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[LectureMaster]

After losing money in 2022, Larian raked in a whopping $260 million profit of Baldur's bucks in 2023

€249 million, or $259,891,260 at the time of writing, to be precise.

www.pcgamer.com

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The Irish Independent (users may encounter a paywall) has reported that Larian has posted a €249 million pre-tax profit for 2023⁠—that's almost $260 million freedom dollary-doos for those of us without adequate digital privacy protections. The runaway success of Baldur's Gate 3 saw Larian increase its overall revenue almost twentyfold from 2022.

The figures were posted by Larian's Dublin-based holding company. Though still primarily headquartered in Ghent, Belgium, the Independent reports that Larian runs its revenue through its Dublin office, which also houses much of the studio's writing team. Favorable Irish tax laws have seen a number of corporations base their European or worldwide headquarters in Ireland.

This is all in contrast with a pretty quiet year for Larian in 2022: The company reported €22.7 million ($24 million) in total revenue, with Larian actually operating at a €214,000 ($223,000) loss. It's a pretty stark reminder of how volatile the business of making games can be, with developers having to spend a great deal of money over a long period of time before (hopefully) making it all up and then some with a successful launch.

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Larian's history is going to be a legend. Started as a newbie making diablo knockoff, had to use out bank account balance on every project and flopped most of the time, to finally make one of the most successful games in the history. What upholds them all the time is the everlasting passion.

 

[Mister Wolf]

Sad that we aren't getting an expansion. I wanted a heart repair heist in Avernus.

 

[jakinov]

20x revenue from the year before is not a big deal for a AAA gaming studio, especially if it’s a single project studio. It’s why companies do not like the AAA gaming model because there’s dips and valleys in the revenue chart. It’s why it’s described as “volatile” by people the in the industry and the author itself. Companies like Remedy boast that by being a multi project studio so they have layers of revenue that flatten the line on the chart.

This isn’t a knock on the game or studios accomplishments it’s just not a stat worth emphasizing.

 

[Esppiral]

I didn't do my part, dub your game to other languages cheap bastards.

 

[Cyberpunkd]

Though still primarily headquartered in Ghent, Belgium, the Independent reports that Larian runs its revenue through its Dublin office, which also houses much of the studio's writing team. Favorable Irish tax laws have seen a number of corporations base their European or worldwide headquarters in Ireland.

This is still a thing? I thought the loophole was closed ages ago. Also - it’s the very basics of tax office that if you work in Belgium, have an office in Belgium and hire people that work for you in Belgium you pay your taxes in Belgium, no hacking the tax system.

 

[Hrk69]

I didn't do my part, dub your game to other languages cheap bastards

Learn English you cheap basterd

 

[Fabieter]

This is still a thing? I thought the loophole was closed ages ago. Also - it’s the very basics of tax office that if you work in Belgium, have an office in Belgium and hire people that work for you in Belgium you pay your taxes in Belgium, no hacking the tax system.

It will never be resolved. Ireland and Luxembourg essentially serve as tax havens, not just for large European companies but also for major U.S. corporations. As a result, many U.S. companies effectively pay little to no taxes in Europe. This leads to billions upon billions in lost revenue every year.

 

[Esparadrapo]

What's hysterical is that the anti-woke brigades don't campaign against it when it's the queerest game in decades and ticks every single fucking box they're championing against.

My best guess is that its success makes all their points moot and a wasted effort.

 

[Zathalus]

What's hysterical is that the anti-woke brigades don't campaign against it when it's the queerest game in decades and ticks every single fucking box they're championing against.

My best guess is that its success makes all their points moot and a wasted effort.

Oh they did, a ton of users absolutely hate it on rpgcodex. But they skew to the extreme compared to GAF. Like the call people fa***ts and other such vile behavior. Nobody I know of here sinks to that level and if they do a ban swiftly follows.

 

[Fabieter]

What's hysterical is that the anti-woke brigades don't campaign against it when it's the queerest game in decades and ticks every single fucking box they're championing against.

