Highlights

  • Larian Studios reportedly plans to open a branch in Poland following the success of Baldur's Gate 3.
  • The exact location of the purported office is unclear, but Warsaw is a potential candidate due to its unparalleled game dev talent pool in the country.
  • This purported expansion goes against the current industry trends that have seen mass layoffs across the gaming space since 2023.

Larian Studios is planning to open a new company branch in Poland, according to a recent report. The purported expansion could be a result of the incredible success of Baldur's Gate 3, which propelled Larian Studios to new heights following its August 2023 release.

Although the Belgian developer is not in the habit of sharing concrete sales figures, there is no doubt that its latest title marked an unprecedented success for the company; Baldur's Gate 3 has topped Steam sales charts on several occasions throughout 2023, and has also enjoyed prolonged stints in the best-selling sections of both the PlayStation and Xbox storefronts. Even the most conservative estimates place the open-world RPG's lifetime sales at around 5.5 million units as of year-end 2023.

gerringothe thorm boss from act 2 of baldur's gate 3
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Larian Reportedly Considering Opening Its 7th Studio

Some of that monumental success may end up financing yet another company branch, with Gamepressure reporting that Larian has now decided to open a studio in Poland, citing an unnamed insider familiar with the plan. Although this media outlet is best known for its game guide content, the notion of it getting a scoop on Larian's purported Polish expansion dovetails with the fact that Gamepressure is owned by GRY-OnLine, a Polish media group.

Baldur's Gate 3 surprised-looking protagonist with wizard hat and glass eye close-up

It is currently unclear which exact location Larian is eyeing for its alleged expansion. Warsaw, the home city of The Witcher developer CPDR, would ostensibly be the best candidate in terms of game developer talent pool that the Gent, Belgium-based company could pull from. But that may not be its only consideration, as opening a subsidiary elsewhere in the country would come with the benefit of lower operational costs; according to recent local studies, Warsaw has the highest cost of living out of all the cities in Poland.

All Larian Studios Branches

  • Larian Barcelona (Spain), established in 2021
  • Larian Dublin (Ireland), established in 2015
  • Larian Ghent (Belgium), established in 1996
  • Larian Guildford (UK), established in 2021
  • Larian Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia), established in 2019
  • Larian Quebec (Canada), established in 2015

A Polish branch would add to the already substantial list of studios that Larian owns and operates, of which there are currently six. Aside from the smaller Dublin office, which has historically mostly focused on writing for Baldur's Gate 3 and other company projects, the rest of its subsidiaries are of a similar size and have diverse responsibilities.

The news of Larian considering yet another expansion comes at a time when the industry, as a whole, is undergoing aggressive cost-cutting efforts. Thousands of developers from across the world have lost their jobs since the turn of the year alone, and even more could be joining them in the near future. Some of those cutbacks happened at Hasbro, the parent company of Dungeons and Dragons IP holder Wizards of the Coast, which licensed Baldur's Gate 3 to Larian. "I'm really sorry to hear so many of you were let go," Larian CEO Swen Vincke said in reference to the Hasbro layoffs back in December.