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Baldur’s Gate 3 is an absolute behemoth of a game. With over 17,000 ending variants and an overwhelming number of progression paths, it seems absurd to complain about a lack of content. In fact, just the main storyline takes anywhere from 75 to 100 hours to complete! However, despite all the content, fans were disappointed today when an unexpected piece of news dropped. So, will Baldurs Gate 3 get any DLC or an expansion? Larian Studios has spoken about this subject recently.
Why is a Story Expansion a Tough Sell?
“Honestly, we haven’t started on an expansion,” Larian CEO Swen Vincke told PC Gamer. Vincke proclaimed that although they would love to introduce an expansion, it would be a logistical nightmare. The base game has a level cap of 12, and in the D&D 5e ruleset, moving onto level 13 and beyond practically ascends the player to godhood. High-level spells such as ‘Wish’ (the ability to alter your surroundings to your desires) are simply too open-ended to implement.
“[Level 13-20] adventures require a different way of doing things, in terms of antagonists you’re going to have to deal with, which require a lot of development to do them properly,” Vincke states. “Which would make this much more than an expansion in terms of development effort. A lot of D&D adventures are sub-level 12 for precisely that reason. So it sounds like neat, easy expansion material until you start thinking about it and it’s not as easy as one would imagine.”
Vincke also brought up the issue of how a one-size-fits-all approach to a story addition couldn’t work, considering the game’s massive number of possible endings. He confirmed that for something of that caliber “you’d have to wait a long time.”
Will Baldur’s Gate 3 Have DLC? Explained
Ultimately, although never completely confirmed, it is safe to say that an expansion or DLC ever coming to Baldur’s Gate 3 is unlikely. However, fans shouldn’t lose hope just yet! In the same interview with PC Gamer, Swen Vincke made the bold claim that modding support is “going to improve dramatically” as soon as the PS5 version is launched this September. Vincke has left the door wide open for modders to implement those absurd level 20 spells.
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Vincke also spoke briefly about their plans after Baldur’s Gate 3 but declined to share too many details. We do know, however, that they plan to return to Divinity at some point. Whatever their next project ends up being, rest assured, knowing that it is in great hands.
