- HBO is making a Baldur’s Gate 3 TV series led by Craig Mazin, without Larian Studios’ direct involvement.
- Gamers are unhappy, calling it a cash grab and questioning changes to a player-driven story.
- Some hope remains, as Mazin has praised the game and contacted Larian’s CEO.
HBO confirmed just before the weekend that a TV series based on Baldur’s Gate 3, by Larian Studios, is in the works. However, the studio won’t be involved, as Craig Mazin (The Last of Us, Chernobyl) is acting as showrunner and executive producer.
This news has been met with a general air of disappointment from gamers, with many calling it a “cash grab” by Wizards of the Coast (the owners of Dungeons and Dragons, which Baldur’s Gate is part of). Others are confused why Larian is being kept out of the production when the show is going to follow on from the events of the game.
Mazin revealed his admiration for the source material in a press release: “After putting nearly 1,000 hours into the incredible world of Baldur’s Gate 3, it is a dream come true to be able to continue the story that Larian and Wizards of The Coast created.”
“I am a devoted fan of D&D and the brilliant way that Swen Vincke and his gifted team adapted it. I can’t wait to help bring Baldur’s Gate and all of its incredible characters to life with as much respect and love as we can, and I’m deeply grateful to Gabe Marano and his team at Hasbro for entrusting me with this incredibly important property.”
Every Choice Matters
Baldur’s Gate 3’s overall plot has player control characters infected with Mind Flayer parasites. They must seek a cure for these, while taking on the cult of the Absolute, which wants to create an army of Mind Flayers to take over the world. Set in the Forgotten Realms of Dungeons and Dragons, the game encourages a level of player choice and immersion not seen in RPG games before, although Larian’s own Divinity Original Sin II came close.
As such, Baldur’s Gate 3 was released in August 2023 and quickly went on to scoop up multiple awards, including Game of the Year and Best Role Playing Game at the Game Awards in 2023, and Best Game and Best Narrative at the BAFTAs in 2024.
Larian acted as both publisher and developer after acquiring a Dungeons & Dragons licence from Wizards of the Coast; this meant that Larian was predominantly self-funded, whereas Hasbro (who owns Wizards of the Coast) raked in $90 million thanks to the agreement, as of February 2024. However, Larian ended 2023 with between $260-$261 million in pre-tax profit, so the agreement paid off very quickly.
Hands Off the Merchandise
Despite, or perhaps because of, the popularity of the game, people have taken to social media to express how disappointed they are with HBO adapting it. “Why do they have to ‘follow up’ on anything,” said one user in the game’s Reddit channel. “Can’t they just make a completely new story in a different time or something? It’s going to reek of cheap fanservice cash grab.”
This sentiment has been echoed by many others, with the majority of people mad that Larian has no involvement. However, this may not end up being completely the case as Swen Vincke, CEO of the studio, posted on X on Feb. 6 that Mazin wanted to talk.
“The endings of BG3 were created so they could serve as narrative soil for new adventures,” Vinke said. “There’s plenty of directions they could go. I’m eager to find out which ones Craig and his team will pick. He’s reached out for a chat so we’ll have the opportunity to tell him our thoughts.”
Deadline reported that Mazin intends to also reach out to voice actors from the game with the possibility of them having live action roles, as was the case with The Last of Us; these included Troy Baker, Ashley Johnson, and Merle Dandridge. It’s also the TV version of The Last of Us (which will end with its next season in 2027) that’s caused gamers to question Mazin’s involvement. He was blamed for changing too much of the game’s story for the second season, even though the game’s creative director Neil Druckmann co-wrote the season.
Although Mazin might not end up being joined behind the scenes by anyone from Larian, he is executive producing alongside Hasbro Entertainment’s Head of Television Gabriel Marano. Marano is also behind a forthcoming Magic: The Gathering Netflix series with Vice President of Development for Hasbro, Zachary Edwin. Edwin, in turn, is linked with a Forgotten Realms Netflix show that is currently in the works, with Stranger Things’ producer and director Shawn Levy attached.
This Dungeons & Dragons show and the Baldur’s Gate series are reported to co-exist. With Chris Perkins, the former longtime Head of Story at Wizards of the Coast/D&D game universe working alongside Mazin as consultant, it’s not unreasonable to believe that at least one of these shows will be true to what fans love about the setting.
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