Baldur's Gate 3 developer defends Bethesda against criticism of Starfield

A senior executive from Larian Studios has come to Bethesda's defense following an unfavorable comparison made between Baldur's Gate 3 and Starfield. In response to the criticism, Michael Douse, the publishing director at Larian, states that it is "neither true nor fair" to claim that the developers at Bethesda lacked passion for Starfield, while others point out that the game's ratings fall below those of Baldur's Gate 3.

This occurs as former Blizzard developer Mike Kern once again takes aim at Bethesda, claiming that the developers lack passion and do not "respect players' time." Despite this statement being made to praise Larian and Baldur's Gate, Douse nevertheless defended Bethesda, stating that this line of attack is a "disingenuous oversimplification" of game development.

"The difference that passion makes," says Kern as he compares the ratings between Baldur's Gate 3 and Starfield, with the former receiving significantly more praise. "AAA does not respect players' time."

"That is truly a disingenuous oversimplification, my friend," responds Douse. "It is neither true nor fair to claim that the average developer at Bethesda lacks passion. One can respect these individuals even if they don't like the game. But one cannot say that they didn't care."

It wouldn't be the first time that Kern has been accused in recent weeks of presenting disingenuous arguments against Bethesda. Prior to the release, the developer sparked a peculiar discussion surrounding the title screen of Starfield and tweeted, "Starfield's title screen either showcases rushed release dates by a passionate, overworked team or a team that didn't care." This was enough to elicit a response from Bethesda's publishing director, who referred to Kern as "extremely unprofessional."

Returning to Larian, it appears that Douse agrees with some of the criticisms faced by Starfield and other AAA games, but not with the line of attack chosen by Kern. In another statement, Douse mentions that "economic factors" and "risk aversion" are holding the industry back—a phenomenon we have already witnessed earlier this year with layoffs in Microsoft-owned studios, including Bethesda itself.

In any case, this will not be the last time that Starfield is compared to Baldur's Gate 3. Not only are both of them massive RPGs, but they were also released nearly at the same time. In fact, Baldur's Gate 3 was launched on the same day for PS5, coinciding with the release of Starfield for Xbox and PC, adding a console war component to the discussion. This, of course, does not mean that the games should not be compared, but these contextual factors have made disingenuous arguments all the more likely, especially considering that Baldur's Gate 3 does not yet have an Xbox release date.