Russia-Ukraine war almost ruined GOTY 2023

Baldur’s Gate III It was the big surprise of 2023, so much so that it beat the favorites to win Game of the Year at various awards, and it is no wonder, since a work that bordered on perfection emerged from a small studio and as part of a project that is far from large productions with huge budgets. Each recognition celebrates that struggle, since the development process suffered a lot, even when the war between Ukraine and Russia broke out.

Larian relocated 90% of its staff to Russia after the start of the war

During an interview that was published in the recent issue of the magazine EDGE (via Eurogamer)Swen Vincke, CEO of Larian Studios, spoke about the difficulties he went through in the development of Baldur’s Gate III when Russia invaded Ukraine. In this regard, the director revealed that Larian had a studio in St. Petersburg, Russia, and when war was imminent it was essential to relocate the workers who were in Russian territory, first for their safety, and then to resolve their employment situation.

Later, Swen Vincke revealed that 90% of the staff at Larian’s headquarters in Russia left the country and were redeployed to other offices, but this was the result of days and nights of fighting embassies and immigration authorities: “I had already thought about what we were going to do if it really happened. So the decision was instantaneous – we can’t just stay there. We needed to get people away because, the way things are going, you can almost predict that there’s going to be a mobilization in the end, and that meant my entire team was going to go to war. That meant we started fighting with embassies and consulates. It was very complicated.”

On the other hand, the head of Larian Studios assured that dealing with the war between Ukraine and Russia became a game in itself as it affected the development process in different ways. Baldur’s Gate IIIthe game that would ultimately be the most recognized of 2023: “it’s a machine as complicated as an RPG, where everything is connected, if you suddenly start tearing things off, everything collapses. Because what was supposed to be done wasn’t being done. It’s not that they didn’t try, but it was very, very difficult. You could see the domino effect that lasted all the way to the end of the development process.”

In related news, Larian Studios left the success of Baldur’s Gate III in the past and now they are working on 2 video games, it is said that these are a pair of very ambitious role-playing proposals.

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