My best guess is that its success makes all their points moot and a wasted effort.

You can be the biggest asshole of every game possible that's the difference. Imagine the save dialogue, jokes etc in dragon age. It tried to hard to not be offensive. In BG3 you can be offensive to anything therfore calling it the wokest games is bullshit. They don't force it upon you.

 

[Lorianus]

It will also be a curse, because the next game they make can be good no questions asked but it can also crumble under the expectations and hype from bg3's legacy.

 

[The Cockatrice]

20x revenue from the year before is not a big deal for a AAA gaming studio,

Larian isnt triple A. Their games have been a niche and they pretty much boosted the crpg genre to the top like it used to be 20+ years ago. Owlcat games may follow since they are the second best small studio that keeps making quality crpgs.

 

[pudel]

Whats the news? Isnt that the normal rollercoaster way for a studio which didnt release a game in 2022, but released a good one in 2023.

 

[Cyberpunkd]

It will never be resolved. Ireland and Luxembourg essentially serve as tax havens, not just for large European companies but also for major U.S. corporations. As a result, many U.S. companies effectively pay little to no taxes in Europe. This leads to billions upon billions in lost revenue every year.

See, but this is a thing:

EU court orders Apple to pay Ireland €13 billion in back taxes

The case about Apple not paying sufficient taxes in Ireland, where it has its European headquarters, drew outrage from Apple when it opened in 2016 , with CEO Tim Cook dismissing it as 'total political crap.'

www.lemonde.fr

Ireland was 100% colluding with multinationals in order to bring business into the country and attract talent / create jobs. The EU was like: "cool, but are they paying taxes?".

Even before I got my French citizenship I looked into the whole thing and the case was rather clear: if you center of life and business is France you can hold any citizenship you want, you will get taxed in France.

 

[Esparadrapo]

You can be the biggest asshole of every game possible that's the difference. Imagine the save dialogue, jokes etc in dragon age. It tried to hard to not be offensive. In BG3 you can be offensive to anything therfore calling it the wokest games is bullshit. They don't force it upon you.

The hell are you talking about? It has the "body type" you hate so much. It has the "identity" you hate so much. It has gay NPCs. It has gay driven quests. It has *gasp* a black playable character. Half of the crew is gay for you depending on your genre if you are even remotely nice to them. And that's only the start.

 

[Fabieter]

The hell are you talking about? It has the "body type" you hate so much. It has the "identity" you hate so much. It has gay NPCs. It has gay driven quests. It has *gasp* a black playable character. Half of the crew is gay for you depending on your genre if you are even remotely nice to them. And that's only the start.

In other games it's forced. You had 10000x more choice in this game than in dragon age veilguard for example. Look a reviewer wrote about DAI that diaglouge feels like HR is always in the room. With the stuff I have done in one of my BG3 runs I would have been in prison 1000x times.

And there is another important part. Most SBI DEi trash games are written like trash. BG3 is on the best written games of all time.

Anyway you are really really really wrong to call bg3 the wokest game.

 

[ArtHands]

Steam Deck users doing the heavy lifting here

 

[vaibhavpisal]

Was a day 1 purchase for me.

CRPGs get support.

 

[Esparadrapo]

In other games it's forced. You had 10000x more choice in this game than in dragon age veilguard for example. Look a reviewer wrote about DAI that diaglouge feels like HR is always in the room. With the stuff I have done in one of my BG3 runs I would have been in prison 1000x times.

But I thought that "choice" was a bad thing. You know, being able to choose your pronouns and shit. Is having a "body type" and "identity" not woke now? I'm getting lost with all this inconsistent discourse. In the end looks like making money is the only thing telling apart a game that's woke and one that's not.

And there is another important part. Most SBI DEi trash games are written like trash. BG3 is on the best written games of all time.

Most games are written like trash. Full stop. You just take advantage of them having any "wokeism" to push an agenda and it's getting tiresome.

Anyway you are really really really wrong to call bg3 the wokest game.

I said "queerest" and you have dating simulators bowing to BG3 in awe.

