HBO’s New Baldur’s Gate Show Will Canonize an Ending From the Game

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Video game adaptations are becoming increasingly popular and successful, and HBO is joining the trend with a new series. Craig Mazin, who created the hit show The Last of Us, is developing a live-action show based on the Baldur’s Gate role-playing games. According to Deadline, the show will pick up directly after the events of the latest game, Baldur’s Gate III, and explore what happens next.

When Baldur’s Gate III launched in 2023, it was a massive critical success, earning so many awards that Wikipedia created a dedicated page just to list them. It’s no surprise that Hollywood noticed such a popular, story-driven game. However, one of the game’s biggest strengths could actually be a problem for any TV adaptation. If not done carefully, it could not only ruin the show, but also change how people feel about the original game.

No Two Players Experienced Baldur’s Gate III In the Same Way

Baldur’s Gate III really focused on giving players choices and freedom, letting them approach the game in almost any way they wanted. It was famous for having 17,000 different endings – though many were variations of a few core outcomes – which shows just how much variety there was between each playthrough. Key characters could live or die, or even not show up at all, depending on the player’s choices.

In the game, player choices had a huge impact, changing everything from a character’s skills and looks to their relationships and moral compass. There wasn’t one specific ending or right way to play, and that was a big part of what made it so popular – players could really create their own story, similar to how some other games work. However, the upcoming HBO series will change that by establishing a single, official ending and deciding the ultimate fate of all the characters.

Viewers who have spent a lot of time with the game are likely to be upset if the show changes the characters they’ve come to love. This could also negatively impact future experiences with the game, as it would create one definitive storyline, which goes against the original game’s flexible, player-driven narrative. To make matters worse, the game’s creators aren’t in charge of what becomes official canon, as Larian Studios isn’t involved in the upcoming adaptation.

The Possibilities For a Baldur’s Gate Adaptation Are Endless

The show could have simplified things by basing the story on a more straightforward game like Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance, or even by creating a completely new story within the Baldur’s Gate universe. Prime Video’s Fallout successfully used this approach. While not as expansive as Baldur’s Gate III with its many different endings, Fallout avoided issues with established lore by focusing on new characters and adventures.

The show generally avoided being too specific when referencing the original game, which worked in its favor. Even though the story wasn’t the same, it captured the feel of Fallout and appealed to fans. Baldur’s Gate would be an ideal game to adapt in a similar way. Its rich universe within Dungeons & Dragons offers plenty of background material to build a fresh storyline from.

For years, video game adaptations were often disappointing. But the recent wave of high-quality TV shows based on games is exciting. Still, not every game translates well to a format where you don’t play it yourself. If Hollywood keeps making adaptations without understanding what players loved about the original games, we’ll likely end up with the same lackluster results we saw in the early 2000s.

While this isn’t a dealbreaker for the new series, fans are justified in their concerns. HBO has a strong track record with fantasy, as seen with Game of Thrones, and has proven Mazin’s work can be popular. However, adapting Baldur’s Gate is risky, and trying to continue the established story will make it difficult to live up to the quality and cleverness of the original game.

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2026-02-07 02:38