Former Larian senior narrative designer Baudelaire Welch worked on the romantic arcs of Baldur's Gate 3. They joined the studio after the early access launch, but there was still a lot of work to be done on the game, including scriptwriting.

At the Develop conference, Welch confirmed that Halsin was not originally intended to be a romantic interest for the main character. However, fanfic creators made it clear to Larian what they wanted.

Welch was well aware of the audience's desires because they themselves wrote fanfics about Astarion to get a job at Larian. The developers hired them partly because the people saw how well they understood the players' requests.

When it came to the romantic scene with the bear, Welch explained that it initially was a joke meant to happen off-screen. However, Sven Vincke and John Corcoran, the writer for Halsin, decided to give the moment more attention. In Welch's opinion, this decision is a good example of how Larian approaches game creation.

The bear scene also faced criticism—some players felt that Larian was crossing a line. Many also noted that the main character received romantic hints and propositions too frequently, which turned out to be partly due to a bug.

Main image: inverse.com

Comment on this