Larian Studios explain how the infamous bear scene changed perceptions toward Baldur's Gate 3: "We got banned on TikTok!"

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"We have to talk about the bear in the room"

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

A year on from the blockbuster success of Baldur's Gate 3, the team at Larian Studios have reminisced about the game's infamous bear nookie scene and how it changed people's perceptions on what the hell Baldur's Gate 3 was all about.

During the PAX West 2024 Baldur's Gate 3: A Retrospective panel embedded below, some members of the development team were asked about how showing off that scene at a pre-launch livestream changed the trajectory of the project. Once Larian Studios had aired the scene, showing the player character, errr, courting a druid in bear form, the internet lit up with memes, some mild controversy, and tons of eyes suddenly glued to the threequel.

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Larian Studios founder and the game's director Swen Vincke recalled that the publishing team were yelling giddily after the livestream: "We got banned on TikTok!" Some team members' moms also had raised eyebrows too.

"There was actually some debate [about showing off the bear scene pre-launch] because we wanted it to be chosen by the audience, so we didn't know what they were going to pick, and we were actually more uncomfortable about the other part," Vincke explained, referring to the other, spicier sex scene that could've been picked instead. "The non-bear scene would've had us banned on more than just TikTok," lead writer Adam Smith joked.

Vincke then got candid and explained that the team ultimately ended up sticking with bear nookie because it paints a picture of what Baldur's Gate 3 is - a funny, sometimes raunchy, "mature game" where almost anything goes.

Larian had also presented a brief romance scene with Karlach at the event, too, since the team didn't want to accidentally make it seem like Baldur's Gate 3 was all jokes, no heart. "We wanted to show the breadth and diversity of romance in the game," Smith continued, "we wanted to show that there were different kinds of moments because I love the bear scene - I think it's fantastic - but we didn't want to [people to think] romance is just this to us. We wanted to show the breadth of it."

 Baldur’s Gate 3 and Divinity: Original Sin 2 were priced “below their value” because Larian devs had “faith” they could recover the cost. 

Kaan Serin
Freelance contributor

Kaan freelances for various websites including Rock Paper Shotgun, Eurogamer, and this one, Gamesradar. He particularly enjoys writing about spooky indies, throwback RPGs, and anything that's vaguely silly. Also has an English Literature and Film Studies degree that he'll soon forget.