The director of Baldur's Gate 3 has discussed the possibility of their games heading to subscription services, sharing: "Direct from developer to players is the way."
Following reports that a Ubisoft exec said players need to get "comfortable" not owning their games for subscriptions to take off, Swen Vincke - the director of everyone's current favorite RPG and head of its developer Larian Studios - shared his thoughts on the future of video game distribution earlier today, revealing: "You won’t find our games on a subscription service."
"Whatever the future of games looks like, content will always be king," Vincke says to his Twitter following. "But it’s going to be a lot harder to get good content if subscription becomes the dominant model and a select group gets to decide what goes to market and what not," the Larian Studios founder explains. "Direct from developer to players is the way."
- Baldur's Gate 3 and Larian Studios lead Swen Vincke declares that single-player games are, in fact, not "dead" at all – "they just have to be good"
- Atomfall boss "very familiar" with Baldur's Gate 3 director's frustrations with publishers, as he recalls horror advice that games are "faster to make" if you "make fewer bugs"
Whatever the future of games looks like, content will always be king. But it’s going to be a lot harder to get good content if subscription becomes the dominant model and a select group gets to decide what goes to market and what not. Direct from developer to players is the way. https://t.co/wEUvd5adt0January 17, 2024
In a series of follow-up tweets, Vincke goes into more detail about this adding: "Getting a board to ok a project fueled by idealism is almost impossible and idealism needs room to exist, even if it can lead to disaster. Subscription models will always end up being cost/benefit analysis exercises intended to maximize profit."
"There is nothing wrong with that," the developer adds, "but it may not become a monopoly of subscription services." Vincke continues by explaining how developers are already dependent on a select group of digital distribution platforms and discoverability, which is "brutal" enough, but if all those platforms switch to a subscription-based model: "It’ll become savage."
TLDR ; you won’t find our games on a subscription service even if I respect that for many developers it presents an opportunity to make their game. I don’t have an issue with that. I just want to make sure the other ecosystem doesn’t die because it’s valuable.January 17, 2024
Vincke finishes the thread by saying: "In such a world by definition, the preference of the subscription service will determine what games get made. Trust me - you really don’t want that." He then reveals that you won't find Larian's games on a subscription service, "even if I respect that for many developers it presents an opportunity to make their game," and that's because the developer wants to make sure the other "valuable" ecosystem doesn't die.
If that wasn't clear enough, Vincke has also said Baldur's Gate 3 is never coming to Xbox Game Pass as "there's a fair price to be paid" for "a big game" like this.
Considering jumping into the Larian RPG soon? Take a look at our Baldur's Gate 3 tips before you get started.
