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.

 

[Henadic Theologian]

The diminishment is going to happen no matter what direction they go, is my point. There's no "correct path forward" to suss out from BG3's success.

No, its very possible if they do the right things BG4 could even be bigger. And yeah BG3 gave them the recipe for success if they can follow it, while adding some new twists. There will be backlash against BG4 being PG, and WotC knows that, so they won't do that. Any stupid mistakes will come from greed or bad writing. I hope they get top shelf writers.

 

[Henadic Theologian]

Taking a billion in revenue is absolutely not the same making a billion. The retailers take their slice, then there are the marketing and distribution costs, then there is the cost to actually make things and support all the employees who are making the thing. They will make enough to keep them comfortable for a long time but they didn’t make a billion of anything.

That is why I said in revenue and not profits.

 

[Henadic Theologian]

There is plenty of historical evidence that T and PG-13 commercially outperform M/R material, and "watered down" is a subjective take.

That is simply an assertion, and the final element proves the point: The Boys is successful, but not PG-13 Marvel successful. Some things can rise high in spite of being M/R, but as a rule T/PG-23 does better.

How dare you go against all of our sacred traditions by posting a balanced and reasonable take.

The most successful Marvel movie since Spiderman was Deadpool & Wolverine, which was rated R.

 

[Parmandur]

The most successful Marvel movie since Spiderman was Deadpool & Wolverine, which was rated R.

Right, which is in my opinion one of the best uses of the R rating in the past twenty years...still didn't do as well as PG-13 equivalent films.

Adjusted for inflation at the theatrical box office, there is only one R rated film in the top 10 (The Wxorcist, which is a serious religous story so follows different patterns) and one more in the top 50 (Beverly Hills Cop, a comedy with one of the all time greats at the top of his game).

 

[Paul Farquhar]

The most successful Marvel movie since Spiderman was Deadpool & Wolverine, which was rated R.

That’s like saying COVID is the most successful epidemic since the Black Death.

 

[TwoSix]

That is simply an assertion, and the final element proves the point: The Boys is successful, but not PG-13 Marvel successful. Some things can rise high in spite of being M/R, but as a rule T/PG-23 does better.

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.

 

[MGibster]

I think there is a significant difference between what sort of "mature elements" work at the table versus in a video game, movie, novel or what have you.

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.

 

[bedir than]

Witches have been trying (and succeeding, depending) to eat children in faerie tales for centuries. I don’t think anyone is trying to ban Hansel and Gretel. It’s all about the presentation.

It’s like violence in movies. There’s a huge difference between someone getting stabbed in an action comedy, vs someone getting stabbed in a horror movie. Same action, different presentation.

Sure, but there's also people insisting that Wizards of the Coast is now merely kiddie stuff.
Anyone who actually reads the material knows that slavery hasn't been purged, that horror hasn't been purged, that it is in fact PG or PG-13 and in no way "kiddie stuff."

 

[Reynard]

i find it frustrating how people are trying to turn this into "you are saying the reason that it was successful was because R rating, and that isn't true." 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."

But, hey, that's the internet for you.

 

[Yaarel]

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.

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.