“Almost nobody left,” according to Larian CEO
Swen Vincke, director of Baldur’s Gate 3 and CEO of Larian Studios, recently expressed his condolences to the large number of Wizards of the Coast employees affected by Hasbro’s latest round of layoffs, highlighting the fact that nearly everyone at the company who was involved in early discussions about the Dungeons & Dragons-based game is now gone.
“I also want to thank [Wizards of the Coast], and specifically the Dungeons & Dragons team, for giving us carte blanche,” Vincke said. “I’m really sorry to hear so many of you were let go. It’s a sad thing to realize that of the people who were in the original meeting room, there’s almost nobody left. I hope you all end up well.”
Vincke expressed his best wishes in a lengthy X thread about everything he wanted to say at The Game Awards when Baldur’s Gate 3 won Game of the Year. Vincke mentioned in his thread that the 30-second time limit for acceptance speeches was “a little short,” but he was also gracious about the award and the show.
Vincke was frequently accompanied by former Dungeons & Dragons creative director Mike Mearls on his whirlwind tour of media appearances after Larian Studios officially announced Baldur’s Gate 3 in 2019. During an interview at that year’s PC Gaming Show, Mearls described his team’s role on Baldur’s Gate 3 as “story and system support.”
Mearls, who joined Hasbro’s Magic: The Gathering trading card game as director of game design in 2020 before being laid off earlier this week, was listed in the “special thanks” section of the Baldur’s Gate 3 credits alongside Wizards of the Coast as a whole.
Regarding additional Wizards of the Coast contributions to Baldur’s Gate 3, digital games producer Shaun Roe cited Vincke’s post to recall being part of a team that was recruited to help review some of the game’s dialogue. They, like everyone else, were apparently wowed by the now-famous “bear sex scene” involving fan-favorite party member Astarion and his potential wood elf druid lover Halsin.
“Larian created the game that they wanted to make, and we were very intentional about not interfering with that,” Roe said in a follow-up tweet “Larian created the game that they wanted to make, and we were very intentional about not interfering with that,” Roe said in a follow-up tweet, shedding more light on the collaboration. “Tragic that so many aren’t here to celebrate the success.”, shedding more light on the collaboration. “Tragic that so many aren’t here to celebrate the success.”