No, Baldur’s Gate 3 Isn’t the Next Big Movie or TV Adaptation (Here’s Why)

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On January 5th, many outlets covered new research from Ampere Analysis, a firm that recently put out a report on which games have the most potential to become the next major TV or movie franchise. I’ve been thinking about the results ever since. According to Deadline’s reporting on the Ampere report, four recent releases topped the list: Black Myth: Wu Kong, Hollow Knight: Silksong, Sons of the Forest, and, of course, Baldur’s Gate 3. I can see why you might think a Baldur’s Gate 3 adaptation makes sense at first glance. But I’m pretty confident it wouldn’t live up to fan expectations, for a few key reasons. Here’s why I don’t think a straightforward Baldur’s Gate 3 movie or series would deliver for fans.

A Baldur’s Gate 3 Adaptation Would Take Away Much of What Makes the Game Great

Image courtesy of larian studios

At first glance, BG3 certainly seems ripe for the adaptation treatment. It’s got an engaging world and a cast of colorful, unique characters. There’s action, romance, and intrigue. It also has a compelling narrative, or really, I should say narratives. And therein lies the main problem with trying to make any adaptation of Larian’s beloved RPG work.

Much of what draws players to Baldur’s Gate 3 is specific to the gaming experience. We don’t just love Astarion, Lae’zel, and Shadowheart for who they are, but for the ways we can influence and become part of their stories. As the player character in BG3, you’re steering the boat. You get to decide where the party goes next and who the main cast of characters will become. The choices you make directly influence how the story unfolds, leading to many different versions of the story Baldur’s Gate 3 could tell. But in all of them, you as the player (along with the dice) shape what’s to come.

Crafting a movie or TV adaptation of Baldur’s Gate 3 would almost certainly involve paring back on those engaging and immersive elements. It would mean setting one of those narratives in stone, ignoring the options players may have selected in favor of a “canon” approach. The familiar favorite cast might appear on screen, but they wouldn’t be companions to the viewing audience in quite the same way. I think, for many Baldur’s Gate 3 fans, watching the game’s story play out in a more fixed environment would be doomed to fall flat.

That’s not to say there aren’t ways to make it work, I suppose. The adaptation wouldn’t have to retell the exact story of Baldur’s Gate 3. It might tell earlier or later stories of beloved characters. Perhaps we see Astarion’s early life before and directly after becoming a vampire spawn. Or Karlach’s attempts to break free of her role in Avernus. Shadowheart’s upbringing and growing devotion to Shar.

Certainly, pulling from the world of Baldur’s Gate 3 could offer new stories to tell if an adaptation didn’t try to walk the same path as the game. But given how so many of these adaptations go, I’m not confident that’s what we’d get. And anything that tries to recreate the experience of a game like Baldur’s Gate 3 without the player engagement and dice rolls is a steep challenge.

Dungeons & Dragons Has Plenty of Great New Stories to Tell

There’s also the fact that Baldur’s Gate 3 is itself an adaptation of existing IP to contend with. The game is a masterpiece RPG, but it’s also a Dungeons & Dragons game. It pulls from and builds upon a wealth of source material from the TTRPG. And clearly, that world is ripe for adaptation. Few movies in recent years have delighted my nerdy heart quite like Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves. But I don’t think it has to be or even should have the Baldur’s Gate 3 name attached to do well. Do I suspect we could see on-screen versions of these newly minted D&D legends pop up in future adaptations set in the Forgotten Realms? Almost certainly. But to retread the ground of Baldur’s Gate 3 would rob us of so many great stories that a D&D movie or TV show can tell.

It’s criminal that Honor Among Thieves didn’t perform better at the box office (and I’m still waiting on a sequel). But since it became available on streaming platforms, more fans have found the film. That, coupled with Stranger Things and Baldur’s Gate 3 bringing more attention to D&D, does set the stage for more D&D stories on the big and smaller screens. It’s no accident that Netflix has its TV series in progress, after all. I don’t disagree that this is the climate where a Baldur’s Gate 3 adaptation could do well. I just think that what we really need is a less well-known, fresher story using that same D&D lore that makes Baldur’s Gate 3 great.

Rather than keep trying to pull from the well of Baldur’s Gate 3, I’d rather see the game’s popularity bring us more new, interesting stories from the world of D&D. I won’t pretend to be confident someone isn’t going to try a Baldur’s Gate 3 adaptation. I’m just fairly certain it’s going to be an uphill battle delivering anything that comes close to playing the Game Award winner yourself.

What do you think about a potential Baldur’s Gate 3 movie or TV series? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!