D&D General Baldur's Gate 3 Sells Over 20 Million Copies

According to Bloomberg, Larion Studios' Baldur's Gate 3 has sold over 20 million copies. CEO Sven Vincke confirmed that 15 million copies were sold in 2024, and another 5 million in 2025.

Larion Studios, a Belgian company with over 500 staff worldwide, announced in March 2025 that the team was 'elated' not to sign up to make a sequel to Baldur's Gate 3 -- “I thought they were going to be angry at me because I just couldn’t muster the energy. I saw so many elated faces, which I didn’t expect, and I could tell they shared the same feelings, so we were all aligned with one another."

The company is now working on a title in its own Divinity series of games. Vincke also brought up the topic of AI, indicating that attempts to incorporate AI into that game were not successful and that there would be no AI in the upcoming Divinity title.

 

[TheSword]

If the goal of the game includes relationships, flirting, and dating, then the higher age content is a benefit. I am guessing the romance options also help the game appeal to more women.

You can have relationships without sex scenes. Every BG had romances. You can have adult themes without sex scenes.

Maybe it is moralizing. There are some folks that like this stuff and really want to see it in their D&D, for me I just find it exclusionary. Pretty sure I’m not alone. I’d like to see BG4 to return to its roots.

 

[TheSword]

That is why I said in revenue and not profits.

Yeah. Later on you said ‘made’ a billion though. Which usually means profit.

 

[payn]

Wonder if it would be too much work to add a slider from PG to R that would fade this stuff to black? Would folks A-ok with a million things being violently hacked into a pile of blood and guts but sex scenes are over the line be all right with that?

 

[TheSword]

Wonder if it would be too much work to add a slider from PG to R that would fade this stuff to black? Would folks A-ok with a million things being violently hacked into a pile of blood and guts but sex scenes are over the line be all right with that?

Yes. It would for me. Many games have a gore meter for the same reason.

Though not sure how you can equate a video cut scene involving the lead character feeling obliged to have pretty explicit sex with an incubus in order to solve a main quest to a tiny avatar making stylized cutting motions to another tiny stylized avatar. They just don’t seem to be equivalent.

You say it like there’s something wrong with people for not wanting explicit sex scenes in their RPGs. As if people don’t have different tastes.

 

[Parmandur]

I tend to think of it as the ceiling is overall lower for Mature-rated offerings, but there are also lot of concepts that either require or are enhanced by more Mature material to really capture what the concept is offering.

BG3 is interesting because I think there are strong arguments for both approaches, which is why my general thinking is that the "mature material" decision was ultimately a minor impact on its overall success.

I wouldn't say it's even has a lower ceiling, just lower on average, the R rating drags stuff down. Deadpool & Wolverine is a stunning artistic accomplishment that made less than the Mario movie or either Avatar movie. Mediocre R rated stuff really gets lost in the wash.

Other than sexy fun time, I’m hard pressed to think of anything in BG3 that isn’t appropriate at a table top D&D game.

"Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?"

That is a disingenuous interpretation of the actual statement, which is "There is no evidence it would have done better if it had been PG-13."

No, you misunderstand: everything that is R would do better at PG-13, juat as everything at PG-13 would do worse at R. And there is copious historical evidence of that, across the board.

If the goal of the game includes relationships, flirting, and dating, then the higher age content is a benefit. I am guessing the romance options also help the game appeal to more women.

Baldurs Gage 1 & 2 and Fire Emblem beg to differ.

 

[payn]

Yes. It would for me. Many games have a gore meter for the same reason.

Though not sure how you can equate a video cut scene involving the lead character feeling obliged to have pretty explicit sex with an incubus in order to solve a main quest to a tiny avatar making stylized cutting motions to another tiny stylized avatar. They just don’t seem to be equivalent.

You say it like there’s something wrong with people for not wanting explicit sex scenes in their RPGs. As if people don’t have different tastes.

Sure when you add additional context it changes everything. I just find the complaints out of proportion and the sex can be easily explained away as you did the violence. The main point is folks can adjust those things if its not such an effort for designers.

 

[TheSword]

Sure when you add additional context it changes everything. I just find the complaints out of proportion and the sex can be easily explained away as you did the violence. The main point is folks can adjust those things if its not such an effort for designers.

How are the complaints out of proportion? Pretty much everyone here that has ‘complained’ said it’s not a huge deal, they liked the game, they they’d just prefer it wasn’t there to the extent it was. No protests, no calls for boycott or cancellation. Just a polite ‘could you tone down the druidic bestiality in the next installment please if you could.’

 

[payn]

How are the complaints out of proportion? Pretty much everyone here that has ‘complained’ said it’s not a huge deal, they liked the game, they they’d just prefer it wasn’t there to the extent it was. No protests, no calls for boycott or cancellation. Just a polite ‘could you tone down the druidic bestiality in the next installment please if you could.’

This is all over the place. It was exclusionary a moment ago, and now its a simple request. My point was it might be best if folks have controls over a multitude of this content regardless of what they find objectionable or trivial.

 

[MichaelSomething]

Isn't D&D varied enough to make both M and PG games? There's something for everyone!

 

[Henadic Theologian]

Wonder if it would be too much work to add a slider from PG to R that would fade this stuff to black? Would folks A-ok with a million things being violently hacked into a pile of blood and guts but sex scenes are over the line be all right with that?

There was some figure that made the game more rated PG, hiding nudity.