vaibhavpisal
Member
Bethesda RPGs by default are a bit of a high bar when they put proper character progression in them.
I think it will be a tough battle.
Am waiting for console version of this, looking very good
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Baldur’s Gate 3 Launches To Massive Concurrent Steam Players Numbers
Bethesda RPGs by default are a bit of a high bar when they put proper character progression in them.
I think it will be a tough battle.
Am waiting for console version of this, looking very good
The BioWare we knew indeed does not exist anymore. It's the name and a few people only who's there now and was then when they're were good.
Buggy Loop
Member
640k !! It passed Apex Legends’ all time high!!
Interfectum
Member
Imagine Bioware’s office right now as they see BG3 breaking records while they work on a cheap God of War clone with a Dragon Age skin. 
Denton
Member
The AAA production value is huge part of this game's success for sure. RPGs like that with huge great word of mouth do well.
Last Hearth
Member
I’m fantasizing that their next small project is a complete remake of planescape torment in this engine with all the dialogue voice acted and presented as cutscenes like this game.
SmokedMeat
Gamer™
How does this “go against” Starfield?
If you only own a PlayStation you can’t play Starfield.
Draugoth
Gold Member
Bethesda games are usually unplayable messes depending on where you are playing and their build version.
SmokedMeat
Gamer™
That still doesn’t answer my question about such an odd comment,
PlayStation players only have one game to pick from.
Xbox players will only be able to buy Starfield next month, and BG3 next year.
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Draugoth
Gold Member
By the time BG3 releases on Xbox most people who wanted to play the game will probably do so on PC or PS5,
Starfield success will depend on early reviews and the game's state on Series X/S, or it might be another Cyberpunk 2077 situation,
Heisenberg007
Gold Journalism
I think it's because both Starfield (Xbox) and Baldur's Gate 3 (PS5) will launch in early September and go head to head.
asdasdasdbb
Member
Beastiality is huge these days I guess.
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peish
Member
Almost at 700k concurrent
Absolutely wild (Total Sales Estimate)
hope square yoshi-p takes note for next ff17. turn based, squad based, levels design around discovery interaction. put some thoughts in engaging your players, ask yourself what players will do in every scenarios
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Last Hearth
Member
Because a huge part of modern marketing is to target the impulse buy through the consumer psychology known as "the fear of missing out".
Microsoft was hoping that the fear of missing out is going to motivate a lot of PS5 only owners to buy an XBox to play Starfield.
By having a high touted, "everyone is talking about it" game launch at the same time as what is essentially a PS5 console timed exclusive is going to 1) motivate some XBox only owners to go buy a PS5 and the game and 2) undercut the feeling of missing out among PS5 owners because they can play another highly touted game instead, so they aren't "missing out".
ZVWQP-9B8TM-VH9CT
Member
Yes, just like Blizzard, they are independent. Blizzard is an indie company.
Wildebeest
Member
Another milestone.
Red5
Member
BG3 and Starfield are nothing alike they just happen to be RPG's, that's like saying Dragon Age Origins/Mass Effect are the same as Skyrim.
One is an open world space roaming sci fi action RPG the other is an Isometric cRPG, Skyrim is one the bestselling titles on PS3. Isometric cRPG's like Pillars, Divinity, Wasteland 2 didn't exactly set record sales on consoles either.
What I mean to say is that BG3 as fantastic as it is, isn't going to satisfy people who want the Skyrim open world roaming RPG formula.
One is an open world space roaming sci fi action RPG the other is an Isometric cRPG, Skyrim is one the bestselling titles on PS3. Isometric cRPG's like Pillars, Divinity, Wasteland 2 didn't exactly set record sales on consoles either.
What I mean to say is that BG3 as fantastic as it is, isn't going to satisfy people who want the Skyrim open world roaming RPG formula.
Red5
Member
Swing and a miss.
Blizzard is owned by ActivisionBlizzard soon to be owned by Microsoft, all publicly traded companies and are beholden to investors.
Larian is majority owned by a Belgian dude called Swen Vincke and his wife.
