The success of Baldur’s Gate 3 is apparent not just by the game’s critical reception and numerous awards, but by its enormous fan community. Gamers across the globe have fallen in love with Baldur’s Gate 3’s many companions and NPCs, leading to appearances at conventions, Cameo accounts, and plenty of other ways to interact with the cast. However, as the game continues to receive patches, players of the game still wish they had more Baldur’s Gate 3 to explore.
Of course, players could explore Faerun in the video game franchise’s previous iterations. After all, Baldur’s Gate 3 is, technically, the third installment of an iconic video game series. But as a game based on the legendary tabletop RPG Dungeons & Dragons, it would make perfect sense for Baldur’s Gate 3 to analyze how other fan communities and stories based on the tabletop RPG have translated into other forms of media. In fact, recent tie-ins from two established Dungeons & Dragons-based shows could convince Hasbro to give Baldur’s Gate 3 its time in a new medium.
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Baldur’s Gate 4 is undoubtedly years away, but new information from Hasbro suggests that players should still hold out hope for the franchise.
Critical Role and Dimension 20 are both live-action role-playing series that have skyrocketed in popularity. While Dimension 20 has notably experimented with other tabletop games for its format, both series tend to fall back on Dungeons & Dragons as their main game of choice. For those not in the know, Critical Role features a cast of popular voice actors, including Ashley Johnson (The Last of Us, Teen Titans), Travis Willingham (Fullmetal Alchemist, One Piece), and features Matthew Mercer (Attack on Titan, One Piece), typically as Dungeon Master. The success of Critical Role led to an animated series on Amazon Prime called The Legend of Vox Machina based on its main campaign and several official comics published by Dark Horse.
Rising from the ashes of comedy site CollegeHumor, Dropout created its own streaming platform. Former CollegeHumor writer and cast member Brennan Lee Mulligan pitched Dimension 20 to fill out programming, with its first show, Fantasy High, kicking off the show. Both Dropout and Dimension 20 have seen immense success, with Fantasy High remaining one of the web series’ most popular campaigns to date. An official TV show from an established studio outside of Dropout may not be in the cards for Fantasy High, but an official WebToon based on the campaign will debut on March 31. Dimension 20 has also collaborated with animators in the past on Dimension 20: Animated, which highlights iconic moments from the web series’ various campaigns in a new format.
Clearly, there is a thirst for Dungeons & Dragons-inspired content in other media. Sure, Baldur’s Gate 3 is different from both Critical Role and Dimension 20 as it is a video game. But all three properties share the same source material, a love of fantasy, and devoted fan bases.
Baldur’s Gate 3 Needs a Comic or Animated Series
Therefore, it’s time for Baldur’s Gate 3 to expand into the world of animation and art. It’s true that Larian Studios has collaborated with animators in the past. The developer’s YouTube channel features two animated shorts based on the hit RPG, but this certainly isn’t enough to quench the fandom’s thirst for more Baldur’s Gate 3 content.
An animated series could easily see the return of the game’s main cast, who have expressed interest in participating in such a production before. It would be an incredible way for the cast to work together again, with fans often citing the party’s dynamic as one of the best parts of Baldur’s Gate 3. The cast has participated in several live Dungeons & Dragons sessions, which further proves that the cast’s dynamic fits into more than one medium. Of course, a series of comics is another avenue that Hasbro could venture down. Considering the vast success of Baldur’s Gate 3, it would be unsurprising to see publishers and studios pounce at the opportunity to adapt the property, especially with web series like Critical Role and Dimension 20 proving that it’s possible.
- Released
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August 3, 2023
- ESRB
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M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Partial Nudity, Sexual Content, Strong Language, Violence