Larian CEO Swen Vincke said much of the team that was in Russia was moved around, “fighting embassies,” to avoid being drafted.
Among the behind-the-scenes details revealed by Swen Vincke, CEO of Larian, on the development of Baldur’s Gate 3 , there are also the efforts made by the team to try to prevent some developers in Russia from being enlisted in the war against Ukraine .
According to the team leader, during the development of Larian’s masterpiece, the studio based in St. Petersburg, Russia, was closed to relocate part of the staff so that they would not be forced to take part in the war.
Vincke explained that during that time, the team found itself ” fighting with embassies ” to try to relocate some of the staff, in order to avoid the risk of involvement in the war against Ukraine.
An international issue
“The decision was made instantly: we cannot stay here,” Vincke explained, recounting what happened.
Baldur’s Gate 3 – Press Credits Trailer
“We needed to move people because the way things were going, there was a possibility of a mobilization coming, and that could mean part of our team having to go to war.”
A strategy was therefore launched that involved several branches of Larian and that succeeded in moving part of the staff in order to protect them from possible recalls, something that Vincke says he is quite proud of, given that it resulted in the relocation of 90% of the team from Russia .
It is not clear how such a move could be configured in terms of international law, considering how things have evolved, but the move was probably made well in advance by Larian and requires that the interested parties not return to Russia, but for now this is all we know about it.