The Entertainment industry loves a good video game adaptation these days, and now Baldur’s Gate 3 is getting the Hollywood treatment. Craig Mazin, the guy who gave us The Last of Us and Chernobyl, is taking on the wildly successful fantasy RPG. Sounds great on paper, right?
Here’s the catch that’s got fans in a twist. Larian Studios, the developers who poured their souls into making Baldur’s Gate 3 one of the most celebrated games in recent memory, won’t be directly involved. And when I say directly involved, I mean they’re basically on the sidelines while Hasbro’s Wizards of the Coast calls the shots.
The Licensing Game Nobody Talks About
This is where things get messy in the world of Technology and intellectual property. Larian never owned Baldur’s Gate. They licensed it from Wizards of the Coast to make the game, which means legally speaking, Hasbro can do whatever they want with the franchise. It’s perfectly legal, perfectly normal in the Business world, and perfectly frustrating for fans who associate BG3 with Larian’s creative vision.
Swen Vincke, Larian’s founder, posted what I’d call a diplomatically positive message on X. His team worked “incredibly hard” to make the game worthy of its legacy, and he hopes the show will have the same passion. Reading between the lines? That’s someone trying to stay professional while probably having mixed feelings about the whole situation.
Mazin did reach out for a chat, which is nice. But let’s be real here. A chat isn’t the same as having creative control or meaningful input. It’s a courtesy call, not a collaboration.
The Craig Mazin Question
Mazin claims he’s put nearly 1000 hours into Baldur’s Gate 3 and calls himself a devoted D&D fan. That’s genuinely impressive and shows dedication. The Last of Us Season 1 was brilliant, and Chernobyl remains one of the best miniseries ever made.
But Season 2 of The Last of Us drew criticism for some creative choices that deviated from the source material. Fair or not, that’s fresh in people’s minds. When you’re adapting something as beloved as Baldur’s Gate 3, which won every major Game of the Year award and sold over 20 million copies, the pressure is astronomical.
The show will pick up right after the game’s events, following new and old characters dealing with the aftermath. With nearly 17,000 different ending variations in the game, at least they’ve got options. But that flexibility is also a challenge. Which version of events becomes canon? Whose playthrough matters?
When Success Breeds Skepticism
Eurogamer’s Vikki Blake makes a fair point about cautious optimism. Mazin is a Dungeon Master himself, and he wouldn’t take this on unless he felt confident. Previous successful adaptations like Fallout and The Last of Us did bring development team members on board, though, which makes Larian’s absence more noticeable.
Fans on social media aren’t holding back their concerns. “Not sure if I trust anyone other than Larian with those characters,” one wrote. Another called the combination of no Larian involvement and Craig Mazin directing “crazy.” These aren’t just trolls complaining. These are people who spent hundreds of hours in a game that meant something to them.
The phrase one fan used really stuck with me: “a familiar face with a stranger’s heart.” That’s the fear, isn’t it? That the adaptation will look like Baldur’s Gate, sound like Baldur’s Gate, maybe even have the right character names, but somehow miss what made the game special.
Maybe Mazin will prove everyone wrong and deliver something that honors both the D&D legacy and Larian’s incredible work. Or maybe this will be another case study in why corporate ownership of creative properties sometimes leaves the actual creators watching from the sidelines while someone else tells their story.
