It seems the floodgates have opened for criticism towards Baldur's Gate III developer Larian Studios. Following some comments about AI from CEO Swen Vincke that seem to have been blown out of proportion, now the former gaming darling is being criticised for other alleged bad practises, including shifty hiring processes for bringing writers into the studio.
As reported and compiled by TheGamer, narrative designers and game writers have shared their experiences applying for Larian. A thread on Bluesky contains most of the information, with writer Bruno Dias saying "Larian's horrible hirring process is an open secret in the industry."
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"They made me do 12 interviews. Then they rejected me based on my resume," commented developer Gwen C. Katz. "I'm not sure if they'll ever find anyone at this point," added writer Kate Gray. "They must have interviewed basically every single writer who isn't already aware of their process."
Narrative designer Stella Sacco said that she had to provide a writing example that was in a playable state, and she was also not told where she'd be working if she got the job. "They said I'd work at one of their studios worldwide, but that they'd decide which one later," she wrote. "I was like 'Hey I'm trans and some of those locations might not be great for me', and they said 'Well it's not possible to tell you which ahead of time'."
There's no official comment from Larian yet, but it seems that some now feel more comfortable speaking out about alleged faults in one of gaming's most recently beloved names.