D&D General There’s a Baldur’s Gate TV Show Coming!

According to Deadline, there’s a TV show based on Baldur’s Gate 3 coming from US TV studio HBO and the co-creator of The Last of Us—another TV show based on a popular video game.

Craig Mazin will “create, write, executive produce and showrun” the TV adaptation.

Chris Perkins—who used to work at WotC—will be acting as a consultant for the show.

The show will be a sequel to the video game, rather than a retelling of it (as was done with The Last of Us).

Marin said “After putting nearly 1000 hours into the incredible world of Baldur’s Gate 3, it is a dream come true to be able to continue the story that Larian and Wizards of The Coast created. I am a devoted fan of D&D and the brilliant way that Swen Vincke and his gifted team adapted it. I can’t wait to help bring Baldur’s Gate and all of its incredible characters to life with as much respect and love as we can, and I’m deeply grateful to Gabe Marano and his team at Hasbro for entrusting me with this incredibly important property.”

The show will feature both characters from Baldur’s Gate 3 and new characters.

Separately, Netflix is still producing Shawn Levy’s Forgotten Realms based TV show.

 

[Zardnaar]

Smart choice to play off of a very popular game.

But I still won't watch it until they bring BG3 to Switch 2.
If they can't do that, then I'm not interested in watching a sequel show.
And I'm a fan of BG 1 & 2!

(I enjoyed OG Dark Alliance but given that we only got Part 1 on GameCube, I am extremely cautious about investing my time and effort in another WotC video game setting when I'm a Nintendo ride or die video gamer).

Problem being a Nintendo ride or die? You are a Nintendo ride or die.

Since N64 that means limited game library options.

 

[Marandahir]

Problem being a Nintendo ride or die? You are a Nintendo ride or die.

Since N64 that means limited game library options.

Fair counter. But it's better for my wallet that way.

And I prefer cheaper, withered tech that let's me roll advantage on the innovations, rather than constantly racing for the most cutting edge marginal +1 modifiers.

 

[OB1]

Yeah, that is pretty make or break for me ever playing the game as well.

How close in power is Switch2 to the PS5? Cause it gets clunky on a standard PS5 and anything less would probably be trouble, especially in Act 3.

 

[Zardnaar]

Fair counter. But it's better for my wallet that way.

And I prefer cheaper, withered tech that let's me roll advantage on the innovations, rather than constantly racing for the most cutting edge marginal +1 modifiers.

I play mostly older games. Wife loves her switch
Switch 2 maybe broke her. Think its ps5 prices.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Now we're talking!

 

[Marandahir]

How close in power is Switch2 to the PS5? Cause it gets clunky on a standard PS5 and anything less would probably be trouble, especially in Act 3.

I'm not an expert on specs, though I've seen it compared to a halfway between PS4 and PS5, but also a handheld if you want to take it on the go.

I will say that the spec bumps were worth it for me given that I have a 2017 4K TV and it's been underutilized an entire console generation, and it's awesome that it can run Metroid Prime 4 at a buttery smooth 60 fps at 4K, or you can instead choose to go 1080p but perfect 120fps.

 

[bedir than]

Remember when everyone was on tilt about the shift to a franchise model? This is what you get with the franchise model. Mazin is a great talent and a D&D guy. I have a ton of faith in this one.

Edit: And Chris Perkins is working on it. I mean, what more do you want?

Scriptnotes, with Mazin, is an amazing podcast on writing for media and nearly every episode has mentions of D&D. The dude knows the game.

 

[charlesatan]

Apparently no involvement from Larian Studios. (Which some people might interpret as a bad thing.)

Craig Mazin (and his co-host John August) also does play a regular D&D game, as per the Scriptnotes podcast. (Which some people might interpret as a good thing.)

 

[OB1]

I’m guessing ‘28 would be the earliest this could debut, more likely ‘29. Gods I’m excited for this. I gave up on the GoTverse two episodes into HoD when I couldn’t stand the blankness and cruelty of that setting anymore.

 

[Marandahir]

I’m guessing ‘28 would be the earliest this could debut, more likely ‘29. Gods I’m excited for this. I gave up on the GoTverse two episodes into HoD when I couldn’t stand the blankness and cruelty of that setting anymore.

I've heard the new show is pretty good (and it's based on arguably the best ASOIAF spinoff novel), but agreed that the cruelty and gratuitous gore turned me off GoT as a franchise. I respect it for trying to rebuttle and examine Tolkien's biases and shortcomings, but ultimately this just sends me back to the older classics because they weren't quite so OUTRIGHT gruesome and cruel.

In any case, the two new FR books got me interested in the setting more than any past product from 5E or anytime prior. So I'm a prime audience for the new show. But if I can't enjoy the game first spoiler free without buying an additional console or a gaming PC, then I'm probably not going to watch this show. And that makes me a bit sad.