargaining power. In the latter's case it's basically asking people to put their entire livelihoods on the line vs. Larian still earning cash from BG3 while working on new projects. It's harsh to say "the can afford to take the risk after 3 consecutive multi-million selling games" but that's basically the position they're in, which is extremely rare for ANY private dev.

[@PILULE-ow9sk]

​@@DreamyLoops-b6rWaffen SS, they're back my boy

[@KaiserAfini]

The rarest unlockable developers can earn after creating a title that made waves in the industry: the ability to publicly express their opinion. Clearly they are speaking from the heart and with hard earned wisdom, hope more people are open to listen to them.

[@TriscoG]

This is the problem with society not even just the games industry, the stock market and middle man investing firms and big money are ruining society as a whole. Everything is just a number and there's no human value anymore. It's disgusting to be honest.

[@pseudonayme7717]

Whoever coined the phrase "Money is the root of all evil" knew of what he spoke.

[@etienne8110]

Capitalism When non workers make more than the ones doing the work...

[@patriciopannucio2844]

You're thinking about capitalism.

[@newyorktechworld6492]

​@@pseudonayme7717Not money but "the love of money" is the root of evil.

[@razorback9999able]

What do you get when you cross a gamer and a game developer *WITH A SOCIETY THAT ABANDONS THEM AND TREATS THEM LIKE TOOLS?!?*

[@Resignedbc27]

Thank god they called it out

[@robsolf]

The way it really works is that a gaming company works hard to earn loyalty and goodwill by making good, reasonably priced products. Corporates and executives know this, they just don't want to do it. They want to buy a company that has already done that work, then leverage the goodwill til' it's gone. Then they blow up the studio to declare the loss on their taxes, and go buy another one. Maybe when we realize that a studio going AAA is pretty much the beginning of the end for them, this cycle will break down.

[@Daniel__Nobre]

It will probably not going to break/stop. It’s a cycle that has been happening for decades now in multiple areas. Most startups are created with the idea of being sold for multi-million dollars agreements. Great idea > years to become a product > iterations and crunching make it great > huge success attracts investment > gets bought by huge group > gets absorbed into huge group’s crap culture > people get fired and squeezed even more > investors and corporate leadership puts pressure for exponential continuous growth > product turns to shit > starts to fail commercially > everyone gets lay off > company is eviscerated. The worst is really that people are seen as assets or resources no matter what they have given to projects or how much they contributed to build the startup from garage project to a full fledge amazing product/platform. This cycle won’t stop because it’s motivated by greed. You might have some outliers, but it’s hard to believe that more sustainable approach will ever be the norm again.

[@robsolf]

@@Daniel__Nobre I've seen it mostly happen like this: They startup by doing the real work that bigger public companies no longer do well. Then the owners get tired of putting in 80 hours a week and sell to a company they feel will take care of their employees. Then that company either goes public, or is public and/or they get taken over by a capital firm. At that point, the customer is no longer the people that buy their products, but the shareholders. Resources get moved from providing a product, to convincing shareholders that everything is great. That's why we see stuff like, "More people than ever are logging in every day! (Dailies with rewards) People log in for hours every day!(time sinks)" Sad thing is, it's inevitable that Larian will go this route. The Helldivers folks will inevitably go there, as well... and we'll see it happen all over again. I guess that's why I see "AAA" as scarlet letters, anymore. It means developers have funding to answer to over players and their own instincts.

[@aconceitedbeast731]

Finally some good news when it comes to gaming! Glad to see there's still developers out there that actually care about true gamers

[@morgantronprime]

Facts.

[@JackOfBlackPhoenix2]

It feels like Larian Studios is a rare anomaly in the world of greedy devs and publishers, which is depressing because what they stand for should be the standard

[@spellsnare]

i remember a long time ago that was the same mindset of blizzard now they only care with greed

[@KristianKumpula]

We're pretty lucky that they're even still around as well. Larian was very close to going out of business while developing Divinity: Original Sin, which was their big breakthrough and part of the foundation for BG 3. If that hadn't been a success, it would have been their final game.

[@JoeEver123]

@@KristianKumpulaif I remember correctly they went close to bankrupt twice. I also remember that their shares drop right after dos2 release, which is incredible that they were able to make bg3

[@darthrevan6]

It's capitalism devouring anything and everything in its path. The corporate ladder is entirely made to facilitate all of this.@@spellsnare

[@syro2412]

@@KristianKumpula there is a pretty good documentary about that too. It's made by gameumentary. I encourage everyone to see that

[@TrashComments]

Larian is one of the game developers to not only call out other gaming studios for their greedy tactics but also win multiple awards in the process. They really care about their product and what the players want. Huge W to them!

[@mediumvillain]

They care about what THEY are passionate about, which is good and sometimes not so good. The fans desperarely want more BG3 but they decided not to make a DLC expansion bc they werent as enthusiastic about making it.