 

[Fabieter]

But I thought that "choice" was a bad thing. You know, being able to choose your pronouns and shit. Is having a "body type" and "identity" not woke now? I'm getting lost with all this inconsistent discourse. In the end looks like making money is the only thing telling apart a game that's woke and one that's not.

Most games are written like trash. Full stop. You just take advantage of them having any "wokeism" to push an agenda and it's getting tiresome.

I said "queerest" and you have dating simulators bowing to BG3 in awe.

I dont think you even played bg3. I played it for more than 200 hours and it's objectively above all of the DEI crap.

If you think that what I mean with choice than I don't know what to tell you. You have so many options to tackle quests. It doesn't force you to do anything. It doesn't force this shit down your throat. There is no conspiracy about BG3.

 

[nowhat]

See, but this is a thing:

EU court orders Apple to pay Ireland €13 billion in back taxes

The case about Apple not paying sufficient taxes in Ireland, where it has its European headquarters, drew outrage from Apple when it opened in 2016 , with CEO Tim Cook dismissing it as 'total political crap.'

www.lemonde.fr

Ireland was 100% colluding with multinationals in order to bring business into the country and attract talent / create jobs. The EU was like: "cool, but are they paying taxes?".

Even before I got my French citizenship I looked into the whole thing and the case was rather clear: if you center of life and business is France you can hold any citizenship you want, you will get taxed in France.

Ireland has by default a much lower corporate tax rate than average - that's completely legal, each member state can set their own taxes, and that combined with a English-speaking workforce makes it an attractive destination for many multinationals.

But the Apple case was about Ireland specifically proving an even lower tax rate just to Apple, which is a big no-no according to EU rules. Yes, Apple was still paying a fuckton of taxes to Ireland, but they should have been paying multiple fucktons.

 

[Fabieter]

Ireland has by default a much lower corporate tax rate than average - that's completely legal, each member state can set their own taxes, and that combined with a English-speaking workforce makes it an attractive destination for many multinationals.

But the Apple case was about Ireland specifically proving an even lower tax rate just to Apple, which is a big no-no according to EU rules. Yes, Apple was still paying a fuckton of taxes to Ireland, but they should have been paying multiple fucktons.

Ofc it's legal. It just should be changed to remove either Ireland or the ability of that crap.

 

[StereoVsn]

This is still a thing? I thought the loophole was closed ages ago. Also - it’s the very basics of tax office that if you work in Belgium, have an office in Belgium and hire people that work for you in Belgium you pay your taxes in Belgium, no hacking the tax system.

Ireland has 15% corporate taxes which is still lower vs rest of EU I believe.

So they will lay regular employee taxes in Belgium but their profits would be registered to an entity headquartered in Ireland.

Anyways, good for them and 2024 should also come in pretty great.

 

[StereoVsn]

Learn English you cheap basterd

I thought it was translated in major European languages at least? Was it not dubbed?

 

[RoboFu]

What I love about the whole thing is the game is classic srpg . Not dumbed down " for a broader audience ".

 

[GigaBowser]

The hell are you talking about? It has the "body type" you hate so much. It has the "identity" you hate so much. It has gay NPCs. It has gay driven quests. It has *gasp* a black playable character. Half of the crew is gay for you depending on your genre if you are even remotely nice to them. And that's only the start.

goty instead of TOTK

 

[SHA]

Can someone write a combo to beat enemies in bg3? I'm noob, I just bought it.

 

[StereoVsn]

In other games it's forced. You had 10000x more choice in this game than in dragon age veilguard for example. Look a reviewer wrote about DAI that diaglouge feels like HR is always in the room. With the stuff I have done in one of my BG3 runs I would have been in prison 1000x times.

And there is another important part. Most SBI DEi trash games are written like trash. BG3 is on the best written games of all time.

Anyway you are really really really wrong to call bg3 the wokest game.

It’s the difference between a progressive game and a woke one. And especially a game as well created as BG3.

Yes, BG3 has a diverse set of characters, but it doesn’t detract from the game and doesn’t make the game all about that.

