Baldur’s Gate 4 was already partially playable before Larian scrapped it

According to Swen Vincke, a partially “playable” Baldur’s Gate 4 that players “would have liked” was in the works before it got scrapped.

It has been exactly one year since Baldur’s Gate 3 launched, yet the game is still going strong today. Not only did Larian’s masterpiece manage to snatch multiple awards, but recent player count also shows that the game is still getting a lot of attention from players.

Naturally, it didn’t take long until fans started wishing for more content. But in March 2024, Larian clarified that they were stepping away from D&D and Baldur’s Gate 3 entirely. 

But as it turns out, an interview with Swen Vincke from PCGamer revealed that a partially “playable” Baldur’s Gate 4 was in the works at one point. Following the success of Baldur’s Gate 3, the team started working on a follow-up or, initially, an expansion. 

“We’ve got the engine, got everything in here, all we need to do is add extra levels or just make some new stories – how hard can it be?” mentioned Swen Vincke.

Not only that, but it’s also been revealed that “you could already play stuff”, and it’s something that players “would have liked.” According to Swen, the progress was quick as “the production machine was still warm.”

The idea of spending the “next three years” for an expansion didn’t seem appealing, but it’s a different case for making Baldur’s Gate 4. 

“That sounds like a really good idea – let’s make BG4. All the stuff that we did for this thing, we can just move it in there, people are gonna love it. Go for it.”

However, in the end, the project was eventually scrapped after realizing the team would have to spend even more years “doing the same thing.” Ultimately, this led the team to look at how they “can do stuff” that they “get excited about” instead.

So far, Larian has made it known that they’re working on two “very ambitious new RPGs” and for now, fans will just have to be patient as they cook the next big thing.