Sven all but confirmed that they are making BG3 for fans of DOS2. Not fans of the original series, not fans of tabletop DnD, but for their fans whom have already purchased their previous games.
The Larian cheese won't be going anywhere, and will eventually be released will be DOS gameplay with a thin veneer of Forgotten Realms, and a few hamfisted throwbacks to the previous two games in order to satisfy the licensing requirements.
This is such a missed opportunity on Wizard's part.
I still find this bizarre businesswise. They will appeal mostly to a 2~3 million DOS public instead of the 40 million D&D players. How can such a boring and unfun system have so many players?
Well, I mean, to bring up Solasta - which apparently did a great job with 5E rules - didn't sell more than 500k copies as far as I can tell. So I don't think that's the secret to bringing in the 40 million d&d fans.
And reviewers generally loved the game and spoke glowingly of the mechanics and how they were implemented. It just has not translated to massive sales. I have no idea if that means they made enough to make a part 2. I hope so.
Currently BG3 has 2-5 Million sold. A lot of that is name-recognition and a lot is DOS fans. So the question is, what will bring in actual D&D fans?
Multiplayer I think is a good start. Good story elements and cinema quality VO work. But outside of that..???
Not saying I don't want the combat reforms we have all agreed the game needs. I just don't think its a magic bullet that will translate to sales.
I think the Bg name-recognition and advertising will have the most effect. People are kind of shallow like that.
I mean in 2 years I expect Mass Effect 4 and the new Dragon Age to have massive sales despite the fact that Bioware seems incapable of making good games anymore since EA bought them. (Mass Effect 3, DA Inquisition, and Andromeda were all lackluster compared to previous titles.)
