Baldur’s Gate 3 Dev Team Supports Bethesda Employees
Baldur’s Gate 3 and Starfield are both undeniable Game of the Year (GOTY) contenders, and a comparison between the two is inevitable. However, the dev team of Baldur’s Gate 3 wants to ensure that there is fair criticism of Bethesda’s employees.
Baldur’s Gate 3 has been a major success, becoming the second biggest PC launch of 2023 and one of the most concurrently played games on Steam. On the other hand, Starfield has also had a huge launch, breaking records for Bethesda and Xbox. However, it has been a more divisive game compared to Baldur’s Gate 3.
While both games are open to criticism, the devs of Baldur’s Gate 3 want critiques to be above the belt. Larian Studios’ Director of Publishing, Michael Douse, called out former World of Warcraft developer Mark Kerns for his harsh comments against Starfield’s creative team.
Kerns had shared side-by-side images of review scores for both games on Twitter, suggesting that the disparity between the scores was due to the difference in passion. Douse responded by stating that it is not fair to suggest that the average developer at Bethesda lacks passion. He clarified that the issue lies with leadership, not the hardworking development teams.
Douse also discouraged any dogpiling of Kerns, maintaining a respectful stance. Other users praised Douse’s defense of the Bethesda team, with YouTuber Mischief commending his actions as 'based'.
Larian Studios’ team has gained goodwill among fans with their transparency and development philosophies for Baldur’s Gate 3. Similarly, Bethesda’s development team has shown a willingness to listen to Starfield players and their feedback. Fans of both games have rallied around Douse in defense of their respective titles.