Datamining can provide an interesting window into a developer’s intentions for a game. However, such info can be lead to inaccurate conclusions, as seems to be the case with Baldur’s Gate 3.
Speaking with IGN, director Swen Vincke talked about the various content that has been unearthed by fans, including the removal of certain epilogues and cuts to the city of Baldur’s Gate, saying that information found through datamining can be “misleading.” He also dispelled rumors that content had been removed in order to make the earlier launch date.
“We had actually been locked in for quite some time on what was going to be in the game because these games are too large to make big decisions like that and cut things two weeks before release,” Vincke says. “So you wouldn’t do that. But I mean it’s normal. And I guess it’s also kind of a compliment, people wanting more content.”
Vincke termed some of the cuts “editorial decisions” rather than “cut decisions” owing to their length. That includes Baldur’s Gate’s much-discussed Upper City, which seemingly had much more content than what was included in the final game.
“So when it comes to the city… we made a big city actually. When you hit that, you’ll see there’s really a lot to do,” Vincke says. “But we noticed, and that was something that took us by surprise, there are people that are exploring the full city, which is what we intended. That’s quite a lot of content. So we didn’t want to repeat that ad nauseum so that it became too much because by then you already played for over a hundred hours.”
The development team’s main fear, Vincke says, is that cities “can actually become boring” due to being overwhelming. He says Larian also wanted to set up the grand finale in Baldur’s Gate 3’s climax.
“So it’s not true that we cut large swaths of it. That’s been our intention all along. There were certain small things that we did cut, but that’s just part of re-scoping as you finish a game,” Vincke says.
If anything has surprised Larian Studios, it’s just how hungry fans have been for more content. According to HowLongtoBeat, a completionist run in Baldur’s Gate 3 averages around 124 hours, and many players have been playing for much longer. But it seems fans want more.
In a separate blog entry, Larian wrote that the team is “confident” that there’s enough content in Baldur’s Gate 3, but that the team is “committed to tying up loose ends, fixing the remaining bugs, and improving things where we see they could — and should — be improved.” Vincke says that includes continuing to optimize its performance so as many fans as possible can play it, even ones on lower-end PCs.
The future of Baldur’s Gate 3
Looking ahead, Larian says it plans to keep monitoring what bugs players encounters while also continuing to make improvements based on player feedback. Larian also plans to implement Withers’ Wardrobe of Wayward Friends, which will allow co-op players to get rid of their companions and continue on solo, and it reiterated that it’s working the ability to change your characters’ look after starting a campaign, though the release date has not yet been confirmed.
Baldur’s Gate 3 Patch 2 is set to release later this week, bringing with it performance enhancements and some 1500 lines of dialogue for Minthara. While you wait, check out our full guide to Baldur’s Gate 3 romances as well as our review.
Kat Bailey is IGN’s News Director as well as co-host of Nintendo Voice Chat. Have a tip? Send her a DM at @the_katbot.