Larian Studios Heard Us, Restores His Majesty to His Former Glory

Since the launch of Baldur’s Gate 3, developer Larian Studios has remained on top of their updates. Every other week, players are met with new hotfixes or a major patch. While players continue to praise (and debate) all of the changes, that fairly positive streak came to an end for Patch 3. This patch featured highly anticipated updates like the ability to alter most aspects of your appearance beyond the original character creation screen. Also, Mac support! However, players didn’t dig the cosmetic update to one of the game’s most popular NPCs.

**Spoilers for Act 2 of Baldur’s Gate 3.**

For Patch 3, Larian Studios decided the nude His Majesty didn’t look different enough from the other cats in the game. The notes read, “Updated the visuals of His Majesty, who previously looked like Steelclaw. His Majesty’s appearance now befits his name and nature.” So, instead of looking like a Sphynx breed, he looked like a basic AF, long-haired cat. Very few people (myself included) took this change well. Some mourned the cat by sharing and re-sharing fan art. Others inquired about the modding community addressing this change. There was a even a short, informal “Shave the Cat” campaign.

I have restored his Majesty to his former glory
byu/M_Snail inBaldursGate3

While it’s true that His Majesty bears a very close resemblance to Steelclaw of Moonrise Towers, the other cat seemed like the more obvious choice to change. After all, unless players go REALLY out of their way, they will meet His Majesty first (because I’m pretty sure you can’t get to the tower without the lantern.) Additionally, isn’t the commoner supposed to adapt?! By giving His Majesty hair, Larian Studios made His Majesty look like an average cat in Act 3. This act features a LOT of feline friends wandering around the city.

Return of the King

Less than two weeks later, Larian Studios addressed the criticism. On October 3, they featured His Majesty as the cover girl for Hotfix 8 and announced His return to his true form. In the notes, the company wrote “Shaved His Majesty, who is once again a Sphynx. Steelclaw’s eye colour has been adjusted so they are no longer identical twins.”

I’m glad that, even with a relatively silly update, Larian Studios listened to its fans. Director Swen Vinke announced he’s pulling back from the game because it’s mostly just porting (to Xbox) and patching issues. I’d like to think he went “all hands on deck” for this change before stepping away. Everyone loves this cat and His Majesty set the bar for cat depictions in games. Honestly, he set a new bar for NPCs in the game. That’s the magic of voice actor Stephen Boxer—who also voices our favorite bag of bones, Withers.

(featured image: Larian Studios)

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Alyssa Shotwell

(she/her) Award-winning artist and writer with professional experience and education in graphic design, art history, and museum studies. She began her career in journalism in October 2017 when she joined her student newspaper as the Online Editor. This resident of the yeeHaw land spends most of her time drawing, reading and playing the same handful of video games—even as the playtime on Steam reaches the quadruple digits. Currently playing: Baldur's Gate 3 & Oxygen Not Included.

twitter Link to alyssashotwell.myportfolio.com