Baldur\u2019s Gate 3 dev defends Microsoft for \u2018misjudging\u2019 the game before release Larian StudiosIn the wake of a massive Microsoft leak revealing its thoughts on Baldur\u2019s Gate 3 ahead of launch, Larian Studios\u2019 Director of Publishing is defending the company for underestimating the game. The Microsoft vs. FTC case is bringing Baldur\u2019s Gate 3 back into the spotlight, as leaked documents have revealed what the company thought of the game ahead of its wildly successful launch. In addition to the news that Xbox considered paying Larian $5 million to get Baldur\u2019s Gate 3 on Game Pass, an email leaked in which the game was called a \u201cSecond-run Stadia PC RPG.\u201d Baldur\u2019s Gate 3 fans are obviously rushing to the game and developer Larian Studios\u2019 defense. However, the studio\u2019s Director of Publishing Michael Douse is defending Microsoft in the wake of these comments coming to light, instead focusing on Larian\u2019s mission. Larian dev says Xbox wasn\u2019t the only one who underestimated Baldur\u2019s Gate 3 before launch In response to an article criticizing Microsoft for misjudging Baldur\u2019s Gate 3, Douse pointed out that they were far from the only ones who thought that way. As Douse says, this \u201cComes with the [CRPG] genre,\u201d and Larian faced similar low expectations with Divinity: Original Sin II. Though he followed up with an acknowledgment that many players have long believed in Baldur\u2019s Gate 3, the data and history meant that the team \u201cjust had to take giant spooky leaps\u201d and hope for the best. Since its full launch, Baldur\u2019s Gate 3 has shocked the industry by far exceeding sales expectations and garnering universal praise from critics and gamers alike. Baldur\u2019s Gate 3 is one of the best-reviewed games of all time and a consistent frontrunner in early Game of the Year discussions, something no one would have expected a couple of months ago. Despite the shock, though, it\u2019s not surprising Larian fans would be so quick to criticize Microsoft given the game\u2019s messy history with Xbox. Baldur\u2019s Gate 3 is not yet available on Xbox due to technical limitations of the Series S and Microsoft\u2019s initial refusal to compromise on feature parity. Though Xbox eventually changed course and the game is expected to release on Series X|S later this year without parity, that didn\u2019t prevent some vocal Xbox fans from criticizing the game and accusing Larian of favoring Sony. The tension there is understandable and getting renewed attention following the leaks. The Stadia mention in particular is pretty brutal given the fate of that platform. Still, it looks like Larian Studios is taking it all in stride. In hindsight, it\u2019s clear the lack of a Game Pass deal worked out for the developers, who certainly would have ended up losing money by giving it to subscribers for just $5 million. Plus, while the kinds of games Larian makes aren\u2019t your typical mainstream hits, Baldur\u2019s Gate 3 has shown that an underestimated game from a traditionally niche genre can be a surprise hit. If you liked this, be sure to check out the rest of our Baldur\u2019s Gate 3 coverage, which includes the latest news, guides, and much more.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Baldur\u2019s Gate 3 dev defends Microsoft for \u2018misjudging\u2019 the game before release Larian StudiosIn the wake of a massive Microsoft leak revealing its thoughts on Baldur\u2019s Gate 3 ahead of launch, Larian Studios\u2019 Director of Publishing is defending the company for underestimating the game. The Microsoft vs. FTC case is bringing Baldur\u2019s Gate 3 back […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19789","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19789","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19789"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19789\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19789"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19789"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19789"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}