Wizards eyes a Baldur's Gate successor

Wizards of the Coast plans a Baldur's Gate successor and weighs which studio should lead the project.

Wizards eyes a Baldur's Gate successor as it reshapes its game studios

Wizards of the Coast is signaling a Baldur's Gate successor is on the way. President John Hight told The Game Business that Baldur's Gate 3 is an incredible game and that a follow-up is coming. Larian has ruled itself out of Baldur's Gate 4, leaving Wizards to search for a new maker. The plan now shifts to Wizards’ internal studios, with Archetype and Skeleton Key in the mix alongside Invoke and a team led by Stig Asmussen. The company also hints at a creative direction that blends cinematic action with a D&D setting rather than a direct sequel.

These moves come with risk. The company has floated the idea of investing heavily in internally developed games, and it faces the challenge of finding a partner who can match Baldur's Gate 3's blend of systems and storytelling. Invoke is developing a D&D game in Unreal Engine 5, Skeleton Key is described as doing something spooky, and Archetype is pursuing Exodus, a Mass Effect–like project. Whether any of these paths becomes a Baldur's Gate 4 substitute remains to be seen, and the code for the Baldur's Gate IP, as the article notes, lies with Larian rather than Wizards.

The move to pursue a Baldur's Gate successor signals a bold shift for Wizards of the Coast and its push to turn D&D into a major game-making force. It also lays bare a core tension: can a new partner reproduce the sweep of Baldur's Gate 3, or will the franchise drift into a different kind of experience? The answer may depend less on a single studio and more on whether Wizards can coordinate a shared engine, consistent tone, and long-term support across multiple projects. The strategy could either broaden the audience for D&D or dilute what made Baldur's Gate 3 special when judged against the risk of overexpansion and misaligned visions.

If the aim is to tell new stories without rehashing Baldur's Gate 3, a spin-off that leans into action or horror could work. But that risks undermining the very expectations the original title set. The next year should reveal whether Wizards can translate tabletop imagination into a cohesive, high-quality video game portfolio or if it will need to slow down and align its creative bets with realistic timelines and budgets.

Highlights

The next chapter will test whether Wizards can turn D&D into a durable, world-class game franchise.