Baldur's Gate 3 Dev Wants To Stay Independent, Keeps It More Creative
Larian isn't open to being acquired yet.
www.gamespot.com
A more appropriate comparison would be Larian and Valve. Valve is a private company that is majority owned by founder Gabe Newell and the rest is divided as stock among the employees.
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X-Wing
Member
Start on PC. It has cross save.Bethesda RPGs by default are a bit of a high bar when they put proper character progression in them.
I think it will be a tough battle.
Am waiting for console version of this, looking very good
MidGenRefresh
*Refreshes biennially
Another milestone.
Damn. I just finished my session. Game surely is something special.
DonkeyPunchJr
World’s Biggest Weeb
They may be very different games but I’d bet there is a pretty huge overlap between their audiences.
ZVWQP-9B8TM-VH9CT
Member
Publicly traded is what makes a studio indie? That's a definition straight out of someone'sSwing and a miss.
Blizzard is owned by ActivisionBlizzard soon to be owned by Microsoft, all publicly traded companies and are beholden to investors.
Larian is majority owned by a Belgian dude called Swen Vincke and his wife.
Baldur's Gate 3 Dev Wants To Stay Independent, Keeps It More Creative
Larian isn't open to being acquired yet.
.Independent means independent, not someone who is not publicly traded. At least that's what the dictionary mentions. As far as I remember, Actiblizz is an independent company. Doesn't belong to anyone. So, keep your "soon" for yourself. Actiblizz is an indie developer by your definition.
Red5
Member
Publicly traded is what makes a studio indie? That's a definition straight out of someone's
Independent means independent, not someone who is not publicly traded. At least that's what the dictionary mentions. As far as I remember, Actiblizz is an independent company. Doesn't belong to anyone. So, keep your "soon" for yourself. Actiblizz is an indie developer by your definition.
Private ownership is what makes a studio indie, public is what makes a company beholden to shareholders, thus having less autonomy in their decision makings.
Larian like Valve are private companies who are owned by private individuals, Blizzard on the other hand was rarely an independent company in 1994 they were acquired by Davidson and Associates, then in 1998 by Vivendi, then merged with Activision in 2008 becoming a subsidiary of ActivionBlizzard, and now soon to become a subsidiary of Microsoft.
If you believe being a small sized studio barely making ends meet developing pixel art games in someone's garage is what qualifies a studio to be independent, that's a very shallow interpretation of what an independently owned company is.
Lastly the owner of Larian Studios considers the studio independent.
Baldur's Gate 3 Dev Wants To Stay Independent, Keeps It More Creative
Larian isn't open to being acquired yet.
www.gamespot.com
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vaibhavpisal
Member
Current pc can't handle it. Otherwise would've played on it only.
ZVWQP-9B8TM-VH9CT
Member
ok. But why should we believe an indie definition by you? Are you someone with phD on the definition of indie term, or someone expert in general?Private ownership is what makes a studio indie, public is what makes a company beholden to shareholders, thus having less autonomy in their decision makings.
Larian like Valve are private companies who are owned by private individuals, Blizzard on the other hand was rarely an independent company in 1994 they were acquired by Davidson and Associates, then in 1998 by Vivendi, then merged with Activision in 2008 becoming a subsidiary of ActivionBlizzard, and now soon to become a subsidiary of Microsoft.
If you believe being a small sized studio barely making ends meet developing pixel art games in someone's garage is what qualifies a studio to be independent, that's a very shallow interpretation of what an independently owned company is.
Lastly the owner of Larian Studios considers the studio independent.
Baldur's Gate 3 Dev Wants To Stay Independent, Keeps It More Creative
Larian isn't open to being acquired yet.
Actiblizz is independent. Noone decides for them. Also, the shareholders are owners, they are not ghosts. OWNERS, just like the owner of Larian. They are indepent, noone decides for them. By your definition, they are indie.
