Obbe Vermeij, who used to be a technical director at Rockstar, is giving props to Larian Studios, the masterminds behind Baldur's Gate 3. Apparently, Vermeij thinks it's a pretty bold move that they're stepping away from the Dungeons & Dragons series after such a massive hit.

Think about it: after pouring your heart and soul into something and having it blow up, it's tempting to just keep churning out sequels, right? Vermeij, who left Rockstar North back in '09 after working on games like GTA 3 and San Andreas, knows a thing or two about this. He told Games Hub that Larian's decision was "risky".

"It's awesome to see Larian Studios, fresh off Baldur’s Gate 3, saying, 'Nah, we're not feeling Baldur’s Gate 4. We're gonna do something different'," Vermeij stated. "Good on them! It's not the obvious path, and it's definitely a risk. It's way easier to stick to what you know."

He also pointed out that when a studio has a mega-successful game, it's hard to justify shaking things up too much. According to Vermeij, it's tempting to cram every weird idea you have into the existing franchise instead of taking the plunge and creating a whole new game.

Speaking of shaking things up, Larian is planning an AMA in the new year to discuss their use of generative AI after the huge criticism earlier this month. CEO Swen Vincke said it would be "irresponsible" not to check out new technologies and that their success comes from letting people work their own way. But, after Vincke told Bloomberg the studio is using generative AI, things went south, as the new Divinity game won't include any AI-generated content.

So, what's Vermeij up to these days? He's working on Plentiful, a sandbox god game where you get to shape the world, reroute rivers, and lead your people through the Stone Age. Sounds pretty cool, right? It's interesting to see people in the industry taking different paths and not just sticking to the same old formula. I'm excited to see what both Larian and Vermeij do next!