It’s a bold claim to call Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire the best CRPG of the last decade, but Josh Sawyer, its director, stands firmly behind that statement. Reflecting on the game’s development and reception, Sawyer suggests that an early access period like the one Baldur’s Gate 3 has embraced wouldn’t have made much difference for Deadfire.
Given how early access has become a popular model for RPGs, especially with a giant like Baldur’s Gate 3 leaning into it, it’s interesting to hear a veteran like Sawyer push back. Deadfire launched in a more traditional fashion, with a focus on polish and a carefully curated experience before release. For a title that prides itself on storytelling and tightly designed systems, this approach made sense to the team.
Sawyer’s perspective highlights something many players often overlook: early access isn’t a universal solution. While it allows developers to involve the community and iterate publicly, it also comes with risks, like potential feature creep or a fragmented experience. Deadfire’s strength was in its cohesive world-building and narrative, elements that might have suffered from a drawn-out early access stretch.
This isn’t to say early access can’t work well—Baldur’s Gate 3 is proving that—but Deadfire’s success shows there’s still plenty of value in a more traditional launch, especially when the game’s focus is precise and deliberate. Josh Sawyer’s confidence in Deadfire’s place in CRPG history is a reminder that different projects call for different strategies, and sometimes, the old ways still work best.
Source: pcgamer.com
