‘That’s pretty cool’: Larian boss Swen Vincke responds after Stranger Things co-creator credits Baldur’s Gate 3 for inspiring the show’s climactic battle

A team of would-be heroes working together to take down a powerful bad guy that none of them could handle on their own is hardly a novel concept. One might think of the Super Friends, for instance, or the time Kiss battled an evil genius to save an amusement park. So it’s maybe a bit, well, odd that Stranger Things co-creator Matt Duffer credits the inspiration for the show’s finale to Baldur’s Gate 3. But it’s also pretty cool, right?

“We were thinking about D&D, and I was playing Baldur’s Gate 3 at the time, and we felt it was very important that the only way for them to defeat it was for the entire party to work together,” Duffer told Variety about the final battle between Vecna, the Mind Flayer, and the gang. “Everyone had fully realized—either through self-acceptance or they’ve resolved all their various issues—moving into that final battle, they’re absolutely primed. They’re the ultimate team, and it’s the party working all together to defeat this thing.

“And they each have their own individual skills, right? And that’s where I go back to Dungeons & Dragons, and something like Baldur’s Gate. Because that’s how you take down these monsters that seem otherwise unstoppable. Lots of videogame references were applied to that final battle.”

Using teams of folks with individual skills to whomp the bejeezus out of some soul-sucking unpleasantness is Gaming 101, really: With a little bit of luck and a can-do attitude, a fighter, a mage, and a cleric can solve pretty much any problem you want to throw at them. Baldur’s Gate 3 is certainly the latest (and possibly greatest) example, but you could say the same about the original heroes of the Sword Coast, or the squad Khelben Blackstaff sent to Temple Darkmoon, or the gang who saved the city of Phlan in Pool of Radiance, or—well, you get the idea.

And while there is a temptation to be too cool for school about it, the truth is that those of us who are in the know about such things likely represent a relatively small portion of the overall Stranger Things audience—and for those who are not, hearing about the Baldur’s Gate 3 inspiration might come as more of an interesting surprise.

And hey, spreading the word about one of the best videogames ever made is pretty cool, after all.

The inspiration works both ways, as it turns out: After Vincke posted about the Baldur’s Gate 3 inspiration, Larian head of publishing Michael Douse responded, “Damn now I really should watch Stranger Things.”