[@Pyro71666]

Who cares? They don't have to make anything that they don't want to make. ​@@mediumvillain

[@mediumvillain]

@@Pyro71666 I care obviously. I want to play BG3 content created by Larian. It's weird that they wouldnt want to make it. Maybe not a sequel if they wanna move on to something very different, but if that's the case then expansion content would be a great compromise for the many, many people who greatly enjoyed this game's singular experience.

[@Bedlam83]

​@@mediumvillainWhich is EXACTLY the right call by Larian, that ensures they will produce fantastic games in the future. If you don't have the passion for it, don't force yourself to make it. Easy as that. Everything can burn one out.

[@mediumvillain]

@@Bedlam83 If you dont have as much passion for something temporarily then you can take a break from it, but I dont like that they've foreclosed on the possibility of more BG content, in large part bc SOMEONE is going to try to capitalize on its popularity; if not a studio with vision & integrity then it will be someone else. But also because the 2nd time a studio makes a franchise CRPG is often when the things that made the previous one special are honed, refined & expanded into something even greater (BG2 & DOS2 for example). They expanded upon the D&D world with characters & lore that ppl want to inhabit & interact with, and now there wont be anymore from them. Just because I respect their work doesnt mean I'm gonna masturbate over decisions where *I* get less of something I enjoy. If Square Enix was like "well, we dont currently have the passion to produce the next FF7 remake game so we're putting it aside for now" I dont think a single person would be like "you've made EXACTLY the right decision, if everyone isnt totally stoked at all times you shouldnt make video game content. We'll all just wait patiently until your creative fires come back 👍" It's a luxury very few studios have. So, again, it is both good and bad that they have this ability. Good that it created BG3, bad that it wont create anything in that world that fans are dying for, now or ever again apparently.

[@Brealfrank25]

I've never played baldurs gate, but just hearing that make me wanna go buy it.

[@J.A.Z-TheMortal]

Same here. Huge fan of action RPGs like Elder Scrolls, Zelda but disliked turn based, and strategy RPGs all my life. Cannot be more in love with BG3. Excellent game that puts games from way bigger (and greedier) companies to shame.

[@nathank2289]

You can jump right into 3 without ever playing the first two or D&D. It's very intuitive. See a pillar of fire? Throw water on it. Or teleport behind it. Or get your fireproof demon buddy to do it. Or cast a rain spell. Or...

[@blueazul5778]

Game is good ❤️

[@blitzball4lyfe823]

I actually just started it last week. It is a very steep learning curve with a lot of mechanics but there are great guides online. If you can commit to learning it, it will click and when it does, you’ll be amazed that this is even a game 🔥

[@RamonSanchez-h7r]

Don't buy the game out of pure hype. The game isn't for everyone. I tried to give it a fair shot but it's not for me. If you like them all the power to you

[@DamienBlade]

One of the big things when working on games is team synergy. When developers work together for a long enough period of time, they get to know each other's strengths and weaknesses, and are able to work together to overcome them, which makes the development process run much smoother and take less time. If you're constantly hiring new people every year because you're constantly laying off people, you're not going to have that cohesion. In short, the process of trying to save money by firing and rehiring is actually costing money in production costs because of that lack of team synergy and cohesion.

[@XG417]

This problem is made even worse when the company focuses on diversity hires. Since they prioritize skin color or ethnicity rather than the technical skill they can contribute to the team, most likely the people they hire won't have the necessary skills the team currently needs, and the synergy becomes even more messed at this point. It wouldn't be much of a problem if they do have the skills and the passion for the project, but unfortunately that isn't usually the case

[@marcusdillon3558]

It's about time a game studio called out the sorry state of the industry right now 🤘

[@TheTruestZero]

Make a good game and complete game and people will flock around and copies will fly off the shelves simply by word of mouth. Make a half assed game filled with microtransactions as a method to generate more revenue and we will see the message of servers closing in about a few months. Have they not learned the lesson YET?

[@beckstheimpatient4135]

No, they haven't learned because gamers haven't learned. As long as there are people out there buying trash, these companies will keep making trash. I used to work in the industry, it's all trend-chasing. All about the money and the data and the hooks.

[@originalscreenname44]

Also, don't extend past what scope you can actually accomplish and don't hire a bunch of people who you will have to fire after a project finishes so that you actually build a wealth of knowledge that can improve your games going forward. I think a big reason why a lot of Western games have been shit even without the greed is because they fire half the staff even after a success.

[@ammygamer]

Not to mention, sometimes the hype that marketing and game design generates for the players attempting the game for the first months BEFORE it closes down often generates enough revenue for the corporates to profit from these predatory cycles. So why would they stop, yeah? The only way for the cycle to actually end is for they to have actual huge losses every time, so they think they shouldn't bother buying out another company and squeezing them dry again. It's not the rush of a making a good game that does it for them, it's the rush of making money. Like a bully, punching people down and moving on. They don't care. Just don't give them what they want to see. @@beckstheimpatient4135

[@blitzball4lyfe823]

*How many times do we have to teach you this lesson old man?*

[@TheTrueRandomGamer]

Remember what happened to CDPR. Keep your eyes open regardless of what they say.

