The news dropped like a critical hit: Baldur’s Gate is getting the TV treatment, and Craig Mazin, the guy who gave us The Last of Us and Chernobyl, is at the helm. Sounds like a dream pairing, right? Well, not everyone’s rolling a natural 20 on this one.
Baldur’s Gate 3 wasn’t just a game. It was a cultural moment that swept through 2023 like wildfire, racking up over 20 million copies sold and becoming the first game to ever snag all five major Game of the Year awards. That’s the kind of success that gets Hollywood’s attention, especially in an era where video game adaptations have finally figured out how to not suck.
The Larian Problem
Here’s where things get interesting. Larian Studios, the Belgian developer that poured years of passion into creating Baldur’s Gate 3, won’t be directly involved in the show. And that’s making fans nervous, understandably so.
The Technology behind bringing such a complex game to life required an insane attention to detail. We’re talking about a game with nearly 17,000 different ending variations. That’s not just technical achievement, that’s pure artistic dedication.
Larian founder Swen Vincke took to X with what can only be described as a diplomatically worded “we’ll see.” He mentioned Mazin reached out for a chat, which is nice, but it’s not quite the same as having the creative minds who built this world sitting in the writers’ room every day.
Why Fans Are Holding Their Breath
The comparison to The Last of Us is inevitable, but it cuts both ways. Sure, Mazin nailed the first season, but the second one? Let’s just say opinions vary wildly. Some fans loved the bold choices, others felt it strayed too far from what made the source material special.
“Not sure if I trust anyone other than Larian with those characters,” one fan posted, and honestly, that sentiment resonates. There’s something deeply personal about Baldur’s Gate 3’s characters. They feel lived-in, real, flawed in ways that actually matter.
Mazin claims he’s put nearly 1,000 hours into the game, which is admirable. As a self-proclaimed devoted D&D fan, he’s clearly passionate about the material. But passion alone doesn’t guarantee a successful adaptation. The gaming community has been burned before by well-meaning creators who didn’t quite get it.
The Business of Adaptation
Here’s the thing that makes this whole situation particularly tricky: Baldur’s Gate is owned by Wizards of the Coast, which is a Hasbro subsidiary. Larian only licensed the IP to make the game. From a business standpoint, Hasbro can do whatever they want with the property without asking Larian’s permission.
That’s just how intellectual property licensing works in the entertainment industry. But it doesn’t mean fans have to like it.
The show is supposedly picking up right after the events of the last game, following new and old characters dealing with the aftermath. That’s a smart move narratively, giving Mazin room to tell fresh stories without being locked into recreating specific player choices. With those 17,000 ending variations, trying to please everyone would be impossible anyway.
Can Lightning Strike Twice?
Vikki Blake from Eurogamer makes a fair point about cautious optimism. Mazin has proven he can handle game adaptations with care. He’s also a DM himself, which means he understands the collaborative storytelling nature that makes D&D, and by extension Baldur’s Gate, so special.
But here’s what keeps nagging at people: Fallout brought in people from Bethesda. The Last of Us had Neil Druckmann heavily involved. These successful adaptations didn’t happen in a vacuum, they happened with the original creators helping guide the ship.
Mazin says he plans to reach out to the original voice cast with ideas for participation, which is encouraging. Those actors brought so much life to their characters that losing them entirely would be a massive mistake. But voice actors playing their characters versus the actual narrative architects of the game being involved are two very different things.
The worry isn’t that Mazin will make something bad. The worry is that he’ll make something competent, professional, well-crafted, and yet somehow missing that indefinable spark that made Baldur’s Gate 3 feel like magic. You know, like seeing a familiar face with a stranger’s heart, as one fan aptly put it.