Another example is Disco Elysium. It was literally created by Marxists and has a ton of leftist ideas and leanings. Did people disparage the game? No, because it was amazingly well written.

 

[V1LÆM]

hopefully their next game isn't Divinity Original Sin 3. I didn't like those games. that said...after BG3 i'll give anything they put out now a shot. after not liking the Divinity games i thought BG3 would just be D:OS 3 with the Baldur's Gate name slapped on. I really never expected to fall in love with BG3 because for a long time I just kept being turned off by how similar they looked.

Would be cool to see them do a cyberpunk themed game. Cyberpunk 2077 was based on the tabletop rpg like BG is based on D&D. As much as I love 2077 i keep thinking about a game that is much closer to the TTRPG. Dice rolls, turn based combat, party based, lots more choices, etc. Larian have proved they can do it but I don't know if Mike Pondsmith would let anyone else do a Cyberpunk game. Thankfully, he nor CDPR own the cyberpunk genre so Larian could still do their own.

 

[IDKFA]

Good.

Now speak to Disney and give us a real Knights of the Old Republic 3.

 

[Fabieter]

It’s the difference between a progressive game and a woke one. And especially a game as well created as BG3.

Yes, BG3 has a diverse set of characters, but it doesn’t detract from the game and doesn’t make the game all about that.

Another example is Disco Elysium. It was literally created by Marxists and has a ton of leftist ideas and leanings. Did people disparage the game? No, because it was amazingly well written.

Well said. I dont know why the DEI warriors won't get this.

 

[RoboFu]

The hell are you talking about? It has the "body type" you hate so much. It has the "identity" you hate so much. It has gay NPCs. It has gay driven quests. It has *gasp* a black playable character. Half of the crew is gay for you depending on your genre if you are even remotely nice to them. And that's only the start.

No one cares if there are gay or black characters. that is not wokism. And BG3 lets you choose Male and Female not he/him , she/her again as in not wokism.

I don't think you understand that there is a difference between inclusion and forced propaganda of control. wokism is all about control. YOU MUST! Should be its slogan.

 

[poppabk]

No one cares if there are gay or black characters. that is not wokism. And BG3 lets you choose Male and Female not he/him , she/her again as in not wokism.

I don't think you understand that there is a difference between inclusion and forced propaganda of control. wokism is all about control. YOU MUST! Should be its slogan.

 

[pudel]

Can someone write a combo to beat enemies in bg3? I'm noob, I just bought it.

There are the obvious combos....like water->electricity or throwing an oil flask and casting a fire spell on it. Than there are tons of efficient (upto overpowered) combos just via your builds for you and your companions. For example give a warrior a feat "pole master" (gives him extra reach) and than another feat which makes him hit enemies as soon as they come into reach of the warrior. Due to the extra reach he is basically controlling the battlefield even if its not his turn. And there is so much more interactions with certain gear etc. For me it was always when I found a new crazy gear piece I wanted to make a new build around it. Have to say the item progression in this game was excellent too imho.

 

[RoboFu]

And ?? Read what I wrote more carefully.

Wokism doesn't use Male Female. YOU MUST use he/him she/her. It's about control not really about who you are.

You can be gay, trans, or even non-binary and not be woke.

The difference is " I'm non-binary " vs " YOU MUST call me non binary and YOU MUST apologize for not calling me non binary."

 

[SHA]

There are the obvious combos....like water->electricity or throwing an oil flask and casting a fire spell on it. Than there are tons of efficient (upto overpowered) combos just via your builds for you and your companions. For example give a warrior a feat "pole master" (gives him extra reach) and than another feat which makes him hit enemies as soon as they come into reach of the warrior. Due to the extra reach he is basically controlling the battlefield even if its not his turn. And there is so much more interactions with certain gear etc. For me it was always when I found a new crazy gear piece I wanted to make a new build around it. Have to say the item progression in this game was excellent too imho.

That reminds me of scarlet nexus.

 

[Topher]

Most games are written like trash. Full stop. You just take advantage of them having any "wokeism" to push an agenda and it's getting tiresome.