[@Whit3WolfXArcadia]

You either die a hero or live long enough to see your self become the villain

[@gamervox1707]

They got taken over to a degree.

[@Linklex7]

CDPR wasn’t greedy. They got pushed by fans and shareholders to release Cyberpunk early when they been said it wasn’t ready.

[@angelofdeath188]

Say it louder for those in the back

[@magythemage]

i do feel like people give a bit too much shit to CDPR, everyone has one fumble allowed every now and then, what matters is how they continue. They dropped banger after banger, i think its a little bit disengenous to not give them atleast a bit of a chance based on their past. Especially sony's overreaction on delisting / refunding cyberpunk 2077 irritated me seeing as there are so many worse games and they dont even do as much of a thing to them.

[@ENCOUNTERZERO7]

Larian is a example of what all game companies should be for the players because its what the player wants.

[@phantomvulpe791]

Big W for Larian for refusing to work with Hasbro.

[@levikazama2323]

This is unture they have come out and said that they want fo work on their own project. They have said that Hasbro has been nothing but helpful

[@luisalbertosolisvillagomez6986]

​@@levikazama2323That is just corpo talk, Hasbro is a headache to work with

[@levikazama2323]

@@luisalbertosolisvillagomez6986 so your saying no mater what anyone says your just gonna belive whatever you want.

[@okuraorca]

@@levikazama2323Too many people have a hard on hate boner for Hasbro. It doesn't matter what facts you show them, they will simply claim the conspiracy theories. Just leave them to their tin foil hats.

[@old_rodent_8157]

​@okuraorca yeah Microsoft too, huh bud...😂

[@detectivehan5717]

BG3 should be used as example of game companies should be performing. Tekken, Street fighter, L.A.D, I'm looking at you!

[@rekt_gaming823]

Whats l.a.d

[@ombra711]

All of those that you mentioned aren't like Larian. You're missing the point about what the actual issue is, and so is Larian.

[@gabrote42]

​@@ombra711 What is the actual issue, according to your theory?

[@detectivehan5717]

@@rekt_gaming823 Like a dragon

[@rekt_gaming823]

@detectivehan5717 ohh ok great game not a yakuza fan because I don't have time for it but I respect their dedication and storytelling my bestfriend tells me about the games he is a superfan of yakuza

[@JampaChinoV2]

He was refering to a Dutch saying " Eerlijkheid duurt het langst " rough translation is Honesty is the best policy.

[@dwminiboss511]

Similar to the German saying "Ehrlich währt am längsten".

[@Foolsome]

I was aware of their philosophy back when Divinity: Original Sin 2 was released. A studio that would prefer quality, dedication, and defying "modern gaming" trends so I can't help but admire them ever since and I'm glad they're getting more recognition. As they also recognize the human aspect of the industry and not just care about the corporate greed that is most of the industry nowadays.

[@Drstrange3000]

Same. I have been singing Larian Studio's praises since that game and didn't think they would ever get the light of day despite DoS2 being very well received. I am very happy for them and love how they stand behind their philosophy that values quality and creativity over profits. I know they have a lucky situation, so I know it is more complex. Another studio that reminds me of Larian is Moon Studios.

[@jclosed2516]

Hmm... Even before DOS2 I was a fan of Larian Studio's. They "got" me with the very first game "Divine Divinity". And before Divinity Original Sin was released, I played Divinity 2 (later the Directors Cut version) several times. Yes compared to their newer titles it was a very limited game, but I still had a great time with it...

[@genlando327plays2]

Sure... but everyone said the same thing about CDPR... They're on top of the world now. But it only takes one bad choice... the problem with public relations wins is there is ALWAYS eventually a loss

[@Foolsome]

@@genlando327plays2 At this point and for what I believe has been going on for a long time, they don't have shareholders, they're their own publishers, and they don't have a parent company so it's not like they're dictated to satisfy anyone but themselves, things like crunch or have any compromise to their vision.

[@genlando327plays2]

@@Foolsome they're 30% owned by TenCent...

[@Richie___]

Nothing wrong with having a good, genuine product that’s fully finished and won’t ask you for more money. “live services” are to the complete detriment of the end user. edit: no half decent online game dev considers their game a “live service”, and if they do start asking yourself which side they’re playing for.

[@p.rohanswarup9357]

helldivers is an exception mate

[@TheTraveler980]

What about Helldivers 2?

[@ratshave4748]

​@@TheTraveler980And Warframe, a very user-friendly F2P live service game

[@regenosis]

Live service isn't a bad model in and of itself. It just gets a bad rep cuz of all the greedy suits. But it can be done right and loved - look at Helldivers 2.

[@VardenHeste]

@@TheTraveler980 Helldivers 2 is the exception, not the rule

[@jamestakahashi6588]

Honestly you can really tell that they are passionate gamers themselves, I’m glad they are called out the industry for terrible practices we need more studios like them!

[@MyNameIsBucket]

Kind of disappointed that we won't see any more BG3 but, hey, always leave them wanting more.

