Baldur's Gate 3 owner says it's got $1+ billion invested in game dev, and it's using one Mass Effect vet's new sci-fi RPG to help

Hope Bellingham
·2 min read
Exodus trailer screenshot.
Exodus trailer screenshot.

Baldur's Gate 3 owner Hasbro says it's got more than $1 billion invested in game development, and the upcoming sci-fi RPG from former Mass Effect devs is part of that.

In an interview with GamesIndustry.Biz, Hasbro's head of digital product development, Dan Ayoub, revealed the company's huge investment in internal game development, and its plan to make video games "an integral part of Hasbro's strategy going into the next 100 years."

At the time of writing, Hasbro has four AAA studios to its name including Atomic Arcade, which is working on a game that's "hopefully going to be a shot in the arm" for the G.I. Joe franchise; Invoke Studios, which is working on a Dungeons & Dragons game; Skeleton Key, which is "doing something spooky," and Archetype, the studio being led by a former BioWare dev that's working on sci-fi RPG Exodus.

On the topic of these studios, Ayoub tells the outlet that "Over $1 billion is in video game development right now. And that is just these studios. That's to say nothing of the other game investments that are happening." He also reveals that he's definitely "Seen the company put its actions around its words in terms of building these studios around strong leaders, thinking about the long game as well. We've got a portfolio that goes much, much larger than anything we're talking about right now."

Touching on Exodus specifically, Ayoub explains: "What we're trying to do there is have the tail wag the dog a little bit and have things going the other direction for the company, which would be something new, where we can create a new IP through video games and then take advantage of the size and scale of Hasbro to do other things with it as well."

Hasbro also has several huge IPs under its belt including Baldur's Gate 3. In the same interview, the Hasbro head reflected on the success of the Larian RPG, revealing that "one of the great things we took from the success of Baldur's Gate 3 is that people really, really like a great, well-executed D&D game."

Take a look at our new games 2024 list to see what else we've got to look forward to.