Baldur's Gate 3's publishing director doesn't think the HBO series "can trump our writers," but hopes it treats Larian's cast with care

Baldur’s Gate 3 is becoming an HBO series, but it will have minimal influence from developer Larian Studios, and director of publishing Michael Douse is posting all the way through it. Following the show’s announcement, Douse stated he was “about to crash out on main,” and then proceeded to do just that. Despite only making the most recent entry in the beloved series of D&D RPGs, Larian’s BG3 has escalated both the franchise and the studio to all-new heights, and Douse is eager to see the development team and the characters it created given the respect they deserve.

While it won’t bear the number, the new show is most directly connected to Larian’s Baldur’s Gate 3, and will feature existing characters from the show alongside newcomers. It’s being directed by Chernobyl and The Last Of Us creator Craig Mazin, who describes himself as “a devoted fan of D&D and the brilliant way that Swen Vincke and his gifted team adapted it.” He calls the opportunity “a dream come true,” noting that he’s spent “nearly 1,000 hours” in the world of BG3 himself.

Deadline reports that “Mazin has freedom over the direction of the story,” and that it’ll be picking up where Baldur’s Gate 3 left off. Larian CEO Vincke adds, “The endings of BG3 were created so they could serve as narrative soil for new adventures. There’s plenty of directions they could go. I’m eager to find out which ones Craig and his team will pick.” While it sounds as though Larian has yet to touch base with the show’s creators, Vincke says Mazin has “reached out for a chat so we’ll have the opportunity to tell him our thoughts.”

Responding to a claim from The Game Awards host Geoff Keighley that Larian has told him it has “no involvement in the series,” Douse says, “Except that we made it popular enough for it to be referred to as Baldur’s Gate 3.” The previous games certainly have plenty of legacy, and are considered well-respected classics, but the heights reached by BG3 eclipse anything that came before and it’s definitely become the defining cultural touchstone.

“We worked incredibly hard on making Baldur’s Gate 3 worthy of its legacy,” Vincke writes. “Its characters and narratives are the result of many teams working together and I think I can speak for them all in saying that they’ll think this is cool and hope what comes next will enjoy the same level of passion.” He also adds a nod to the studio’s next game: “Crossing fingers that the story we’re cooking up for Divinity will eventually grow to the same heights. Certainly putting in the hours.”

Douse remarks, “I’ve spent the last eight to ten years of my life with the writers and creators of Baldur’s Gate 3 and they’re the most incredible storytellers and creators in the space. [My] only hope is that they get both the credit deserved and the characters are represented at the same level as the game.

“I genuinely don’t think anyone can trump our writers,” Douse continues. “Our stories are built by fierce camaraderie and resolve. I have watched them write and write and write, and through respect for [the] audience and material, come up with some of the finest shit I have ever played. I hope TV allows for the same thoroughness.”

It’s a concern I’d certainly share; trying to condense potentially hundreds of hours of character development into a fit-for-television series sounds like an impossible task. That’s before even considering the dramatic ways Baldur’s Gate 3’s cast can vary depending on the player’s choices. A ‘world post the events of BG3’ means completely different things to different people, and that’s going to pose some serious conundrums for Mazin and his team to address.

“Don’t abandon hope, but do expect the world. That’s the job,” Douse concludes. Responding to other commenters, the developer adds that he thought “Chernobyl was great,” and says that he would not wish to help on the show if he was offered a spot. Given that Larian made the decision to step away from the D&D license in order to pursue its own creative projects again with Divinity, that perhaps isn’t too surprising.