Baldur's Gate 3 developers Larian Studios snatch up a seventh studio
Made up of Divinity: Original Sin 2's Nintendo Switch port developers
Like their upcoming mind flayer baddies, Baldur's Gate 3 developers Larian Studios have snatched some minds for a new studio. Larian have announced that they've snagged the development team from Spanish studio BlitWorks who they've previously worked with on porting their other big RPG Divinity: Original Sin 2 to the Nintendo Switch. Less sinister than the mind flayers though, I imagine. The two apparently got on so well while working on the Switch version of D:OS2 that Larian have lifted the developers from BlitWorks to create their new Barcelona studio.
"BlitWorks’ story with Larian goes way back. After porting most of the best indie games to console, we were challenged to port Divinity: Original Sin 2 to Nintendo Switch and without knowing, that was the start of a long-lasting relationship," says BlitWorks co-founder Tony Cabello. "No need to say fitting DOS2 on Nintendo Switch was one of the most difficult projects we've ever done, but working with Larian was simple and straightforward, we felt at home."
Aside from working with Larian on their D:OS2 port, BlitWorks have history working on ports of other games such as Super Meat Boy, FEZ, Spelunky, and Bastion.
Larian say they've only acquired Blit's development team. The remaining BlitWorks folks will stay separate and continue to operate as publishers.
Larian started out with their original studio in Ghent, Belgium. They've since added studio locations in St Petersburg, Quebec, Dublin, Guildford, Malaysia and now Barcelona. Their Guildford studio was announced just this February.
D:OS2's Switch version was actually a bit of a win for us PC folks. Although there isn't cross-platform multiplayer between the two, it does have cross-progression between Steam and the Switch. For Baldur's Gate 3, Larian are handling cross-saves through their new Larian account system. Here's hoping that the new Barcelona studio means more goodies for us Switch-owning PC players.
Disclosure: Former RPS-er Adam Smith is now of Larian Studios. So if the site somehow gets snatched up too let it be known I was wrong. It was a sinister mind flayer thing after all.