The companions of Baldur's Gate 3 have become the new mascots of D&D. Should we be worried about their future now that it's entirely in the hands of Wizards of the Coast?

Larian has confirmed that it won't be making a Baldur's Gate 4, and is done with the series for the foreseeable (even though it did consider doing a sequel). But that doesn't mean it's the end for Shadowheart, Gale, Lae'zel, and the other beloved companions of Baldur's Gate 3. Not by a long shot.

Larian made Baldur's Gate 3, but because it licensed the Dungeons & Dragons setting, all those characters are now owned by Wizards of the Coast. And, already, it's not been shy about using them. As a new version of D&D approaches, BG3's companions have been fully placed in the role of the game's new mascots.

At this year's GenCon, a grand actual play intended to show off the new version of the game was headlined by Astarion and Karlach, roleplayed by their original voice actors. There'll be a whole set of Baldur's Gate 3 miniatures in Project Sigil, D&D's big new virtual tabletop. They're featured in a Magic: The Gathering card set celebrating D&D's 50th anniversary (which will be the second time they've appeared in that M:TG). The whole gang have character sheets on D&D Beyond. WOTC's parent company Hasbro has already confirmed to us that it has plans for a Baldur's Gate sequel without Larian, which is likely to include them.

In the words of Eugene Evans, senior vice president of Digital Strategy and Licensing at WOTC, «they are now essentially part of D&D canon.» They're rapidly being woven into the fabric of the game, and particularly its marketing. The question is: how do we feel about that?

It's easy to see why WOTC would want to get the most out of them that it can. The companions of Baldur's Gate 3 are hugely popular, and the game itself reached a mainstream audience far broader than the regular D&D community. I don't think the game has had characters this instantly recognisable in its entire history—the last time it had anything close was back in 2e in the '90s with Drizzt Do'Urden, or even further back with the wizard Elminster, and even they would have been lucky