Baldur’s Gate 3 makes a real difference. Last year, it became Game of the Year and accomplished almost every technical award, proving that Larian Studios is one of the best studios in the industry right now.
The director of the studio and the game, Swen Vincke, talked at the GDC about several subjects involving the current state of the industry with the layoffs and how studios are restructuring. In an interview, he gave some tips for new developers as well as for startups regarding all this uncertainty among videogame workers.
Swen Vincke, Director of Baldur’s Gate 3, on the Current State of the Industry
The industry is experiencing unprecedented challenges; studios have already laid off almost as many people as they did in 2023, and it’s only April. Studios have no clue what players want and keep launching titles that drop dead in just a few months, which means multimillion-dollar losses.
To mitigate these losses, companies lay off thousands of employees and restructure the whole studio if necessary to see if they can fix things.
The director of Baldur’s Gate 3 talked about this in a new interview. He was in charge of talking at the GDC on the stage, and after he finished, he mentioned what is going on right now in the industry. He replied to the question, saying the following: “The period that we’re going through right now reminds me incredibly [strongly] of 2009, which was really a dark period in the industry—but also for the world economy as a whole, really.” He said that things are always tough in video games.
Vincke Has Been Through Similar Scenarios in the Past, so He Is Used to This
Vincke spoke with surprisingly positive energy, discussing how developers have taken matters into their own hands, predicting the formation of new studios and the rehiring of many jobless developers for new and incredible projects. He said that it may look grim now, but developers always came through, and he has great confidence that they will recover from this and be stronger than ever.
As for Larian Studios, Vincke confirmed that the next project is in development and will be very different from any game that has been made in the studio; it will be a whole new experience that has nothing to do with D&D or BG3, and it will have a new tone and style.
This new title is probably very far from being even on an Early Access stage, so fans will have to wait until more information is available in the coming years.
What are your thoughts on Vincke’s way of seeing the current state of the industry? Let us know in the comments!
