Interview with Baldur's Gate publisher: New games within the next five years

Last March, Larian Studios announced its withdrawal from working on Baldur's Gate, prompting questions about the future of the RPG within the Dungeons & Dragons universe. Eugene Evans, Senior Vice President of Digital Strategy and Licensing at Hasbro and publisher Wizards of the Coast, addressed these concerns in an interview with PC Gamer.

The good news is that more games in the D&D universe are very likely. Currently, Wizards of the Coast is exploring various options and talking to potential partners, Evans said:

"We're now talking to lots of partners and being approached by a lot of partners who are embracing the challenge of, what does the future of the Baldur's Gate franchise look like."

Although a developer has not yet been secured, the publisher seems to have several D&D games in development. When asked if the unexpected success of Baldur's Gate has led Wizards of the Coast to revise their vision for D&D video games, Eugene Evans responded as follows:

"But certainly it has demonstrated, or confirmed if you like, the voracious appetite the fans have for content around D&D, in particular video games. Which is good, because we have been investing in new D&D game development ourselves."

According to Evans, the planned games should be released within the next five years and cover all genres and platforms. One question on the minds of Baldur's Gate fans is what will happen to characters such as Shadowheart and Astarion. Although they were created by Larian Studios, they are now an integral part of the D&D universe. Evans is very vague about this:

"I think it's too early to express specifics ,[…] But I would like to think that all of those characters, for the sake of the fans, could potentially appear in future products."

Further details on the planned games and whether one of them is Baldur's Gate 4 are not revealed in the interview with PC Gamer.