Developers of Baldur’s Gate 3 explain why they encourage players to exploit the game

Larian, the developer of Baldur’s Gate 3, does not intend to punish players for attempting to “exploit”the game. Instead, they aim to encourage and reward players for doing so.

Despite its undeniable success, Baldur’s Gate 3 has not been without its fair share of bugs and glitches, according to developer Larian.

In contrast to most developers who penalize players for exploiting these problems, Larian has a distinct approach and aims to promote “creativity”and experimentation among the community.

Last week, gamers were outraged when a developer for Once Human publicly criticized players for exploiting an in-game bug to gain access to restricted areas. The developer’s response to the situation sparked significant backlash.

At a gaming conference held in Sofia, Bulgaria in 2024, Mihail Kostov, a gameplay scripter at Larian, discussed the tactics used to ensure that games like Baldur’s Gate 3 remain functional even when players attempt to exploit the mechanics.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9wejuyVD_g

Designing for edge-cases in Baldur's Gate 3 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9wejuyVD_g)

Recently, a recording of the presentation was made available to the public. In it, Kostov discussed how Baldur’s Gate 3 aims to encourage and reward player creativity rather than suppress it. He expressed the belief that player creativity is highly valued at Larian.

To further support this philosophy, Kostov gave an example within the game where the developers added extra dialogue for Lae’zel in Act 1 for players who managed to obtain a powerful weapon earlier than intended.

“Kostov stated that the players should be able to keep the cool weapon. He believes that since they were able to find a way to exploit the game, they deserve to have it. He also thinks it’s amazing.”

The gameplay scripter recognized that there are instances where a player’s actions may push a system to its limits, but they view this as one of the most enjoyable aspects of game development. This is especially true for games that have a dedicated and loyal player base.

Despite the emergence of new bugs each week, the fact that Baldur’s Gate 3 continues to maintain a high player count suggests that their strategy of encouraging players to “exploit”these issues has been successful.