Baldur's Gate 3 is never coming to Game Pass, Larian CEO says "there's a fair price to be paid" for "a big game" like this

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"This is what allows us to continue making other games," says Swen Vincke

Baldur's Gate 3
(Image credit: Larian Studios)

Baldur's Gate 3 developer Larian decided "from the get-go" that the mammoth RPG wouldn't be coming to Xbox or PC Game Pass, and that isn't going to change.

That's according to Larian CEO Swen Vincke, who discussed the possibility of a Game Pass release in a recent interview with IGN. "So look, we are in the business of making a game that has a beginning, middle, and an end," Vincke says. "We made a big game, so I think there's a fair price to be paid for that, and I think that that is okay."

Vincke also points to the upfront, no-nonsense business model that's helped make Baldur's Gate 3 a community favorite. "We don't charge you any micro-transactions on top of it, so you get what you pay for," he says. "Up front it's a big meaty game. So I think that should be able to exist as it is. This is what allows us to continue making other games."

Baldur's Gate 3 devs have previously expressed hopes that the RPG's success as a traditional, single-player game may push other RPGs to get weird and aim high. "If you look at the indie space, RPGs never went away. People can go to a publisher and say, 'Well, look what it fucking did for them,'" said writing director Adam Smith. 

In the same interview, Vincke affirms Larian's plans to "continue to support" Baldur's Gate 3 going into 2024, even as the studio shifts to other projects. Last month, Vincke teased that Baldur's Gate 3's runaway success "is really encouraging us to ensure it pushes many boundaries" with Larian's next game. 

Baldur's Gate 3's latest hotfix went live last night during the dev's Christmas party. 

Austin Wood
Austin Wood
Senior writer

Austin has been a game journalist for 12 years, having freelanced for the likes of PC Gamer, Eurogamer, IGN, Sports Illustrated, and more while finishing his journalism degree. He's been with GamesRadar+ since 2019. They've yet to realize his position is a cover for his career-spanning Destiny column, and he's kept the ruse going with a lot of news and the occasional feature, all while playing as many roguelikes as possible.