The success of Baldur’s Gate 3 is no longer in doubt. However, before its official release, Microsoft believed that the RPG was not going to have the popularity it has today.
Baldur’s Gate 3 is one of the biggest releases of the year. Fans of RPGs and Larian Studios productions were impatiently awaiting it and it did not fail to impress the gallery. The game has broken all records, including recently with its arrival on PS5. The results are simple, it has become the highest rated title on the Metacritic platform with a score of 97 on the Sony machine. Players also put it on a pedestal with a rating of 8.2 compared to a 7.8 for Elden Ring which is close behind. However, despite this undeniable success, there is one firm which, at the start, absolutely did not believe in it.
Baldur’s Gate 3, an RPG doomed to failure?
The RPG has been underestimated by many players. In any case, we didn’t necessarily think that he would achieve such fame. It was even the founder of Larian Studios, Swen Vincke, who explained that it “exceeded all the studio’s expectations”. But with such quality content, it was only a matter of time before we saw the game soar to the top. And among those who weren’t betting much on Baldur’s Gate 3, we find Microsoft. The giant did not hesitate to express his opinion on this production in a somewhat crude manner.
This type of statement is not normally revealed to the public. But the enormous leak that Microsoft suffered as part of its acquisition of Activision Blizzard changed the situation. The American competition regulator, the FTC, had filed a complaint against the firm and during a hearing, a tragedy occurred. Confidential information concerning Xbox, PlayStation, but also Nintendo has been revealed. We notably find an email written in May 2022 by Microsoft, in which the American publisher describes Baldur’s Gate 3 as a “second-rate Stadia C-RPG”. They had flair. We can say, without getting too wet, that they were seriously mistaken.
An email that will get people talking
This email included other elements to consider. There was a spreadsheet that categorized future releases that Xbox might include in Game Pass. Some had the right to the “wow factor”, like Star Wars Jedi Survivor. Others, like Baldur’s Gate 3, were entitled to the “Hub” distinction. If we don’t know exactly what that means, it is important to note that this category also included Let’s Sing ABBA or the latest Just Dance. In short, the RPG was not a priority and not classified as a game with potential to Microsoft games.
Despite these comments and this vision of the game before its release, it must be remembered that Microsoft was far from being the only one to have this opinion. One of the minds at Larian Studios, Michael Douse, mentions a similar treatment for Divinity Original Sin 2. According to him, this is due to the genre to which Baldur’s Gate belongs. Anyway, as with many games, Douse explains that “iThere is simply no existing data that could tell us whether Baldur’s Gate 3 was going to work or not. “.
