Baldur's Gate 3 developer's next game likely early access launch too

Larian, the developer behind hit role-player Baldur's Gate 3, has said it will likely follow the same early access release model for its unannounced next project.

In an interview with GameFile, Larian's director of publishing Michael Douse said early access was "the only way to do it now" to ensure the project grows alongside and in response to player feedback.

"This is the only way to do it now, especially if you consider the fact that the whole point of this stuff is to create social resonance, to create a situation where you have a constant dialogue with the players," Douse said.

"Our next - whatever the next thing will be - will also probably be in early access," he continued. "That way you remove a lot of the prediction, too. When you release a game in AAA, whatever method, [if] you don't have early access, you're taking a huge bet on the fact that this is good and people like it. In early access, you find out very quickly. It helps you steer the massive ship."

But launching in early access isn't without its risks, Douse continued - and isn't for everyone.

"It's scary," he said. "It turns your company sort of into a live service company, because you've got to feed that machine. But we were very open about not doing that. [We said:] 'We're not going to add story. Don't expect that. We didn't really add content. We added some, but we really slowed down. Setting expectations is really key. It's just going to be this one sort of fractal loop that's going to sort of adapt.

"If you don't know how to do early access, I wouldn't do early access, but if you are interested in creating a really strong core gameplay loop and then building around that, to foster a strong community, that's a really good way to do it. It's probably the best way to do it."

Baldur's Gate 3 launched in early access back in October 2020, with the first of the game's three acts included. It's full launch did not arrive until August 2023 on PC, with console versions following in the months after.

Larian still has plans to tweak Baldur's Gate 3 further, but won't release any major expansion and isn't working on a Baldur's Gate 4.

What's next from Larian will offer a different "tone, style, way of doing it", company founder Swen Vincke told Eurogamer last month, but won't "dwarf" Baldur's Gate 3 in size.