Hasbro Hopes Next Baldur’s Gate Game Is Here Before 2050
Baldur’s Gate 3 was a huge success for developer Larian Studios and Hasbro, the latter of which owns Wizards of the Coast and the Dungeons & Dragons series. Despite that success, Larian is moving on to a new project and is not making Baldur’s Gate 4. But Hasbro is keen to continue the Baldur’s Gate series with a different team at the helm.
Eugene Evans, the senior vice president for digital strategy and licensing as Hasbro and Wizards of the Coast, told PC Gamer that it’s going to take its time to map out the future of Baldur’s Gate.
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“We’re now talking to lots of partners and being approached by a lot of partners who are embracing the challenge of, what does the future of the Baldur’s Gate franchise look like?” Evans said. “So we certainly hope that it’s not another 25 years, as it was from Baldur’s Gate 2 to 3, before we answer that. But we’re going to take our time and find the right partner, the right approach, and the right product that could represent the future of Baldur’s Gate. We take that very, very seriously, as we do with all of our decisions around our portfolio. We don’t rush into decisions as to who to partner with on products or what products we should be considering.”
Baldur’s Gate 3 introduced fan-favorite characters like Shadowheart and Astarion, and these are owned by Wizards of the Coast, not Larian. Evans said these characters are now “essentially part of D&D canon,” and Evans hopes they might appear in future products down the road.
“I think it’s too early to express specifics and I think that there’s a much bigger question about how we approach Baldur’s Gate in the future,” Evans said. “But I would like to think that all of those characters, for the sake of the fans, could potentially appear in future products.”
Beyond a future Baldur’s Gate title, Hasbro is planning a number of other D&D games that will appear “over the next five years,” Evans said. These games will cover “all genres, all platforms,” he confirmed.
One of these games is a multiplayer co-op adventure title from the developers of the Payday series. Meanwhile, the developers of Disney Dreamlight Valley are making a D&D life sim.
As for Larian, the studio has said it’s not making Baldur’s Gate 4 because that is “literally the opposite of what Larian is about.” CEO Swen Vincke said, “We want to do big, new things. We don’t want to rehash the thing that we’ve done already.”
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Square Enix Is Rethinking How It Approaches Games, And It’s Coming At A Huge Cost
Square Enix has announced that it expects to lose $140,000,000 in “content abandonment losses” for the fiscal year, which ended on March 31, 2024.
According to a new financial report, the Square Enix Board of Directors met at the end of March to discuss how to move forward with game development. Square Enix has reaffirmed its stance on being more selective about which games to develop. Upon close examination of Square Enix’s current development pipeline, it seems like there have been several projects canceled and will result in a 22.1 billion yen, or $140,000,000, loss as a result of abandoning them. Square Enix did not name or reveal which ones were canceled.
Square Enix president Takashi Kiryu revealed earlier this year that it would be revising its game development processes to focus on fewer, but higher-quality, titles. Furthermore, he said that Square Enix would be aggressive in applying AI to both game development and publishing pipelines.
Back in 2023, Square Enix’s stock took a nosedive due to apparent weak sales of Final Fantasy XVI and considerable profit decline. 2022 saw the release of smaller games from Square Enix such as Harvestella and The Diofield Chronicle. However, Kiryu reportedly planned to shift Square Enix’s priorities back to developing bigger-budget games. Some of the big projects Square Enix has in store are Dragon Quest XII and Kingdom Hearts IV. The former is reportedly going through rocky development while the latter is rumored to be released in 2025.
Control 2 Is Still A Ways Off, But Spin-Off Codename Condor Is Getting Closer
Alan Wake 2 only came out a few months ago, but it seems that developer Remedy Entertainment’s next game is in the final stages of development. However, if you were hoping it’d be Control 2, we’ve got bad news–that one’s probably more than a year off, if not more.
A recent financial report from Remedy stated that Control spin-off Codename Condor is in “full production,” which the company defines as “the final development stage before a game is launched.” It also states that “wide internal playtests” have found the core loop of the project to be “engaging” and that it “brings a unique Remedy angle to the genre.” Remedy’s own site calls Condor a multiplayer spin-off of Control, but other details are thin on the ground.
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The report further notes that Control 2 (formerly known as Heron) is late in the proof-of-concept stage, while the Max Payne 1 & 2 remake announced in 2022 is in what Remedy calls the “production readiness” stage, with that project moving into full production in the second quarter of 2024. No release dates for any of these projects are mentioned.
The report naturally focuses on the financial health of the company as a whole, with Remedy mentioning that it bought the full rights to the Control franchise from 505 Games in February 2024 for around 17 million euros. Back in February, Remedy announced that Alan Wake 2 sold 1.3 million units so far, with the team continuing to work on DLC for that game. Revenue as a whole for the company increased in Q1 2024 compared to the same period of 2023, though development costs increased due mostly to the Max Payne 1 & 2 remake.
In GameSpot’s Alan Wake 2 review, our critic Mark Delaney lavished praise on the genre-bending horror project, giving it the highest possible score of 10 and calling it Remedy’s “greatest game to date.”
Kingdom Hearts 4 Might Be Releasing In 2025, Insider Claims
The long awaited Kingdom Hearts IV might be coming soon than anticipated. If an insider is to be believed, the game is reportedly releasing in 2025.