Red5
Member
Sophistry, but fine I won't use my "own definition" (They're not)
INDEPENDENT BUSINESS Definition | Law Insider
Sample Contracts and Business Agreements
www.lawinsider.com
"INDEPENDENT BUSINESS means any business unit within a Country designated by Client executive committee from time to time to operate at arm's length because (i) it is pending decision regarding a possible disposal of the business unit; or (ii) the business unit operates under conditions materially distinct from those applying to the Services as evidenced by non participation in all or some of the other Client main stream support services in that Country;"
"INDEPENDENT BUSINESS means a business that is not inextricably associated with another business through common ownership, affiliation, sharing of employees, facilities, equipment, profits and losses. lf there is an “umbilical cord” relationship with a non- disadvantaged business, the business is not an independent business;"
By the legal definition of independent business, Larian Studios is providing game design services to clients without being tied to those clients through common affiliations or ownership. In the case of Baldur's Gate 3 Larian's client is Wizards of the Coast, but WOTC hast no acommon affiliation with Larian. In the case of Divinity Original Sin 1 and 2 the clients were the Kickstarters, there were no common affiliations or ownerships.
Conversely Blizzard acted as a service provider to an entities that held common ownership over Blizzard, as per the legal definitions these owners held an "umbilical cord" with Blizzard sharing profits and losses among other things.
Also Larian is a private business as defined by the law:
private company
A private company is a business entity whose securities do not trade on public markets. Compare to public company. Private companies can be structured as sole proprietorships, partnerships or corporations, and can range in size from a single owner to international enterprises. Although private companies cannot sell their securities without first conducting an initial public offering (IPO), they may still be able to raise capital by issuing securities through private placements.
private company
Larian is not listed on the stock exchange and their shares cannot be publicly traded, as opposed to a public company like ActivisionBlizzard.
Also
"A private company operates with the help of independent investments with no public stock exchange options.
A private company can take the form of a sole proprietorship, partnership or LLC.
The independence of a private company can offer advantages, such as easier planning, flexible operations and simpler decision-making."
ZVWQP-9B8TM-VH9CT
Member
So, as you just pointed out, actibliz is independent. They dont do anything of the above. Thanks for confirming me.
Gudji
Member
Holy shit that's nuts.
Another milestone.
Red5
Member
They do all of the above:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/activision_shutterstock_200_721917-89be095371ee4777941df4638f4daadf.jpg)
Top Activision Blizzard Shareholders
The top shareholders of Activision Blizzard are Robert Kotick, Daniel Alegre, Dennis Durkin, Vanguard Group, FMR, and BlackRock.
They have common affiliations with Blackrock, Vanguard and FMR among other investment companies. The duties of the board at ActivisionBlizzard is towards these shareholders.
Swen can sell his company, it's his decision alone, Bobby Kotick is not an owner he's a CEO, an employee who can voted out or fired by the board of directors or shareholders for failing to meet his fiscal duties, Bobby Kotick can't decide to sell ActivisionBlizzard by himself without the approval of all his shareholders, companies or individuals.
They're publicly traded and listed on the stock exchange as opposed to being privately owned, that's their legal definition. A Public company cannot be independent, there's no two ways about it legally.
A company like ActivisionBlizzard is by legal definition a public one not a private one thus not independent, Larian is. Arguing otherwise is arguing the Earth is flat.
systemr123
Banned
Good games without ideology pushing sell awesomely well.
Well well well, what a surprise! Can we please keep ideology out of video games from now on?
Congrats to Larian, playing the game myself and wow this is some old fashioned quality stuff. Also, this shows painfully well how crap 99% of games are nowadays compared to before and I hope people will stop accepting to buy garbage.
Well well well, what a surprise! Can we please keep ideology out of video games from now on?
Congrats to Larian, playing the game myself and wow this is some old fashioned quality stuff. Also, this shows painfully well how crap 99% of games are nowadays compared to before and I hope people will stop accepting to buy garbage.
SmokedMeat
Gamer™
If we’re talking killer app status then Starfield would easily win that one. It’s got its own themed accessories, and will receive far more marketing than a CRPG on PlayStation - which is more the audience for open world action games. Plus BG3 will already have been out for a month on PC, so the buzz will be on the brand new Starfield on PC/Xbox.