[@bernardoheusi6146]

They should make a space RPG to shit on Starfield even more😅

[@luigipunk25]

When I was 13 years old and received Divinity 2 as a birthday present for the xbox 360, it was the most insane fun rpg I had ever played. It was so inspirational in fact I ended up sending an email to Swen at Larian, asking if there would be a possibility for me to eventually move to Belgium and work for them. AND HE REPLIED back to me personally and talked through it all. Close to 10 years later they are the HUGEST shit ever, and I'm graduating as a master of IT. I hope more modern studios would go on to inspire young people, like Larian did me. As a person interested in the history of the industry, it is more and more rare to get inspired by anything or anyone.

[@YaraUwU]

No Man's Sky is the perfect example of a company dragging them selves from the brink of death because they committed so hard to to fixing their fuck up despite already having all the money from it.

[@MrYoungHegelian]

This is why I love Larian, they leave greed to others.

[@fjosh6]

Weird that's exactly what CDPR said last year word for word

[@genlando327plays2]

​@@fjosh6beat me to it. I was gonna say the same thing. PR only stays good until one bad choice.

[@WaiGee_]

The fact larian made a complete, finished product, made it an easy simple exchange for the customers, and even said "nah were not gonna do DLC, the game is complete, finished and we're happy with what it is" is so fucking nice. I miss the early days of gaming where it was literally just pay money for a product and you receive the product. The only ones still doing that are mostly indie companies and Nintendo*. * - Ignoring the mobile crap, online subscription service and DLCs for some of their games

[@blkjesus8252]

If more games were like this people would actually want to spend money on dlcs like back in the day

[@jamesjones4651]

It wasnt finished, act 3 was very poor and was rushed out to fully capitalize on other games failures and it needed 3 more months to actually be feature complete.

[@Childofbhaal]

@@jamesjones4651Idk why people skip over this fact. Act 3 is critiqued a lot and for good reason

[@ThePatchUniverse]

Coming from Belgium, it makes me very proud that a team that started in my country took the world by storm with one of the greatest video games of all time. I'm currently playing Baldur's Gate 3 and I'm having a blast. I love what they say as well, this gives a good example on what the future of video games should be like. Thank you for covering that.

[@timjfads]

Notes of interest Sven pointed out how most of the folk he was dealing with from Wizards of the Coast to make BG3 were fired by parent company Hasbro. He mentioned that before blasting companies for laying off good talent Hasbro announced they are going to spend 1 billion on games n Larian could have easily got the lion's share of that but walked away from DnD instead. The theory is Hasbro was pressing for more BG3 content since BG3 revenue saved Hasbro last quarter n Larian decided to walk instead of getting caught up in that money driven loop.

[@royasturias1784]

Hasbro can delist BG3 from the dev's catalog and all storefronts, like they had done the same thing towards Activision and several Transformers games they have made and/or published.

[@timjfads]

@@royasturias1784 n Larian will still be fine. They are moving on from BG n D&D and will be fine. They have a ton more good will with customer / players than Hasbro does and isn't driven by pure greed like Hasbro. They already made more than enough from BG3 for them as it is now. Heck BG3 helped kick up some Divinity Original Sin 2 sales.

[@MisterAssasine]

yeah and face hard backlash from the community and loose out a LOT of money​@@royasturias1784

[@somerandomdude7785]

​@@royasturias1784That's because they have a 10-year exclusive publishing rights that ended in 2016. Larian's employees are just D&D fans.

[@Captain.AmericaV1]

I purchased many copies of BG3 just to support them, gave them away to friends and family, and of course one for myself. Studios like Larian should be supported every time. 👏👏

[@mash2481]

“Honesty is THE best policy”

[@ultgamercw6759]

Yea the games industry is not a good place to work right now. Those who are currently in it get treated terrible or fired. Those struggling to get in are trapped within the endless cycle of being rejected for not having enough experience whilst simultaneously not being able to get a job to collect more experience. It's a mess.

[@ultgamercw6759]

@@ratedRblazin420 Good thing no one asked you.

[@mightylink65]

wotc are stupid for letting them go, everyone knows it was the developers that made that game so great, not just the ip... now all eyes will be on larians next game, not bg4

[@wdf70]

Wizards of the coast is a trash company anyway. Larian getting the golden ticket being let go to do their own thing.

[@Jabberwokee]

@@wdf70WotC is trash *now* because they’re owned by HASBRO They used to be pretty good in most ways that counted before the acquisition

[@YumLemmingKebabs]

I'm not sure they had a choice. They don't own Larian.

[@genlando327plays2]

Larian worked with WotC, they have no ownership relationship

[@ezelkir]

WotC didn't let them go. Larian decided to leave, wanting to move on. Swen doesn't wanna make BG4

[@BlakeIvory]

As someone who's just recently began working on their first project, this really gives me hope in getting my foot through the door! Major props to the devs of Balder's Gate 3, they did an amazing job with this game!

