I’m OK with Baldur’s Gate 3 being delayed to 2023
In my humble opinion, Baldur’s Gate 3 is one of the most exciting games to date for several reasons. Each new patch brings a wave of incredible changes – from UI to animations – that makes playthrough after playthrough exciting. Almost like Christmas has come early, really. It’s that feeling of euphoria that makes me quite content to say ‘yeah, I’m perfectly fine with Baldur’s Gate 3 being delayed to 2023‘.
Now don’t get me wrong, I’m super excited for Baldur’s Gate 3 and have written about it extensively – and not just for Gayming Magazine either. With every conversation I have with friends and family that talk about future games, Larian Studios’ Dungeons and Dragons RPG is the very first game that leaves my lips.
“Baldur’s Gate 3 is going to kick my ass, and I’m going to enjoy every last moment of it.”
“Baldur’s Gate 3 will be my GOTY, for sure!”
“When Baldur’s Gate 3 comes out, I will be taking 2 weeks off just to play through it as much as I possibly can.”
My point is: I’m really obsessed with everything Larian Studios has shown us so far, and while I’ve decided to take a break from the game after the new update with Grymforge, I still find myself greedily devouring information to see what’s happening with the game – so the latest Panel From Hell: 5th Edition was perfection. This panel brought new updates, a new class, and, more importantly, a confirmation that Baldur’s Gate 3 would be delayed to 2023.
In a press release, Larian Studios stated the following for why the game would be delayed from coming out of early access:
“Our internal goal post for release is a quality bar rather than a date. A ton of progress has been made towards that quality bar over the past year in Early Access, but we know many players are waiting for an actual date.
That date will come when we’re even closer to meeting our goal, but right now our expectation is that Baldur’s Gate 3 will be released out of Early Access in 2023.”
I think it’s understandable for fans to be disappointed that they won’t be able to experience the full adventure until sometime next year, especially since early access was released back in 2020. However, that’s only 2 years, and the team at Larian has dealt with flooding, getting used to working from home, and so much more… all on top of having to deal with a global pandemic. I’d already come to the conclusion that if the game was to release this year, it’d be late, late, laaaate into 2022, so the reveal of the game being delayed further has not surprised me.
I don’t need to actively point out my reasons for why in a nice succinct list when I can just instead say two things: Cyberpunk 2077 and crunch, two subjects with a terrible direct relationship to one another. While many people have been disappointed with the cyberpunk adventure for a boatload of reasons (orientalism and transphobia being just two I could list off the top of my head), the high expectations that were thrust onto the player via false marketing and broken promises didn’t help CD Projekt RED at all. Nor did the demand for the game to be released as soon as possible. When the game did release, all players received was a disastrous, unfeeling, open-world game that lacked in features you could find in games from the early 2000s. Fans were disappointed, and it’s now led to a Cyberpunk 2077 that’s now adding in features years after, trying to redeem themselves to their players. I don’t want the same thing to happen to Baldur’s Gate 3 just because fans got demanding.
Then there’s the issue of crunch. More and more there are stories being revealed about crunch to the point it feels more of a surprise when developers don’t crunch. As for Larian Studios, in an interview with IGN, they revealed that they don’t ‘plan for crunch’. “Hopefully, the only crunch we see is because if something is wrong or something that we can’t foresee. Crunch is not sustainable in the long run.” Larian Studios’ CEO Swen Vincke is quoted to have said.
With no harsh deadline in sight, and instead of a focus on quality, the less chance of crunch for these developers, the better. Healthier developers make better games and, more importantly, are happier. To me, having a great game with developers who aren’t crunched out of their minds just to satisfy gamers is a win/win situation.
That’s why waiting for Baldur’s Gate 3 isn’t an issue for me and, if I’m being honest, shouldn’t be an issue for others, either.
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