Josh Sawyer, the director of Pillars Of Eternity and Pillars Of Eternity 2: Deadfire, has said he would develop a third game if it was on a Baldur’s Gate 3 budget.
Sawyer talked to Touch Arcade about the anniversary of Pentiment, Obsidian Entertainment‘s medieval murder mystery game, and how the developer’s technology and goals for its games have evolved over the years.
Presently, the team is split between the development of Avowed and The Outer Worlds 2, however, there is still a lot of love for Obsidian Entertainment’s older games and a resurgence of enthusiasm in classic role-playing games after the success of Baldur’s Gate 3.
When asked whether Sawyer would want to work on Pentiment 2, Pillars Of Eternity 3 or Fallout New Vegas 2 if there were no time or budget restrictions and he was able to recruit anyone he liked, he answered Pillars Of Eternity 3.
“I think if it truly was an unlimited budget, I think I would try Pillars 3 because I know what the budget was for Deadfire, which was not a whole lot,” he said.
“I have heard from multiple people what the budget was for Baldur’s Gate 3, and I’m not gonna talk about numbers, but if I got that budget, sure, I’ll make Pillars 3.”
He added that while he’s pleased with the way that the previous two Pillars entries turned out, it would be “a lot of fun” to make the next Pillars Of Eternity game with no limits.
Regarding the hypothetical third game’s combat structure, Sawyer would follow what the fans wanted, but he shared his bias towards turn-based combat.
“I just think it’s easier to design more intricate combats. I like games with a lot of stats, obviously,” he elaborated. “But the problem with real time with pause is that it’s honestly very difficult for people to to actually parse all of that information.”
In other gaming news, Phasmophobia‘s PS5 and Xbox Series X|S launch was delayed by developer Kinect Games for the second time, but the team did show off the horror game’s upcoming Halloween event.