Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - General Stance on the Russian invasion of Ukraine?

I tried asking this on BG3 subreddit but my question got removed by mods.

Do Larian or some high-profile staff have any public stance on the Russian invasion of Ukraine? It is weird to me that a studio with prominently Slavic and Russian background would choose to remain silent on the topic. I know Obsidian and CDProjectRed have been vocal with their support and have even donated to Ukraine aid.

I have found multiple places where Larian have been asked about their stance both on Twitter and on these forums and none of these have received any response from staff. I also checked Twitter profiles of some of the staff and also found nothing there, not even a retweet. So to me it seems like either they (the individuals not the studio) are ok with what is going on or that there is some company mandate to try and avoid the topic to not alienate the Russian market.

Can somebody please prove me wrong so I can play the game guilt-free?

They used to have an office in Russia, but it no longer shows up on their website, so they may have shut it down. Other than that, I do not think they have made any official statements. However, they are likely bound by any EU and Belgian regulations vis-a-vis the conflict, being a Belgian developer.

I do see there are active employees in Russia still, but honestly I don't really care that much on where and who the developers themselves are and even if they had the office still open it really imho comes down to the stance those people have not where they live.

So what was weird to me is that people who are obviously very aware of the war and might even be personally affected in some way would choose to remain silent. I have scoured the internet and I was only able to find this reply by Swen:

> By now, Ukraine really deserves it tbh - you can't help but root for those guys if you're neutral. They're playing with their heart
https://twitter.com/LarAtLarian/status/215177803614797824

Does that mean Swen himself is "neutral" in the invasion? No condemnation of torture, child abductions, mass killing?

That tweet was in 2012. I don't have twitter so I cannot see the context, but it predates Euromaidan, the removal of Viktor Yanukovych, and the 2014 Invasion of Crimea and the Donbas. There is no way you can connect that statement to broader opinions after those watershed moments in history.

Judging by the date in early June, he could easily be talking about Eurovision.

This is completely off-topic for this forum, and just as likely to get removed here as on Reddit.

this is not a normal train of thought lol

They are a Belgian developer.
Why should they make their opinion on the conflict known (even assuming they have a definitive, homogeneous one) and even if they did, of what relevance or value would it be?

I care about what’s going on in Ukraine but I don’t expect every European developer to make an official statement on it.

Ayo mods are asleep post unhinged geopolitical takes

@Zerubbabel my bad, I did not check the timestamp, thanks for pointing it out.

@Tarlonniel I am not sure if it is "completely off-topic" to ask a company on its stance considering where they had the office and their employees. The answer could be very relevant to gamers living in Ukraine who want to make sure they are not buying a product that is supporting those supporting their relatives being killed, I have friends who refused to play e.g. Atomic Heart for that reason. I am not asking Larian to change their stance but I want to know what it is and if there is no answer I guess it is ffair to assume they are "neutral".

Also I mean, other studios you don't even have to ask they write it themselves.

But its not about where is the official address of your studio, it's the people making the product and profiting from it. Many lead employees have Russian background but have moved to out (according to LinkedIn) and I just find it weird that people whose country is obviously so affected by the war would have absolute nothing to say about it.

Just a troll folks, move along.

@CerusSerenade it's really not a troll post, it is an important question for at least the Ukrainian players. Like I said, many are making the choice to not buy/support products made by Russian studios etc. Even saying they have no stance is an honest answer itself. But not answering it after being asked multiple times just feels a bit weird.

Let's say they are for an overwhelming majority on the side of Ukraine. Or at least on the side that thinks Russia in the wrong for being the invading nation here.

WHY should they make a public statement about it, anyway? To hurt and alienate their Russian colleagues (both current or former) and friends?
As a studio half a continent away and not directly involved in the conflict in any meaningful way, is their opinion of any relevance?

They gave you Ukrainian localization, that should tell you enough, knowing that they did not give Macedonian, Bulgarian, Polish, Kazaek, latvein, or Estonian, all countries that have been forced to fight in the conflict of USA vs Russia (yes usa is ukraine, as Ukraine wants to join NATO over EU union, and united states wants vengeance for the Cuban missile crisis and forcing usa to buy out their base in the end of the cold war). Pity the dead, on both sides of this senseless conflict.

Wouldn't you say that any colleagues, Russian or not, that would be supporting both the literal genocide (already recognized by UN, so not just word dropping) of the Ukrainian people and also the forced militarization of Russians being thrown onto frontlines with outdated weapons, are worth alienating?

There are multiple ways of voicing support without condemnation of the other side as well, companies have been saying "thoughts and prayers" and doing humanitarian donations to both sides etc.
The studio has up until recently not been half a continent away, many of the engineers are directly from Russia too. So I don't think it is unfair to ask.

Perhaps Larian is not weighing in on the geopolitics of Eastern Europe or issues of ethnic cleansing in the same way that they don't weigh in on any other major conflict or mass cleansing of any given people. Perhaps it is an apolitical company when it comes to international relations?

I mean, if you're wanting to find odd connections, we found that Larian had connections to Tencent that they very much aren't making public, so..*shrug*

If this was a USA vs Russia war it would have been over the next day. Nobody is also forcing EU to do anything, Poland has been motivated much more than U.S. to help Ukraine and was one of first to offer support. So I feel you are a bit biased?

But I'm not sure what your point is? Are you saying Ukrainian localization is some kind of hidden gift that had the war not started would not be done? Afaik it was because of the Ukrainians requesting it a lot to the point where it made sense because of how big the market was? You are turning localization into some kind of pity gift.

Yep, It's best to stay neutral, Michael Jordan said it best about not alienating your customers.