I think it’s a crazy choice on Larian’s part to make such a concrete statement of “this game is done. We are moving on from it and it isn’t our focus anymore”. There was nothing stopping them from doing things in the same way other developers have and just saying “thank you for all your love for the game. We’d like to tell you a bit about what our next project is”. Sure it was necessary for them to clarify their plans aren’t involving dlc and sequels, but the way they worded statements about the IP and how happy they were to be done seems like a way for Swen to just personally shut down any ideas people would have for the future of the game. He didn’t need to rub salt in the wound the way he did unless he wanted to make it abundantly clear that he himself is done with Baldurs Gate and doesn’t want it to be the thing Larian is known for. I suppose as the director of the private studio he can do whatever the hell he wants, but I would be pretty pissed off if he decided that this game should only exist for the fact that it made Larian popular so he can show people his original ideas. Frankly, I just play games that I think look cool, and I’m not going to follow around a particular developer regardless of what they do. I’m here because I care about Baldur’s Gate 3 and I want the game to be the best it can be and not just a testing ground for Larian to experiment in and then leave behind. I don’t have a single care in the world for the setting of Rivellon, so nothing about the quality of BG3 would make me go “wow I’m going to play DOS 3 because this was cool even though I hated the bits I’ve played of DOS 2”. If Larian brings a brand new IP to the table, I’ll be curious to check it out, but my decision to play it will be based on if it’s interesting and if they actually release a game with a good ending. The enjoyment I got from BG3 isn’t influencing me to buy another game in a completely separate IP just because the developers are good writers.