On top of that BG3 will be on Xbox, so buying a PS5 means you miss out on Starfield, while buying an Xbox will grant both games. The only missing out will be on PS5.
I find it to be a very odd argument. Flip it around and pretend Sony’s getting Starfield, and BG3, while Xbox only gets BG3. You’re telling me you’d argue Xbox would steal sales away? Of course not.
SmokedMeat
Gamer™
Starfield will be the hot new thing, so it’ll have the buzz. Most Sony players will be waiting for Spiderman, not playing BG3.
LiquidMetal14
hide your water-based mammals
I would venture to say that the core will find this and that core is on PS5. It's on a massive roll and trouncing its main rival. BG3 is a step to the big things but I think we can be sure based on reception and sales that it will have a lot of eyeballs. And what makes anyone think Starfield will magically be better? Hype and hope? BG3 is here now and it's all there for us to see.
Sleepwalker
Member
It's like they forgot Bethesda is well and truly capable of shitting the bed on release, in fact their recent track record is not great. Hopefully I'm wrong of course but I won't be burned by hype for a bethesda release again until they show me they can go back to their best.
LiquidMetal14
hide your water-based mammals
I agree. I was a much bigger fan pre-Skyrim. I made the original Skyrim mod thread here years ago. I'm a fan but an objective one. This ain't the Bethesda of those days.
Ivory Samoan
Gold Member
OK fam, 700k with a day and a half to go in the weekend in the US....I reckon this could hit 1m concurrent at some point.
This is mental, with the GOG and other place sale points, what you reckon: 4m first week PC sales? This is bonkers shit for BG3.
This is mental, with the GOG and other place sale points, what you reckon: 4m first week PC sales? This is bonkers shit for BG3.
Captain Toad
Banned
Yes. And if you only own an Xbox, you can't play BG3. He means both have a big console exclusive in September to compete against each other.
StereoVsn
Member
You are being obtuse on purpose. A publically traded company worth $70 billion is about the opposite of an independent studio.
While Larian does have that Tencent investment, it's owned by a private individual and fits definition of an indie company.
That said, IMO, once you hit as many devs as Larian has, indie definition is being stretched. The have over 400 devs. It's same for Valve.
Heisenberg007
Gold Journalism
Another great move is them simplifying the story. A mindflayer puts a parasite in your head and you need to get it out. Not 1000 years ago in a land called blah blah army of blah blahs attacked the peacefull race of blah blah. Like a very casual fantasy fan Im not instantly put off by hardcore nerd lore right off the bat like D and D can easily do. Yes all that nerd lore stuff is in there but it starts slow makes it very consumable for us casuals. Hence the big numbers on steam as casuals can dig this.
ZVWQP-9B8TM-VH9CT
Member
I think you are a bit confused. "Private" is a different word than "independent". You think they are the same. Actibliz is independent. The owners can do whatever they want to their company. The owners decided they should sell the company to Microsoft. Who took that decision if they were not "independent"? Who? The aliens? The ET? The ghosts? Name them. Who decided they should sell the company to Microsoft?
The indie argument about semantics is pretty well trod. Much like music, indie has come to define a style and no longer means independent. Larian are financially independent but they have 400 staff and huge operating budgets, Radiohead are an independent self funded band but they sell out stadiums. It doesn't mean anything. You get indie studios with 20 people with the backing of major publishers these days.
Indie is a style of game and BG3 is not it.
Indie is a style of game and BG3 is not it.
Wildebeest
Member
Radiohead were not an indie band, they were on a major label from the time of Pablo Honey. Independent isn't a style, it was always about if an act had signed with a major label or not. Considering that there are only 3 major labels in music right now it is easier to say what is indie or not but like games publishers, music publishers also sign bands from the scenes where "independence" is tied to an aesthetic and even go to the length of creating fake independent labels and brands to market to people who like that aesthetic. But that just means they are trying to coopt the distaste people have for them and make money even from that. It is very cynical.
The artful mincer
Member
Its rising again 730 thousand how high can it go?
Can it beat hogwarts, elden ring etc?!
Can it beat hogwarts, elden ring etc?!