[@GusMix79]

Greed is a death sin. Never forget this. I usually wanted to wait for an offer but these words made me buy the game today. In Germany people say “Ehrlichkeit wärt am Längsten” Honesty lasts the Longest.

[@infernas]

Geoff Keighley had a huge platform but didn't bother even mentioning the sorry state of the gaming industry. Good on the Larian crew for recognizing they have a voice now that everybody is willing to listen to and actually using that voice to talk about the things that truly matter. If anyone is deserving to talk about taking care of their employees and the goodwill with the playerbase, it's them.

[@damienkrawczuk1435]

Holy moly I'm buying baldurs gate 3 immediately they've got mad respect for the community and respect to those who deserve it, I was cautious at first but I can throw that out the window, I admire there mandate and 100% have my full support, what a truly legendary company, mad respect to all involved 🤘 this vid made my day thankyou heaps for putting this together

[@DivinePonies]

Swen has been consistent in his stance pretty much since the start of Larian. He had a really good blog going for a while (think he stopped writing it around first D:OS) and in the blog already back then he was talking about many of those things, so it's nice he can finally say them with this much spotlight on him for everyone to hear. Larian's story and struggle is movie material and if anyone in the industry deserves the success it's them. Their hearts were always in the right place and it's amazing they stayed true to the cause even after gaining all the fame and fortunes.

[@royasturias1784]

They should be promoting their Divinity legacy OCs more.

[@gabrielpineirobermudez4529]

Such beautiful words, coming from winners. It humbles me.

[@sighbatsu]

I like the way they explicitly stated: no dlc, we tried in the past and it didn't work. I like that they understand that not everything needs a follow up.

[@texasniner7747]

What would be super cool with larian studios is if they have me buy a hard disc for my xbox and state at the time i would get delivery in q1 that they WOULD KEEP THE Q1 DELIVERY DATE! now i have no clue when ill get the game. Seems like larian doesnt care about someone like me and want me to just buy a digital version so they can get me to buy the game twice. Its disgusting.

[@acutelilmint8035]

Larian is the best.

[@Nicholasmcmath-cr1xl]

Agreed

[@morgantronprime]

Indeed.

[@cirescythe]

Facts.

[@gabrote42]

They replaced CDPR and I'm thankful for that

[@roahnosh]

Tencent and the CCP owns 30% of Larian studios.

[@ImagineMaker0]

I saw CD project Red say similar words and we knot how it turned out. Let's hope they continue to making quality games and it was not a only on a lifetime situation

[@Ichabod_Jericho]

Mind you, this is coming from people that have MONEY. Their game was a massive success, dozens of millions of dollars. They can still relate to the working man, and can give you insight to just how detached the hyper wealthy are from the rest of the world.

[@ombra711]

They're finger wagging means fuck all. Dev's don't have power its the conglomerates that these devs have to work under. Larian is 100% independent without shareholders.

[@Ichabod_Jericho]

@@ombra711 you’d prefer they have the unique position of owning their publishing & development and just stay quiet on how greedy games companies became? They gutted the most fun parts of our games to sell it back to us piece by piece and they stopped innovating, still selling old remakes & remasters. Larian didn’t, still got rich in a meaningful way and are using their influence to highlight that our game market got monopolized by people that are drug addicts for money. 🤷‍♂️ I’d prefer they say something rather than nothing at all

[@Jabberwokee]

But they *didn’t* have a lot of money for along time These guys have made minimal bank for the past few games - their games have been successful but nothing remotely close to BG3 You’re saying that all those times when Swen put his personal funds into it to keep his company alive and keep his employees paid, that was all worthless because… “They have money NOW so their opinion no longer matters” ? Fuck outa here with that noise, you don’t know the first thing about this company OR their history

[@Name..........]

​@@ombra711 if someome doesnt speak up like he did than nothing will change

[@kamurotetsu4860]

There is nothing relatable about a company worth $100 million dollars. You don't get that rich by being nice.

[@shiftygypsy89migh41]

the funny part....blizzard....Bethesda....both built themselves on fostering communities, building FUN games (not because of profit) and have LOYAL people that shouldnt be loyal anymore but still stay n the hopes that they will return back to once they came.

[@genlando327plays2]

Don't forget CDPR... the last "golden standard" of the industry

[@jacobyrassilon]

@@genlando327plays2 They bent the knee publicly to the DEI goons....they are done.

[@IgnizStudios]

that feeling when common sense becomes a rarity.

[@NewtonSparetire]

I literally will donate YEARLY to keep them around. Ive never had so much trust in a studio in my life. Baldur's gate 3 is my favorite game of all time. Ive convinced at least a dozen people (including strangers) to play this game. Plus the modding community is insane.

[@JONATHANP1619]

Iwata gave so much, it saddened me to know that he is not here with us to see the success of the switch.

