Baldur’s Gate 3 opened the D&D video game floodgates | Kaser Focus

Baldur’s Gate 3 was a phenomenon — in a year as stacked as 2023, it still managed to stand out as exceptional. I think we’re going to see ripples from it for years to come, and at least one of those is already apparent: Wizards of the Coast and Hasbro have greenlit several Dungeons & Dragons-based games from several major publishers. The most recent is Gameloft, which announced this week that it’s making a co-op survival-ish title set in the D&D setting, the Forgotten Realms.

Other announced D&D-based titles include a VR title from Resolution Games and a multiplayer title from Starbreeze. I’m not complaining — D&D has rich lore from which to draw and built-in shenanigan mechanics. Funny story: My husband and I were together for six years before we realized we shared a mutual interest in TTRPGs. How we managed to coast along without that essential bonding experience for the better part of a decade, I have no idea. Bottom line, I’m all in favor of more D&D-based games, as long as they’re made with the same love and humor as Baldur’s Gate 3.

The other major story that caught my eye is Embracer and Saber’s divorce, and how they split the studios in the divorce. Matthew Karch, founder of Beacon, which bought the company, seemed to obliquely refer to Embracer’s penchant for layoffs when he says the sale, “safeguards the livelihoods of hundreds of professionals.” I don’t believe this will fully stopper Embracer’s “restructuring,” but at least several of Saber’s games are still in development.

In personal news, I’m still playing some of the new releases, including Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden. I’m bracing for the big releases later this month, including Dragon’s Dogma 2, Rise of the Ronin and Princess Peach: Showtime! I have no idea how I’m going to stuff all of these games into my schedule, but what a problem to have.

What to play this week

What’s new:

• Contra: Operation Galuga
• Star Wars: Battlefront Classic Collection
• Outcast: A New Beginning
• Llamasoft: The Jeff Minter Story
• Hellbreach: Vegas

New on subscription services:

• SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom – Rehydrated (Xbox Game Pass)
• Control Ultimate Edition (Xbox Game Pass)
• No More Heroes 3 (Xbox Game Pass)
• Deus Ex: Mankind Divided (GeForce Now)
• Balatro (GeForce Now)
• PARANORMASIGHT: The Seven Mysteries of Honjo (GeForce Now)
• Space Engineers (GeForce Now)
• Star Ocean: The Second Story R (GeForce Now)
• Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun (GeForce Now)
• Invincible Presents: Atom Eve (Prime Gaming)
• Dr. Mario (Nintendo Switch Online)
• Mario Golf (Nintendo Switch Online)
• Mario Tennis (Nintendo Switch Online)