‘That would be insanity’: Baldur’s Gate 2 lead says he turned down Hasbro’s request to make Baldur’s Gate 4
Baldur’s Gate 2 developers declined a request to make a sequel to Larian’s third entry
A lead developer of Baldur’s Gate 2 was he turned down an offer to work on a fourth entry, saying it wouldn’t have worked.
2023’s Baldur’s Gate 3 was a massive success, selling over 20 million copies and boasting some of the highest critical acclaim of any game from the current generation. Hasbro wanted a follow-up and began talking to partners about a potential sequel.
Now, Baldur’s Gate 2 co-designer James Ohlen has revealed to PC Gamer that he was approached by Hasbro to make Baldur’s Gate 4, but says he declined.
Ohlen says he was working alongside his Baldur’s Gate 2 co-lead, Kevin Martens, at Archetype Entertainment on Exodus, which is one of the games Hasbro has spent $1bn on.
While the prospect of returning to the series may have been tantalising, Hasbro CEO Chris Cox reportedly asked Ohlen what he thought of making Baldur’s Gate 4, to which Ohlen replied: “I don’t. I would fail, and here’s why I would fail.”
Ohlen continued: “I wouldn’t want to compete against that. Doing Exodus is hard enough, but having to compete against Baldur’s Gate 3? That would be insanity.”
Baldur’s Gate 3 was developed using Larian’s own Divinity 4.0 engine. When considering the effort it would take to build an appropriate engine and tools, Ohlen said: “We’re talking about at least half a decade of horror, building all that stuff.”
Ohlen is no longer in the games industry, but Martens remains at Archetype Entertainment working on Exodus, which is set to release in 2027.
Baldur’s Gate 3 developer Larian Studios is continuing to work on the upcoming Divinity, which was revealed at The Game Awards 2025.