[@bumby4737]

Hi yong idk if you’ll read this and it’s unrelated to the vid but I just wanted to say I just finished Infinite wealth and I think you did a really good job as Kiryu despite what others say. I had played the entire series up to that point and while I found your performance jarring at first I eventually got used to it and ended up forgetting that it was you who voiced him because I was so immersed in the performance and I think that’s the best you can achieve when dubbing over a character who’s so iconic. Anyways fuck the people that hated on you and never gave you a shot I hope I can hear your Kiryu again in the future, Rock on man 🤘

[@royasturias1784]

Still inferior to TakaYEAH Kuroda

[@bumby4737]

@@royasturias1784 yeah Kuroda is the undisputed goat but I’m happy I was able to get immersed in yongs portrayal

[@j.d.4697]

7:54 He drops a clue why modern games almost always suck so much. It's not just the focus on profit, it's also the constant firing/losing of experienced talent so that you end up with products that feel like they were designed by the intern, because the people who made it are either new to the engine/game or new to game development in general, inexperienced, untalented or overworked. The reason so many people go for short-term gains over long-term quality is because too many people are greedy and selfish. I guess an optimist would say it's an institutional problem, as a pessimist I believe it's an evolutional problem. I believe humans are a lot closer to primitive apes than they like to admit to themselves and evolving mentally, or at least maturing as a society with the goal of evolving, that's the goal humans should have but do not.

[@kraosdadafusfus8034]

I can imagine how pissed the higher-ups at Hasbro must be that Larian got away.

[@17Watman]

This reminds me of a quote from “The Prince” - “Therefore the best fortress is to be found in the love of the people, for although you may have fortresses they will not save you if you are hated by the people.” Good on Larian for being on the side of the people.

[@kaslmers4253]

I think we are also ignoring a huge problem with the industry the buyers. Instead of hype gamers should show reluctance to purchase games until they are proven to be worth the purchase.

[@krspaceT1]

That sort of issue takes trust. A lot of game companies don't have that trust with their players anymore. Some do, I'd say Sony and Nintendo fans either completely trust or are willing to be surprised in a good way by 1st party games, but most don't. Of course PC culture with sales can't help that either....but that's a double edged sword, no?

[@DerpyDerp254]

Larian Studios feels like a company with good solid leadership, keeps the love of art and playing video games inside of their projects alive and puts players first. I bet they're going places :3

[@001sander2]

NEVER pre-order. Wait for PROPER reviews, not pre release reviews either because they're usually playing a special version of a game that won't exist by the time consumers get them. Like Dragon Dogma 2 😭

[@devak45167]

Larian are so goated, this was inspiring, brutal and so real

[@roahnosh]

Tencent has 30% ownership of Larian Studios. IDK why people don't bring this up.

[@00Mike55]

Wouldn't surprise me if WotC wanted Larian to milk the characters or BG in general for profit and Larian declined, instead left on a high note. Kudos to Larian for sticking out for the developers, the only reason the gaming industry is in shambles these days is thanks to stupid suits thinking they're chefs and putting their fingers in the soup. Singing with a publisher or having shareholders has truly been the downfall of the gaming industry.

[@cyberpunkcomplex629]

its treat others as you yourself would like to be treated. Larain are one of the few still worth listening to.

[@Thepuffingyank]

I am of the mindset that the board of directors is where most of the damage to the industry comes from So removing them will obviously be the way forward

[@Punisher6791]

this is what every game studio should strive to be. they totally deserved their game of the year award. i have never played BG or BG3 for that matter, i was rooting for Resident Evil 4 as GOTY but im happy they won it. well deserved.

[@tylertheguy3160]

Larian turned down mountains of money because they wanted to go out on a high note with Baldur's Gate and didn't want to drag it out. Respect.

[@giglioflex]

Maybe, it's likely that Hasbro would have charged Larian a massive sum to continue the license. I'll be honest, a lot of dnd systems don't translate well to a video game either. A lot of changes Larian had to make to the combat system in BG3 are just a straight downgrade over Divinity Original Sin 2 but they had to do that because Hasbro forced them. With Larian doing their own thing, they are free to make video game systems for their video game, not being force to adapt tabletop systems that make little sense in a video game. I say this as a person who played all of the original baldur's gate games.

[@hustler666100]

no lol.

[@Brusentsev]

Swen isn't just a suit he is a full suit of armour.

[@dantran9962]

Speaking of greed. Where is your report of Yakuza games charging for new game plus?

[@G.and.DJackson]

Do you remember when some publishers stated something along the lines of: "players shouldn't use BG3 as an expectation for other games" that was the best advertising BG3 could have ever received. Larian studies truly deserve the praise.

[@Masterho310]

The Tarkov devs did the same song and dance for years. Then Arena flopped and months later we have the first ever micro transactions in game when for years they swore up and down they would never put mtx in the game. Every good guy game studio is just one or two flops away from becoming the bad guys.

[@randomguy6679]

That’s a very positive outlook, you must be fun at parties.

[@silverhand9965]

Larian took several Ls over the decades and they still never strayed from that path. I'm still willing to believe in them

[@Masterho310]

@@randomguy6679 Seeing the recurring negative patterns in the gaming industry over the course of the last 30 years would make anyone just as cynical. It'll happen to you too. Just wait and see.

