After several years of early access, during which it developed a rapidly expanding cult fanbase, Baldur’s Gate 3 finally released in August 2023, and absolutely blew the roof off anyone’s expectations. Not only did Larian’s DnD cRPG collect award after award, it also sold like hotcakes, with 15 million copies purchased by March this year, and the figure now surely significantly higher.
This was obviously a massive win for Dungeons and Dragons. But could it have been massive-er?
While we don’t have stats to back it up, anecdotal evidence and plain common sense tells us that tons of Baldur’s Gate 3 fans gave Dungeons and Dragons a try for the first time after finishing the game. The tabletop RPG must have seen an influx of players in the wake of its release.
With a hit title putting the words ‘Dungeons and Dragons’ on more videogamers’ lips than ever before, Wizards had a window of opportunity to convert them into tabletop gamers before the hype eventually died down. It was a golden opportunity to proselytize, to roll out the welcome wagon, to show these nascent nerds exactly why, after putting down BG3, they should start playing DnD.
Creating DnD books takes time, and Wizards was probably caught by surprise at Larian’s largesse. And yet, more than a year later, there’s still been no big tie-in, and nothing on the DnD release schedule that seems to fulfil the function of providing an easy transition from the screen to the table.
It’s not like the company ignored the release completely. They celebrated Baldur’s Gate along with everyone else, and there was some tie-in content, just nothing particularly large scale. For instance, the Baldur’s Gate Gazetteer – part of the 2019 Descent into Avernus DnD campaign which provides handy, gameable information on the city – was made free for a time directly after the game came out.
Mind flayers suddenly became a far more important DnD monster than they had been previously, too, appearing on the 2025 Monster Manual front cover, and starring in the 1st – 12th level adventure Phandelver and Below.
As Wargamer’s own Mollie Russell noted in her Phandelver and Below review, this finely crafted adventure actually seems designed for BG3 fans, with all sorts of creatures, factions, and gods that appear in the game also getting a mention or appearance here – and is it just a coincidence that they have the same level cap? (Probably.) However, as far as I’m aware it was never marketed as such – this was a conclusion we had to infer from the text. Why be so subtle, Wizards?
What could DnD’s overlords have done differently? Well a new Baldur’s Gate sourcebook or campaign focused on the city and surrounding area of the Sword Coast would have been the dream. Sure, it would’ve been a big project, and designers were presumably swamped with the time-consuming 2024 rules updates.
However, it would have been no bigger than the collections of Spelljammer and Planescape books that came out last year. You could argue Avernus is a relatively recent adventure that fulfills the brief, but that campaign only has a brief section in the city, before descending to a more hellish DnD plane.
If that is asking too much, then Wizards might at least have written up some quick content that players could chuck into their home campaigns: some statblocks for unique characters and creatures, for instance. Last year, Minecraft released a DnD-themed DLC, and Wizards was able to produce stat blocks for creepers and endermen. You’ll do it for Minecraft, but not the DnD game that won GOTY?
True, the designers did come out with DnD character sheets for Shadowheart, Gale, and the gang, which was a good idea. However, Larian’s own stats showed 93% of Baldur’s Gate players preferred to create their own character over playing an origin. True, we’re talking extremely different mediums, but what evidence there is suggests people prefer to meet these characters than to play as them. There should’ve been statblocks.
Other ideas Wizards might’ve considered include using the Forgotten Realms and not Greyhawk as the example DnD setting in the 2024 Dungeon Master’s Guide, with a particular focus on Baldur’s Gate. Or releasing a sequel adventure, helping players take their characters beyond the level 12 cap in Baldur’s Gate 3.
But the ultimate miss is that Wizards failed in finding some way to integrate the game itself with DnD. I’m not sure how it would’ve gone with Larian, and perhaps this idea really is pie in the sky, but what if there was some kind of tool in the game to port your BG3 character into DnD Beyond?
I think this would’ve worked fantastically well to generate curiosity and bring millions of players from the hit video game to the popular TTRPG. If it had been in there on launch, the website would probably have crashed.
Ultimately, it’s clear WotC had other projects on the go and chose to focus on anniversary content, expanding its multiverse, and spinning up for the release of a sort-of-new edition over extensive tie-ins. But I wonder if in doing so, it missed an unparalleled opportunity to bring new players to the game?
For more DnD content, check out our guides to all the DnD races and DnD classes. And have you ever wondered what you lose playing the game online?
Source: Wargamer
