Larian Studios is opening a new branch in Warsaw, Poland, to aid work on two new RPG projects that will follow in the footsteps of Baldur’s Gate 3. The expansion was revealed on the Larian careers page, which confirmed Warsaw, “like its sister studios across the globe” is dedicated to creativity, and an environment where developers can “reclaim their agency.”
“Systems-heavy RPGs need best-in-class developers, that’s why we’ve put the people who build those systems at the centre of our culture,” Larian said. “As the team ramps up development on our next games, we’re excited to meet talented programmers, RPG designers, writers, and more who are local to Poland or interested in relocating.”
Read: Hasbro is “talking to lots of partners” about the next Baldur’s Gate
As Larian notes, Warsaw has become a hub for game development in recent years, with companies including CD Projekt Red (The Witcher, Cyberpunk 2077), 11 Bit Studios (Frostpunk), and Techland (Dying Light) calling it home. Larian is keen to engage more developers in the region, to help shape “the future of RPGs.”
What is Larian Studios working on?
Larian Studios achieved ample success – both critically and commercially – with the launch of Baldur’s Gate 3. While its early access period was relatively low key, its full release garnered immediate acclaim, as players fell in love with Larian’s storytelling. The game inspired endless amounts of fan art, fan fiction, and social engagement, with players worldwide brought together over the game. Despite this success, Larian Studios is not working on a sequel. Rather, the studio is looking to spread its wings again, and work on new projects free from licenses and parent company oversight.
Hasbro, the current owner of the Baldur’s Gate franchise, is looking to engage new studios for another sequel in the series, while Larian moves on.
As for what Larian is actually working on, the studio has played very coy. We know there are two new projects in the works at Larian Barcelona, Dublin, Gent, Guildford, Quebec, Kuala Lumpur, and Warsaw. We also know they’re likely to be related to Baldur’s Gate 3 only adjacently.
“Gustav is his own thing, but hopefully he and [the new project] will be able to get along pretty well,” Larian CEO Swen Vincke recently said of the studio’s old and new projects.
Given the wording here, and on Larian’s career page, as well as with consideration for the studio’s past, we can assume its new games are RPGs in a similar vein – backed by ambitious storytelling, strong characters, and a sense of adventure. We can speculate one of the new projects is related to Larian’s beloved Divinity: Original Sin series, but otherwise, we can only guess at the genre and subject matter. Whatever the case, it does appear Larian has major plans in the works.
