Baldur’s Gate 3 players stunned by decades old article on canceled sequel
Larian StudiosBaldur’s Gate 3 players have gotten a look at what could have been, thanks to a resurfaced 2004 article on an attempt to make a Baldur’s Gate sequel decades ago.
The road to Baldur’s Gate 3’s August 2023 release was a long one, with 23 years passing between Baldur’s Gate 2: Shadows of Amn and Larian Studios’ award-winning sequel.
However, Larian was not the first to attempt a follow-up to BioWare’s duo of Dungeons & Dragons adventures. Now, players (particularly newer fans) are learning about the long history of failed Baldur’s Gate 3s courtesy of an old magazine one fan found from 20 years ago.
Reddit user ebrum2010 posted a picture of the magazine article on the BaldursGate3 subreddit.
The article, published in the Oct 2004 edition of PC Gamer, was part of a 30th anniversary celebration for D&D – which is currently celebrating its 50th anniversary.
At this point, Baldur’s Gate 3 already had a troubled production history, with the article referencing Black Isle Studios’ canceled game, codenamed “Jefferson.”
The bulk of the article discusses Atari’s attempt to make a Baldur’s Gate 3, plans which would eventually involve Obsidian Entertainment.
In the piece, Atari and executive producer John Hight promise “a similarly epic scope” to the previous games, as well as “a large gaming world populated by memorable characters.”
Interestingly, the article also includes an image from BioWare’s Dragon Age engine, giving an early look at a franchise that wouldn’t launch for another half a decade.
In addition to being impressed and intrigued by the poster’s rare find, some Baldur’s Gate 3 fans are expressing their relief that things worked out the way they did. As one put it, “tbh, really glad the other studios didn’t work out and we got the game we have today.”
Others were delighted that Minsc, who Atari teased would return for their sequel, ended up making it into Larian’s Baldur’s Gate 3 anyway.
Ultimately, while both Atari and Black Isle’s visions of Baldur’s Gate 3 remain some of the greatest “what ifs” of gaming history, it’s hard for anyone to be too disappointed considering how good Larian Studios’ game ended up being.