As of 2026, Larian Studios has still not revealed the title or release date for its next major project, but the most reliable signals continue to point toward a launch window in the late 2020s—likely around 2028 or 2029. The Belgian developer behind Baldur's Gate 3, one of the most acclaimed role-playing games ever made, is now working on multiple projects, including a brand-new intellectual property. For fans eager to know what comes after the Sword Coast, the wait is real. But why is Larian taking so long? The answer lies in the scale of its ambitions, the complexity of modern RPG development, and the studio's unusual global pipeline.
Baldur's Gate 3 launched in 2023 and immediately became a cultural phenomenon. It drew comparisons to The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim and The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, swept The Game Awards 2023 with six prizes, and took home Game of the Year. That level of success would be daunting for any studio, and Larian has made it clear that it will not simply rush a sequel or a follow-up. Instead, the company is moving on from Baldur's Gate as a franchise, at least for now, and focusing on fresh ideas.
Larian's development model is one of the most interesting in the industry. The studio operates several offices across the globe, including locations in Barcelona, Warsaw, Quebec, and Kuala Lumpur. This network allows work to be passed from one time zone to the next at the end of each workday. In effect, projects can be worked on around the clock. According to Larian, this strategy can turn tasks that would normally take a month into work that is completed in about a week. It also helps the company avoid mandatory crunch, a persistent problem in game development.
That model may explain how Larian managed to get Baldur's Gate 3 into a playable early-access state in only three years. The full development cycle took around six years, with the latter three spent in early access. If the next game follows a similar path, fans might see an early-access version before the final release. Could that mean hands-on time in 2027 or 2028? Possibly, but Larian has not committed to any schedule.
The most memorable hint about the timeline came at the SEA Game Awards 2024 in Malaysia. Larian CEO Swen Vincke accepted a Special Recognition Award for the studio. On stage, he mentioned that Larian's next big game was five years away, which would place it around 2029. Shortly after the event, speaking with IGN, Vincke clarified that he was only joking. 'We'll release it when it's ready,' he said. 'They're big games and it takes time, so don't hold us to a date.' The quote has become a mantra for fans: no date, no promises, just quality.
Even so, the five-year remark may not have been far from the truth. If Baldur's Gate 3 took six years, and if Larian's next RPG is similarly ambitious, a 2028 or 2029 launch is a reasonable guess. The studio's recent opening of a new office in Warsaw, Poland, could help shorten the wait by a small amount. More hands in more time zones mean more continuous progress, though Larian has been careful not to overpromise.
What exactly is Larian working on? The studio has confirmed more than one project is in development. One of them is a brand-new IP. Vincke has also stated that Larian is moving on from Baldur's Gate. For fans hoping for Baldur's Gate 4, that wait could be even longer, as the project is seemingly still without a developer. In other words, the future of the series is uncertain, while Larian's own future is wide open.
As of 2026, the situation remains unchanged in public: no official title, no confirmed genre, and no release date. The only certainty is that Larian is not rushing. The studio has earned the right to take its time after Baldur's Gate 3, but that does not make the wait any easier for players. Will the next game be another turn-based RPG? A new setting? A different genre entirely? Those questions will likely remain unanswered for several more years.
For now, fans can look at the timeline:
| Year | What happened |
|---|---|
| 2023 | Baldur's Gate 3 launches and wins Game of the Year |
| 2024 | Swen Vincke jokes that Larian's next game is five years away |
| 2026 | No official title or release window; multiple projects in development |
| 2028-2029 | Speculative release window based on Larian's history |
The smartest approach for fans is patience. Larian has shown that it releases games when they are ready, not when marketing demands. If the next project arrives in 2028 or 2029, it will have been roughly five or six years after Baldur's Gate 3. That is a long time, but for a studio that values quality over speed, it may be exactly the right amount. 🎲
Industry analysis is available through PC Gamer, whose reporting on major RPG studios helps contextualize why Larian Studios may be taking a longer path after Baldur's Gate 3. Looking at modern AAA role-playing development, the pattern is consistent: larger worlds, denser branching narratives, and higher production standards often stretch timelines well beyond the traditional cycle, making a late-2020s release window for Larian's next project feel plausible rather than unusually slow.