Behind the Scenes of Baldur's Gate III: The Journey of Cinematics and Creative Decisions

As the gaming community continues to celebrate the release of Baldur's Gate III over a year ago, the intricate development process of the title is still being unveiled. With the arrival of Patch 7, it certainly appears that much of the game’s journey is nearing completion, yet numerous hidden aspects of its creation remain to be uncovered.

Larian Studios recently shared insights during a panel at PAX West regarding the extensive cinematics featured in the game. Art director Alena Dubrovina revealed that there was uncertainty during the early access phase about whether cinematics would be included at all. Despite some initial proof of concepts, the team grappled with the decision-making process. Ultimately, they resolved to implement cinematics, opting for a camera distance that kept the focus away from characters, though they humorously noted the moment they found themselves zooming in on a goblin toe.

Swen Vincke, the CEO of Larian, mentioned that the team considered first-person perspectives for dialogue sequences at one point. They conducted trials to explore this option, but it was ultimately dismissed. Vincke further highlighted that one of the game's primary challenges was successfully incorporating all the required cutscenes, but clearly, the effort put forth was deemed beneficial in the end.