One element of Larian Studios’ excellent (and therefore hugely successful) game was something that the game’s author says has never been seen before.

GamesRadar reported on what Baudelaire Welch, Senior Narrative Designer for Baldur’s Gate 3, had to say at Develop: Brighton 2024. Their analysis was based on fanfiction and meme nonsense, both of which are decidedly common themes in games, let alone the new Baldur’s Gate, where many characters can be described as sexually exciting. Welch says that romance is the biggest topic of discussion for fans in terms of duration. In any game, fans often create fiction based on romance.

In Baldur’s Gate 3, it was the scene involving the bear’s sexual act that sparked players’ creativity, and Welch explained why. Admittedly, it’s a bit tricky because the bear in question, Halsin, is not exactly a bear, but a druid who can shape-shift into many forms, which, according to Dungeons & Dragons rulebook 5, preserves his mental stats for the duration. According to Welch, this scene was a turning point in the gaming industry because it made the fanfiction community feel like a mainstream audience rather than a subculture, which Larian served with this scene (and game).

Welch revealed that Halsin became a romanticized character when the audience was “thirsty” during the early access period. They were given an overly silly scene where the gay audience was literally interpreted by the studio for what the gay bear really was (because the word bear is also used to describe larger bodied men). And Halsin’s voice actor, Dave Jones, was happy to take on the task, and took it with a sense of humor. Welch says that with Baldur’s Gate 3, they’ve achieved something that could be considered a Discord sh_tpost (like a message), but we see it as mainstream, realized content.

And he’s not wrong, because the studio has met the needs.

Source: PCGamer, GamesRadar