Summary
Larian Studios would have considered making aFalloutgame had it not been able to obtain a license to createBaldur’s Gate 3, a senior company official has revealed. And whileFalloutwasn’t the only intellectual property that the developer was interested in pursuing in the event it didn’t manage to strike a licensing agreement with Wizards of the Coast, all of its backup plans ultimately proved unnecessary.
The Belgium-based developer originally tried to obtain theBaldur’s Gatelicense circa 2014, following the release ofDivinity: Original Sin. Wizards of the Coast declined its offer, citing concerns about the studio’s lack of experience, as previously revealed byLarian CEO Swen Vincke. The developer then tackledDivinity: Original Sin 2, whose pre-release footage impressed Wizards of the Coast, prompting it to offer the license to the developer. Larian responded positively to the approach, consequently startingBaldur’s Gate 3pre-production in late 2016.
Larian Was Eyeing Both Fallout and Ultima IPs as Baldur’s Gate 3 Alternatives
And while everything worked out in the end, the developer wasn’t counting on such a turn of events but was instead already thinking about alternative IPs that could have helped elevate its industry status before Wizards of the Coast changed its mind. That’s according to Vincke himself, who said as much in a recent interview with Edge (viaGamesRadar). Specifically, the executive identified twoRPG franchiseswith enough pull to make licensing a worthwhile pursuit for Larian:FalloutandUltima.
“It would have beenUltima, it would have beenFallout, it would have beenBaldur’s Gate; there was not a lot to choose from,” Vincke recalled of what he perceived as his options at the time. Although Larian never shied away from creating original IPs, the studio saw licensing as a promising opportunity to make the most of its RPG expertise and fast-track its way to greater heights.
It would have been Ultima, it would have been Fallout, it would have been Baldur’s Gate; there was not a lot to choose from.
That train of thought was right on the money, as underlined by the fact thatBaldur’s Gate 3became the first game in history to win five major GOTY awards, in addition to selling over 15 million copies. TheBaldur’s Gatelicense hence very much elevated Larian, like Vincke hoped it would, establishing it as one of the most revered names in the industry.
As for the company’s backup plans, neither theFalloutnorUltimalicenses were ever actually pursued by the studio. That’s unlikely to change anytime soon, if ever, with the developer now once again being focused on its own properties. Specifically,Larian is currently working on two new games, both of which are based on new IPs. The unnamed projects are still in pre-production, thus not being expected to see the light of day for years.
Fallout
Fallout is a franchise built around a series of RPGs set in a post-nuclear world, in which great vaults have been built to shelter parts of humankind. There are six main games, various spin-offs, tabletop games, and a TV series from Amazon Studios.
