It’s a pretty big week for Larian Studios, with Baldur’s Gate 3 finally exiting early access and being available for PC. The studio prides itself on its role-playing games, as evidenced by the Divinity: Original Sin series and CEO Swen Vincke isn’t looking to sell out anytime soon.
Such concerns arose from a merger and acquisition briefing document compiled by Microsoft in April 2021. It became public during the latter’s trial with the Federal Trade Commission over acquiring Activision Blizzard and listed Larian as a potential target.
Speaking to Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier, Vincke said he found the idea “flattering”, but there are no plans to sell the studio (with most shares owned by him and his wife). “I’m getting older, but I’m certainly not done yet.”
He’s also not a fan of an owner dictating creative decisions for more profit. “The strength of this company is that I’m very invested in the gameplay, and I also make the ultimate decisions. We can do things in service of the games we’re making.”
As for what Larian has coming up next, he’s unsure but wants to work on something smaller (and perhaps multiple different titles). Regarding hype around Baldur’s Gate 3, Vincke responded, “That’s what worries me. I prefer being the underdog.”
Baldur’s Gate 3 is available now on PC, with the PS5 version launching on September 6th. It sold over 2.5 million copies and recently reached 498,697 peak concurrent players on Steam.