Hasbro exec says Baldur's Gate 3 "proved for us that people really wanted great D&D games," supports Larian's plan to "take the time we need"
Mar. 20, 2024Hasbro’s already working on another “really, really cool D&D game”
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Hasbro, the now longtime owner of Dungeons & Dragons maker Wizards of the Coast, is cooking up some big plans in the video game space, and the stunning success ofBaldur’s Gate 3has proved to the company that the world wants more digital D&D adaptations.
“We’re all super excited by the reaction to [Baldur’s Gate],” Hasbro’s head of game studios Dan Ayoub tells GamesRadar+ in an interview at the Game Developers Conference. “I think it proved for us that people really want great D&D games. We’re certainly doing that.”
Ayoub believes the success of Baldur’s Gate 3 shows three things. First, that “a high quality D&D game, there’s going to be an audience for that.” Second, that a successful video game can bring more players into the tabletop world. Finally, there’s “the importance of taking time to get it right. That’s a game that Larian was very diligent, very adamant about. We’re going to have a long dev cycle and take the time we need to get it right.” Now that Hasbro is building its own internal game development studios, Ayoub says “we’re taking a similar approach with the internal titles,” adding that “we’ve got to make sure the ones coming in now from our AAA studios hit home in a big way.”
For now, Ayoub says “our Montreal studio is working on a really, really cool D&D game. We’re going to be able to start talking more about that hopefully soon.” That’s on top of the GI Joe Snake Eyes game in the works at Atomic Arcade from the former leadership on the Batman: Arkham games, and the new sci-fi IP Exodus in development at Archetype Entertainment with a host of devs from the original Mass Effect games.
“We’ve been very diligent and I would say purposeful in building out the studios that are really being created, tailor-made to build a specific type of game,” Ayoub says.
Here are thebest Dungeons and Dragons booksif you’re a tabletop enthusiast, and here are thebest RPGsif you prefer to be far removed from your DM.
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