Baldur's Gate 3 devs love the Ultima RPGs, and boss Swen Vincke says "never say never" on Larian reviving the series
Sep. 18, 2024So you’re saying there’s a chance
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The Ultima series, originally developed by Origin Systems and creator Richard Garriott, is considered to be a seminal franchise, and it commands a lot of interest and nostalgia from Larian founder Swen Vincke. Vincke and the Baldur’s Gate 3 team have not been shy about their affection for the Ultima series, specifically Ultima 7. Speaking toPC Gamer magazine, Baldur’s Gate 3 writer Adam Smith says “the thing about Ultima for me was, 4, 5, and 6 I absolutely love, but 7, it might be my favorite game.”
Earlier this year, Vincke discussed howUltima was one of three household RPGs Larian had its eyes onbefore landing on Baldur’s Gate 3. While the love for Ultima is clear, what Larian could do with the franchise was a challenge. Ultima’s Virtue System and creative problem solving are worth exploring according to Smith, but are less novel today.
“What if you have to try and find peaceful solutions?” he asks. “That’s really interesting, but that happens across the board in RPGs now, so it’s not as interesting a question as it was.” It’s a problem the team has also bumped up againstwhen trying to make a new RPGthat feels meaningfully distinct from Baldur’s Gate 3 – what hasn’t been done before?
While we know thatLarian’s next two projects are original properties, not Ultima or Baldur’s Gate 4, Vincke isn’t ready to close the door on Larian working on Ultima in the future. “Never say never,” he says. Vincke goes on to give a cryptic tease of another developer he would love to work with, noting that “I can’t tell you who, but he’s a big Ultima fan, so you never know.”
If you’re looking for some additional help, check out ourcomprehensive guide on Baldur’s Gate 3
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Jesse is a freelance games journalist with almost a decade of experience. He was the Associate Editor at Prima Games for three years and then moved into the world of freelancing where you might have seen his work at the likes of Game Informer, Kotaku, Inverse, and a few others. You can find him playing the critically acclaimed MMORPG Final Fantasy XIV or whatever hot new multiplayer game his friends are playing.
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