Larian Studios, développeur de Porte de Baldur 3, compte bien rester indépendant malgré les rumeurs d’acquisition.

Larian Studios, the developer of Baldur’s Gate 3, intends to remain independent despite acquisition rumors.

With success comes glory… and with it, trouble begins. In the world of video games, there are many examples of studios that have experienced dark days after getting too close to the sun. We always have in mind the case of CD Projekt. The Polish studio became the king of RPGs in 2015 with The Witcher 3. Before losing control of its ambitions and suffering the backlash of its fame due to the disastrous release of Cyberpunk 2077.

In another register, Bioware studio (Mass Effect, Dragon Age) also held the crown of the master of Western RPGs for a long time, before slowly sinking after being acquired by Electronic Arts. This is how the developer of Kotor or Baldur’s Gate 1 and 2 ended up releasing the pitiful Anthem in 2019. Now, with the flamboyant release of Baldur’s Gate 3, it is the Belgian studio Larian that finds itself in the spotlight. And to avoid the same misfortune as its predecessors, the company has been clear: it will maintain its independence.

Larian the indomitable

Recently, a list speculating on possible acquisitions by Xbox (which leaked during the FTC trial) included Larian Studios as a potential target. In response to this information, Swen Vincke, founder of the Belgian studio, declared in an interview with Bloomberg that he is not interested at all.

Although he thinks it is flattering to be coveted by big corporations (being candid), he has no intention of allowing his company to fall into the clutches of a multinational. After over two decades at the helm of the company, Vincke and his wife still hold the majority of the privately held shares of Larian and have remained impervious to buyout offers, even if it puts them at risk.

According to Vincke, Larian’s strengths – which are now bringing it success – lie in its freedom of creation and its complete control over its schedules. Thus, maintaining its autonomy would at least prevent it from ending up like Bioware (which lost its creative freedom) or CD Projekt (forced to resort to crunch time and release its game too early). However, this will always make the production of its games difficult (Larian has often relied on crowdfunding to get by), but Vincke still wants to remain in control of his business.

After all, it is through this method (and thanks to the success of the Divinity games) that Larian has been able to bring forth Baldur’s Gate 3, one of the most anticipated games of the year, despite its independent status. With this philosophy, the Belgian studio has also gained the trust of its players over the years, with patience and determination, and it certainly does not want to lose it now. Baldur’s Gate 3 is available on PC since August 3rd and will be released on PS5 next September.