Baldur's Gate 3 performed much better in 2024 than in 2023, with significantly more daily active users, and started the year with over 120,000 players. I can't believe how well this traditional cRPG is doing, when even Larian Studios was worried it would get lost under Starfield's shadow.
It still shows no signs of slowing down, and there's still one more patch to come. There's no doubt in my mind that this is a game we'll still be talking about years from now.
Why was Baldur's Gate 3 such a hit?
It's easy to overthink why Baldur's Gate 3 was a huge success, and the big publishers are likely to learn all the wrong lessons. But as Larian Studios CEO Swen Vincke said in his speech at The Game Awards 2024, the answer is “ridiculously simple.”
Larian created “a game you'll want to play yourself.” Baldur's Gate 3 wasn't driven by shareholders or a desire to increase revenue streams by any means possible. Because Larian refused to treat “players like users to be exploited” or “developers like numbers on a spreadsheet.” It was a game created with passion, leveraging the success of past titles like Divinity: Original Sin 2 and the unique advantages of early access to fund ambitious ideas instead of outside investors. And you can feel that passion. This isn't a shallow, empty game full of gimmicks or time-sucks designed to trap you in an ecosystem, nor is it a game that cheapens its mechanics and ideas to appeal to the masses. This is unashamedly Larian Studios.
As my colleague Andrew King wrote, this was the exact opposite of Dragon Age: The Veilguard. Our party in Baldur's Gate 3 is comprised of some of the most unique companions in the history of the medium, and can even rival the troupes of Dragon Age: Origins. But BioWare has lost some of its magic with the latest sequel. This sequel is a sanitized, overly linear shell of its ancestor, made tedious by writing that feels like it was passed through a dozen focus groups (which it essentially was).
It doesn't feel like BioWare, it feels cold and lifeless. A product designed to leverage legacy brands and take the safest possible path in every direction. I'd be surprised if we're talking about it by this time next year, let alone 10 years from now.
The fact that Larian Studios is moving away from its most successful game instead of jumping into a sequel perfectly highlights the difference in approach.
But creating a game that means something to the team behind it, a game that stays true to the developer's vision rather than the whims of shareholders or algorithms, is only the first step. Games like Baldur's Gate 3 continue to grow even after release thanks to their communities.
Mods keep the game alive
Skyrim was a huge and enduring success, in part because, as Vincke said of Baldur's Gate 3, it was an RPG that pushed the boundaries of what Bethesda could imagine to be as fun to play as we are.
The opening is an inevitably iconic sight, but it doesn't overstay its welcome. You're quickly thrown into a large open world to explore, and with a variety of ways to build your character from the moment, each stage of Helgen feels just as exciting as the last, as if you're emerging from the ruins. Nautiloid. Both are incredibly playable games.
But it's the modding community that has kept Skyrim in the zeitgeist for so long. It's not designed to be modded, but the tools are made easy to use so fans can build on the foundation laid by Bethesda. They started small with UI tweaks, new armor sets, and player homes. But now we've seen a very ambitious project, with an entire game coming out of Skyrim's community and foundation, like The Forgotten City, and revealing the rest of Tamriel to us.
Mods are the reason Skyrim thrives to this day, and when that became clear, Bethesda fostered that aspect of the community with official support, even bringing mods to consoles and special re-releases. Larian Studios has already done the same, and for this reason, the torch of Baldur's Gate 3 will continue to be carried in that community even after the move.
We can't forget the cast.
Baldur's Gate 3 finally takes Skyrim's throne after more than a decade, but it's not only the next generation of RPG titans. There is something truly special about the success of Larian games. This is the cast.
The fact that the actors are charismatic and actively involved in the community outside of the game has led fans to connect with their characters far more than any of the medium's most beloved parties, from Mass Effect to Final Fantasy 7. We were able to communicate. .
Watching Neil Newbon stream his playthrough of Baldur's Gate 3 or seeing everyone reunite with the High Rollers to play a game of Dungeons & Dragons has made them inseparable from the game. Lydia, Delvin, Cicero, and many other Skyrim characters have become icons in their own right, but the Baldur's Gate 3 cast is just as iconic. beyond that game. Because of that, they've solidified many of these characters in gaming history, and I'm sure characters like Astarion, Shadowheart, Lae'zel, Karlach, and Gale will remain as relevant as Baldur's Gate 3 over time.
The BAFTAs even recognized Shadowheart as the 10th most iconic video game character of all time, but that might be overkill.
Designed by a passionate studio that refused to bow to increasingly cynical industry standards and fostered an equally passionate community around a truly talented cast, Baldur's Gate 3 was the perfect storm. It's undoubtedly the new Skyrim, a hugely popular RPG that will no doubt still be popular ten years from now.

Baldur's Gate 3 is the long-awaited next chapter in the Dungeons & Dragons-based RPG series. Developed by Divinity creator Larian Studios, the game places you in the midst of the mind flayer invasion of Faerûn, over 100 years after its predecessor.