[@Masterho310]

@@silverhand9965 As it stands now they are the paragons of goodness and are riding high on the master piece they created in balders gate. Doesn't make my statement any less true though. Every good guy game studio is one or two flops away from becoming the bad guys. I hope it never happens to Larian. But there are no guarantees in life.

[@randomguy6679]

@@Masterho310 I’m gonna do everything in my power to make sure that doesn’t happen. Stopping to your level seems like a terrible mistake.

[@Dumbrarere]

I would say "Our investors aren't tuxedo-clad monkeys attracted to the almighty dollar. Our investors are you, the gamers who engage with our product and with us as a community. Our shareholders are the developers, who make the magic behind our games happen, who make memories from their hearts. Nurture these groups like family, like a community, and you will find yourself outdoing leading industry giants like Activision, like Bungie, like Microsoft. That is what makes a truly great game."

[@crimsonstardrago9707]

There's not a company more than Larian that can truly earn the gaming community's respect.

[@moonwhispers]

I thought I remembered that one them spoke about wanting to go back to Divinity. Original Sin 2 is amazing, I am replaying it now, so a sequel would be great, but whatever they end up doing I am all here for.

[@Spumoon]

Why put enormous effort into a $60 RPG when you can put out an unplayable port of a game released over a decade ago for $35 and still have the masses buy it AND defend it. ..I'm still really salty about Aspyr leaving me hanging with the KOTOR II DLC for Switch. Not giving them a dime.

[@yogran1]

Played BG3 for the first time last week. It somehow surpassed my expectations despite being hyped constantly since release.

[@TheSodapop89]

Biggest part of the problem are the gamers ourself, that pay for shit Games and additonally pay for microtransactions and DLC's that didn't add much for the prices.

[@brosch91]

One thing I've learned over the years is that a company is more trustworthy if they're privately owned, meaning no shareholders. The major reason Valve/Steam is so awesome is that they've always been a privately owned company with no shareholders. If they weren't, I guarantee PC gamers on Steam would've been paying to play online many years ago. We need to start supporting private companies that make video games more. When you have no public shareholders to please, all you have is the customers and the employees to please.

[@sean7221]

Well said

[@AresKusa]

Take caution, boys. Last time we were cheering a game dev for trotting out "yes, we are better than other devs - look at all the greedy shit that they are doing, we will NEVER do stuff like that."... it was CDPR. Before Cyber2077 hit. Remember when their reputation was sky-high? lmao Don't get me wrong, Larian has a strong record and I really did like BG3. But beware, anyone can fall.

[@TheUltraKekster]

Get real its THE SUITS that rushed CDPR into releasing Cyberpunk broken.

[@Datangia]

It would be good for Larian studios to try out all styles and see how good DnD style RPG, FPS, RTS, VR game, racing simulation, Space Simulation, FP-RPG ala Fallout/Elder Scrolls, MMO, the world is their oyster...I would love to see how well their team work

[@scopeh2006]

Sven is a different breed. Remember Larian don't own a publishing company they self publish and it defines thier purpose rather than a bunch of shareholders.

[@rd-um4sp]

I wonder how long until some ppl try to cancel them. but for now I just hope more devs follow the example.

[@KillerTacos54]

Not even CDPR or other devs we praised years ago were brave enough to speak up about this to such a degree that Larian has. Gives me hope

[@Rough_Estimates]

I remember when CDprojektred was this good

[@MetoF50Narliev]

Yeah, but CDPR is publicly traded on the Polish stock exchange.

[@genlando327plays2]

​@@MetoF50Narlievyes and TenCent owns 30% of Larian... what's your point? It's only a matter of time before Swen retires, ownership changes hands and then all bets are off.

[@FerreTrip]

Execs: "What do you mean, giving the people what they want in a product makes it sell more?"

[@Resignedbc27]

Love larian

[@Thunder93ita]

Since shareholders started overtaking gaming has been declining exponentially. The industry is already stagnating, soon it will be as lively as a swamp. Gaming as we knew it is long dead, the new gaming era is an era of stagnation and rotten products. Remember the ps2 era? Every silly movie/comic had a game, new franchises kept popping up, new things were implemented. Now it’s just a copy paste. Itms either call pf duty clones, fortnite clones, world of warcraft clones, dark souls clones, battle passes, live service, free to play.

[@sean7221]

You need to stop playing these goyslop AAA games, the indie game developers are still doing Gods work

[@trathanstargazer6421]

Let's be careful now. It doesn't take much for a great studio to slip off. We've seen this a lot recently.

[@momob4276]

Thanks for sharing some positive stuff. I'm personally tired of KZbinrs building their channels off of rage and being angry about the same things over and over and over again. Thank you for shining some light on devs that are fighting the good fight because they are out there I promise and it's important they don't get buried by all of the garbage and bad stuff happening in the game industry.

[@saikonakoshi4334]

Hentai provides a unique perspective on an otherwise taboo side of life.

