Larian boss will weigh his words "more carefully" after backlash, says criticism helped him understand why Baldur's Gate 3 "was sh*t"

Larian Studios founder and CEO Swen Vincke is back again with a reconsidered second statement, following controversy around his previous post discussing the way games are critiqued. Larian shot from a respected developer with a suite of beloved RPGs to its name into videogame megastardom with the launch of Baldur’s Gate 3. Naturally, that means all eyes are on the studio – and Vincke – as it works on new project, Divinity. In his follow-up message, he stresses that he sees “great value in criticism,” but admits his initial take “didn’t land as well as I’d intended.”

“I really need to learn to weigh my words more carefully,” the Baldur’s Gate 3 director writes in a lengthy new post. “I genuinely was trying to make a constructive argument but phrased it poorly. It’s been bugging me so let me try again. My point wasn’t that I have an issue with criticism. My point was that it doesn’t need to be hurtful. In my honest opinion that creates alienation between people who have the same hobby and essentially all want the same thing: better games. Constructive criticism really has [a] higher impact.”

Alongside this new statement, Vincke deleted one post from his previous thread, stating that it was being pulled out of context. The now-removed paragraph read, “Sometimes I think it’d be a good idea for critics to be scored, Metacritic-style, based on how others evaluate their criticism. I like to imagine it would encourage a bit more restraint. The harsh words do real damage. You shouldn’t have to grow [a] callus on your soul just because you want to publish something.”

Vincke emphasizes that he wasn’t speaking to negative opinions of “good games that are being mutilated to turn them into money machines,” adding, “that obviously causes a lot of frustration because it makes the games worse. I’ve been fairly vocal about my thoughts on that and will continue to rant against those responsible because they devalue something I care about deeply.”

Instead, Vincke says his thoughts were on “those who truly care about their craft and want to continuously improve what they’re making.” He explains that he’s seen some developers stop reading critiques and comments after being affected by “hurtful packaging of criticism,” distancing themselves from their audience and losing “all the good bits they can get from feedback.

“Not to say that their reaction isn’t understandable,” Vincke continues. “Continuing to engage after repeated written or verbal abuse requires growing a lot of calluses on your soul. Some callus is fine. Too much and you risk becoming desensitized. Personally I got my first threats of violence in 2009, all because I was trying to make something fun and failed in that person’s opinion. There’s been a long list of things thrown at me since.”

Vincke says it took him a long while to learn how to deal with the more vicious and unpleasant responses. “These days, I still read the hurtful comments, but I focus mainly on the constructive opinions. They’re the ones that helped shape BG3’s success.” He also stresses that “contrary to what’s been written, I have a great deal of respect for game critics. Over the years, my job brought me in contact with many of them and I hope they felt that during the many chats we had.

“Respect doesn’t mean agreement but I appreciate what they bring to the table.” Vincke notes that Larian has “many ex-reviewers” on the team and that they’re “my first port of call whenever I work on something for too long and can’t tell if it’s good any more.” I still get a little smile on my face whenever Larian senior writer Kevin VanOrd shows up, because I grew up enjoying his work at GameSpot. He was one of the first people to put Demon’s Souls on my radar, back when the wider audience still didn’t really understand why it worked.

Vincke says his squadron of former critics at Larian is invaluable in figuring out what needs fixing. “Often they will tell me that what I made was shit, but they’ll phrase it such that it helps me understand why it was shit.” He adds, “the same goes for some public reviews of our games. A few were genuinely formative and had a real impact because they pointed out things we were overlooking.”

“I consider us lucky that those reviewers took the time to think through why something wasn’t working because, by listening to them, we avoided making the same mistake twice. So yes, I see great value in criticism and our development history should reflect that. It’s the packaging I was trying to comment about. Didn’t land as well as I’d intended so hopefully this helps.”

It’s certainly a more nuanced read, and in some ways highlights how easily social media causes discussions to escalate because of its emphasis on throwing opinions out into the ether without letting them fully form. As the head of such a prolific studio, Vincke’s words are always going to be in the spotlight. But the sentiment of delivering feedback without resorting to insults and threats is one I’d love to see more people take to heart.