Baldur’s Gate at HBO: Adapting a Story Built on Choice
On February 5, 2026, HBO announced that it was developing a Baldur’s Gate drama with Hasbro Entertainment. Craig Mazin—the creator of Chernobyl and co-creator of HBO’s The Last of Us —is attached to create, write, executive-produce and serve as showrunner. The project is intended to continue the story after Baldur’s Gate 3 rather than retell the game directly. That makes it more interesting than a conventional adaptation, but also considerably more difficult. The central problem is not how to reproduce the Sword Coast, the monsters or the magic. It is how to continue a story that deliberately has no single ending. Image from Baldur’s Gate 3 showing Lae’zel. Game developed by Larian Studios. Used here for purposes of commentary. A Sequel to a Story with No Single Ending The reported plan is to introduce new protagonists while allowing characters from Baldur’s Gate 3 to return. That is probably the only workable approach. Recreating the game’s entire...