According to Twitter user DanielRPK, the latest mainline entry in the Kingdom Hearts series is due out next year. It was reportedly also in development for the past four years. DanielRPK also recently leaked that a follow-up to Sonic Frontiers was in development. The prominent SEGA leaker Midori corroborated this, adding that this apparent game may not necessarily be called Sonic Frontiers 2, it reportedly has the same 3D and open-world gameplay style.
Not many details about Kingdom Hearts IV have been revealed, not even the release window or intended platforms. We do know, however, that the game is being built in Unreal Engine 5.
Kingdom Hearts IV was first announced in 2022. It starts the new “Lost Master” story arc and it takes place in a city called Quadratum, a realistic world inspired by Tokyo. Some gameplay mechanics that have been confirmed to return are parkour elements and Reaction Commands, the latter of which were introduced in Kingdom Hearts II.
The last mainline Kingdom Hearts game was 2019’s Kingdom Hearts III. A rhythm-action game spin-off, Melody of Memory, was released in 2020.
Priest Arrested For Using Church Funds On Candy Crush And Other Mobile Games
There have been plenty of church scandals over the decades, but this might be the very first one that involves Candy Crush. Via The Philadelphia Inquirer, Reverend Lawrence Kozak was arrested in Pottstown, Pennsylvania on April 25 and charged with stealing over $40,000 in funds from his former parish, St. Thomas More Church. According to the report, Kozak’s vice of choice was mobile gaming, especially Candy Crush and Mario Kart.
The Archdiocese of Philadelphia removed Kozak from his parish in November 2022 after an internal investigation determined that he spent “an astronomical amount of Apple transactions” on the church’s credit card. The charges span from September 2019 to July 2022. Kozak is also said to have used church funds to buy gifts for his goddaughter.
Kozak reportedly told investigators in 2022 that the money was used to “power up” and give him an advantage while playing his mobile games. Kozak added that he was “seeking counseling for his addiction,” and he denied intentionally using church funds for his games. Instead, Kozak says that the charges to the church’s credit cards happened because they were already linked to his cell phone.
The Philadelphia Inquirer states that financial records show that Kozak repaid $10,000 to the parish credit card account from his personal funds. The story also says that Kozak mailed an $8,000 check to his former parish after he had been removed from his post. Along with the check, Kozak wrote a note of apology to his successor at St. Thomas More, and he mentioned his attempts to repay the church.
Kozak is currently free on bail, and his attorney told The Philadelphia Inquirer that “he was reviewing the charges and planned to contact prosecutors about the case in the coming days.”
These Adorable Final Fantasy Totes and Pouches Are Up For Preorder
It makes sense that a long-running franchise like Final Fantasy would have plenty of merch for fans to buy. But while a lot of it is just for show, there’s plenty of more practical stuff available as well, like these cute tote bags, small pouches and a shoulder strap for your phone that are now available to preorder. All of these items are adorned with iconic Final Fantasy critters like cactuars, tonberries and moogles. The designs are understated and charming, without any particular frills, making them perfect for a variety of uses.
Preorder Final Fantasy tote bags, pouches and smartphone straps
While all of these bags are available for preorder, none have from release dates yet. Amazon says they’ll ship in January 2025, but the Square Enix store says October. In any case, all of the items are cheaper on Amazon. Fortunately for us, these items don’t seem priced to break your piggy bank.
In the meantime, if you’re looking for more Final Fantasy-themed merch, be sure to check out these collectible Final Fantasy VII figures that are also available for preorder. If you’re looking to check out the latest games in the series, you can grab Final Fantasy XVI for $45 at Amazon right now (down from $50), which just saw the new The Rising Tide expansion DLC drop on April 18 that adds a whole new gameplay chapter and a new Eikon power for players to master. There’s also the second part of the Final Fantasy VII remake trilogy, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, that launched on PS5 earlier this year, and the upcoming Dawntrail expansion for Final Fantasy XIV online that drops June 28.
Music Legend K.K. Slider Announces Lego Animal Crossing Tour
Lego has revealed the latest character to join the Animal Crossing collaboration. Starting on August 1, people will be able to collect the legendary artist known as K.K. Slider.
The news comes the official Lego X/Twitter account where it posted a video of Slider jamming out, and it reads:
“K.K. is bringing some extra groove to the LEGO Animal Crossing range from August 1!”
Based on the video it appears that Slider will be a part of a set that includes the town hall from the game. There’ll also be another set inspired by Dodo Airlines.
It is worth mentioning that even though Slider is known for his voice and guitar-playing skills, he won’t be able to move or sing. In the video, LEGO made it a point to have the words ” K.K. minifigure doesn’t actually sing or move” at the bottom, meaning that the company has stripped him–and all earthkind–of his greatest gift. Even though Slider will be without a voice, he’ll still look great in any Animal Crossing set.
LEGO originally announced the Animal Crossing crossover late last year, but people weren’t able to buy any sets until a few weeks ago in March. There are various sets people can purchase, some of which include Isabelle’s House Visit, Kapp’n’s Island Boat Tour, Crossing Bunnie’s Outdoor Activities, and many more.
It’s also worth noting that Animal Crossing isn’t the only collaboration LEGO has had this year. Early this month, LEGO teamed up with Wizards of the Coast to create a massive Dungeons & Dragons set. The set includes iconic D&D monsters such as The Beholder, Gelatinous Cube, and the Owlbear.