Baldur’s Gate 3 is getting a new comic — and its original studio wants to be very clear it had nothing to do with it. After Dark Horse revealed an official Baldur’s Gate 3 comic series, Larian Studios stepped in once again to remind everyone that it is “not involved in any BG3-related projects.” It is a small statement with big implications for how the beloved RPG’s world gets expanded from here, and who actually holds the keys.
Dark Horse Brings Karlach Back
The comic was unveiled during San Diego Comic-Con, with fan-favorite companion Karlach front and center in the first promotional image and cover art from acclaimed artist Becky Cloonan. The series is being produced in partnership with Wizards of the Coast, the company that owns the Dungeons & Dragons and Baldur’s Gate intellectual property. For fans desperate for any excuse to spend more time with the game’s cast, a printed continuation featuring one of its most adored characters is an easy sell.
What the announcement did not do, at least clearly enough, was spell out exactly who was making it. That ambiguity is where the trouble started, because a Baldur’s Gate 3 project without an explicit creative lead invites everyone to assume the obvious name is attached.
Larian Sets the Record Straight
Larian moved quickly to shut that assumption down. The studio publicly reiterated that it is not part of the comic or any other BG3 spin-off, dispelling any doubt that its writers or designers were shaping the new story. It is not the first time the developer has had to make this point, and the repetition is telling: fans so strongly associate Baldur’s Gate 3 with Larian that they instinctively credit the studio for anything carrying the name.
The reality is more straightforward once you follow the rights. Wizards of the Coast, and parent company Hasbro, own the franchise. Larian built the acclaimed video game under license, but the broader Baldur’s Gate and D&D universe belongs to Wizards, which is free to greenlight comics, novels, and other adaptations with whatever partners it chooses.
What It Means for the Franchise’s Future
Larian has already said it is done with the series, confirming it will not make Baldur’s Gate 4 and choosing to move on to new original worlds. The studio has described that split from Wizards as amicable rather than a falling-out, but the practical result is the same: the future of Baldur’s Gate as a brand will be steered by Wizards and its chosen collaborators, not the team that made the last game a phenomenon.
For fans, that is a bittersweet reality. More Baldur’s Gate content is clearly coming, and a Dark Horse comic is a promising start. But the specific magic Larian brought — its writing, its tone, its obsessive attention to player choice — is not guaranteed to carry over to projects the studio has no hand in. Managing that expectation gap is exactly why Larian keeps issuing these clarifications.
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The Bottom Line
The new Karlach comic is good news for anyone who wasn’t ready to leave Baldur’s Gate 3 behind — just don’t mistake it for a Larian production. With Wizards of the Coast holding the IP and steering its future, expansions of this world will increasingly come from other hands. Larian’s repeated reminders aren’t about distancing itself from the fans; they’re about making sure the credit, and the expectations, land in the right place.