If it is getting "tiresome" then why are you bringing it up again? The thread has nothing to do with woke shit and no one said a thing about it here until you did.

 

[Esparadrapo]

If it is getting "tiresome" then why are you bringing it up again? The thread has nothing to do with woke shit and no one said a thing about it here until you did.

The moderation will get tired at some point too. The more exposure it gets the sooner it's barred whatever side brings it up.

 

[CJ_75]

And ?? Read what I wrote more carefully.

Wokism doesn't use Male Female. YOU MUST use he/him she/her. It's about control not really about who you are.

You can be gay, trans, or even non-binary and not be woke.

The difference is " I'm non-binary " vs " YOU MUST call me non binary and YOU MUST apologize for not calling me non binary."

Sounds like someone's pants is on fire. No one is going to read your letter diarrhea. Take it like a man...or a non binary person.

 

[Fabieter]

And ?? Read what I wrote more carefully.

Wokism doesn't use Male Female. YOU MUST use he/him she/her. It's about control not really about who you are.

You can be gay, trans, or even non-binary and not be woke.

The difference is " I'm non-binary " vs " YOU MUST call me non binary and YOU MUST apologize for not calling me non binary."

Yes I also dislike the woke stereotype. They are alot of times portrait in a poor way imo. Make interesting visually pleasing progressive characters and it's all fine.

 

[Topher]

The moderation will get tired at some point too. The more exposure it gets the sooner it's barred whatever side brings it up.

So you are trolling until the topic is barred from being brought up? Yeah.....that's probably not going to work out the way you think it will, but good luck.

 

[Esparadrapo]

So you are trolling until the topic is barred from being brought up? Yeah.....that's probably not going to work out the way you think it will, but good luck.

No need to troll. Just bringing it up will trigger some snowflake and snowball from there.

 

[Topher]

No need to troll. Just bringing it up will trigger some snowflake and snowball from there.

That's called "trolling" chief

 

[Esparadrapo]

That's called "trolling" chief

I'm just a concerned citizen here, officer.

 

[Freelance Yakuza]

I wanted a heart repair heist in Avernus.

Karlach FTW
Even tho Shadowheart was my love interest, I went to hell with Karlach because that is what friends do, soldier

 

[The Cockatrice]

goty instead of TOTK

Zelda will be goty when she grows a penis. I doubt sissy Link would mind.

 

[Kotaro]

What's hysterical is that the anti-woke brigades don't campaign against it when it's the queerest game in decades and ticks every single fucking box they're championing against.

My best guess is that its success makes all their points moot and a wasted effort.

It is indeed sad to see this woke shit is so successful, but chuds can’t win all the time

Not all woke games or movies failed, BG3, Barbie movies are the exception, the rest of the woke garbage eat dirts

 

[Esppiral]

Learn English you cheap basterd

What language do you think I'm writing in?

 

[poppabk]

And ?? Read what I wrote more carefully.

Wokism doesn't use Male Female. YOU MUST use he/him she/her. It's about control not really about who you are.

You can be gay, trans, or even non-binary and not be woke.

The difference is " I'm non-binary " vs " YOU MUST call me non binary and YOU MUST apologize for not calling me non binary."

Im really trying to understand. BG3 lets you choose your pronouns it just doesn't use the word 'pronoun' - is it just the word pronoun you have a problem with?

 

[Hawk The Slayer]

You can be the biggest asshole of every game possible that's the difference. Imagine the save dialogue, jokes etc in dragon age. It tried to hard to not be offensive. In BG3 you can be offensive to anything therfore calling it the wokest games is bullshit. They don't force it upon you.

I don't like BG3, don't like it's characters and some of the stuff in game and prefer Rogue Trader a lot more as a CRPG even if that one had a much lower budget. But I can understand BG3's success since it had much deeper writing compared to most of those kind of games. Had a huge DnD lore with lots and lots of choices which is the main selling point for many. Plus like you said it also help that it wasn't as in your face as some of the others.