[@anthonyfaiell3263]

4:40. I actually burst out laughing when the crowd cheered there. Like why is it so impressive to buy something and own it? It's definitely not a new concept or anything. But it might as well be for modern gamers. . But enough about that. We have plenty of negative to focus on all the time. Larian knocked it out of the park, I am so happy for them.

[@josecuervo8487]

"oh, the industry is greedy!" companies are here to make money. at the end of the day, the blame falls on gamers. gamers embraced loot boxes, microtransactions, battle passes, etc... the industry would never have gone down this route, otherwise. i feel extremely happy about me not participating in this nonsense.

[@MaxRovensky]

I find it kinda interesting that Noodle is the only one I've seen talk about how Larian almost went under during BG3's production

[@TryHardSasquatch]

Not to defend game devs, but capitalism says you need bigger profits every quarter to be successful. It's obvious why games coming out of any "triple A" is just shit driven to make you spend as much money as possible and that greed runs through it at the core

[@ombra711]

You see the facts. Devs are not their own masters like Larian is, Larian is built different and has no masters, all the devs he's wagging his fingers at do, and are beholden to them.

[@krspaceT1]

I mean you can expand on your stuff in other ways. Nintendo managed to expand, for example, Pikmin's average sales by building a more popular platform and a good game, as I understand Pikmin 4, and now they have more money from Pikmin than before. You can make capitalism work in ways like quality. Its just harder than price raising and quality dropping.

[@TryHardSasquatch]

@krspaceT1 problem being the ladder doesn't stop. Now that they've done that, capitalism says they need a new way to make more profits. Then when they do, they need more, and again and again infinitum. The point is, you should support the devs that are privately owned and not traded publicly

[@johndoubleub]

I'm so glad that games companies like Larian Studios exist, I'm also glad they openly shit on bad game dev industry practices where it feels like many big/successful studios have been really quiet about this. I'm still genuinely kind of shocked that there were some industry veterans who shit on BG3 and Elden Ring for no other reason than that these games made with care and intention were something people wanted and were as successful because of that. I hope we get way more of this kind of behaviour from other companies in future, championing what developers want to make and customers want, not shareholders, works.

[@alfredlaalpacadeageofempir9215]

Didn't CD Projekt Red said the same with Cyberpunk?

[@leoleo1035]

Yup, but Cyperpunk tanked, while Baldur's Gate 3 won GOTY.

[@MusicoftheDamned]

​@@leoleo1035CD Projekt Red was also unfortunately beholden to shareholders, if "only" Polish ones, that further pushed them to put out _Cyberpunk 2077_ in its horrible initial state. Not that CDPR is at all blameless in that affair, obviously, but having to deal with greedy shareholders basically always makes things even worse than they already would be.

[@YumLemmingKebabs]

@@MusicoftheDamned Shareholders are generally a problem that is ideally avoided, but if you have them you need to take into account the fact that you have them, and CDPR fucked up in other ways by not planning their development well... or like... at all really it seems like...

[@MusicoftheDamned]

@@YumLemmingKebabs Agreed. I was more pointing ouf that CDPR had--presumably still has?--shareholders period compared to Larian at present given the OP's comment and given how bizarrely cynical, even as someone who is an extremely cynical, the overall comment section for this video seems to be. It's doubly surprising as someone with no real attachment to _Baldur's Gate 3_ or Larian as a whole. But yeah, I wasn't trying to absolve CDPR of screwing up on multiple levels pretty spectacularly with the initial launch of _Cyberpunk 2077_ even before the shareholders "helped" make it worse. As someone who never bought into the hype of that game or the initial _No Man's Sky_ game and had a laugh at the spectacular failure of both, how hard the former landed on its face initially still surprised me even if both games somewhat turned things around...eventually...and nowadays doing better than several "live service" games. [/low bar]

[@YumLemmingKebabs]

@@MusicoftheDamned Ironically, Dragon's Dogma 2 would probably be doing better if it had less monetization. The microtransactions in that game are pointless and only serve to make the idiosyncratic design decisions seem motivated by greed rather than the devs just being weird grognards like in the first game.

[@FlyJonat]

Now microsoft is doing exactly what Sven warned studios about.

[@TheTraveler980]

They are based... FOR NOW. Don't expect them to remain that way. No company ever has.

[@cirescythe]

Larian and Sven have been around since the 90s. Publishers did scam him when he started. Larians story is completely different to the others. That guy MADE games himself for a long time. Hes not a suit.

[@TheTraveler980]

@@cirescythe I know, but again, nothing is set in stone (especially if the newcomers that take over eventually don't respect the original perspective).

[@cirescythe]

@@TheTraveler980 i see. Yes thats fair. As for the newcomers, no one can tell. Given the size they grew to, they are bound to have at least some people that would use the name to make quick money and surely some activists that would use it to further their goals alone. At least as a family owned Business, its not an easy takeover like with bioware for example. I think Swen should be aware of the dangers to his lifes work though. I hope at least.