Baldur's Gate 3 publisher says there's a simple way to get big studios to stop breaking their game's launches

The publishing director of Baldur's Gate 3 has shared his way of avoiding failure when releasing games.

February 20, 2025 05:56

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Baldur's Gate 3 publisher says there's a simple way to get big studios to stop breaking their game's launches Source: Larian Studios.

Recently, we have witnessed the launches of major games that didn't meet the publishers' expectations and turned out to be failures. Examples include Baldur’s Gate 3, Michael Douse, has a certain way to avoid "bad releases," which he now shared on X.

I feel like a lot of big games are being let down by a lack of understanding regarding *what they actually are* before they go to release. I don't see those conversations happening at the scale they should, meanwhile you see billboards & shit that doesn't really build any resonance. Ignoring resonance prior to launch is suicidal.

Douse explains that instead of observing if the game resonates with players before its release, developers should actively create that resonance. He also emphasizes that it is crucial to set expectations, and one of the principles they should follow is: "promise less, deliver more."

His statement directly refers to the words of Andrew Wilson, the head of Electronic Arts, who, when explaining the reason for The Veilguard's failure, conveyed that the game "didn't resonate with a wide enough audience."

This last part sounds crazy, but it's much less crazy than saying something "doesn't resonate" in a financial report, as if it were unexpected. There should be no surprise! This should be a process!

The publishing director of Larian Studios also points out the excessive amount of "marketing" among games. He believes that developers shouldn't aim to create a "wow" effect for players, but rather guide them on how to generate this "wow" on their own.

And yes, I absolutely think this ties into layoffs in a big way. Uncertainty where - actually - there doesn't have to be.