YouTube Pulls the Plug on Baldur’s Gate 3 Stream Over Inappropriate Content

Before Baldur’s Gate 3 even hit the shelves, its explicit sex scenes were already stirring up controversy for developer Larian. The notorious bear encounter with Halsin led to a ban from streaming on TikTok during one of their pre-release showcases, and now, three years later, YouTube has pulled the plug on one of their livestreams due to “Body Exposure and Sexualized Behaviors.”

For several months, Larian has been hosting weekly streams of a Dark Urge run on Twitch and YouTube. However, if you check out their Channel From Hell on YouTube, you’ll notice that the VOD for the stream from August 5 is missing. While it’s still available on their Twitch account, it seems Larian opted not to stream on YouTube today.

The reason? YouTube cut the stream short, likely due to a steamy scene between the player character and Haarlep, an incubus who takes on the form of the devil Raphael. Despite Larian’s attempt to cover the explicit content with a D20 graphic, the nudity was still quite visible, leading to YouTube’s intervention after the lengthy intimate segment.

The team at Larian appears to be handling the situation with a sense of humor. Let’s hope Twitch doesn’t follow suit; otherwise, where would we catch the conclusion of Larian’s Dark Urge run? Kick? No thanks.

In 2023, Larian shared that the Haarlep sex scene posed unique challenges, as it’s one of the more straightforward encounters in Baldur’s Gate 3. The game’s intimacy coordinators played a crucial role in making it work during motion capture sessions.

“It’s very physical and probably closest to a traditional live-action sex scene and required the most discussion beforehand,” said performance director Greg Lidstone. “We ensured the set was closed, that everyone understood what the goals were, and that we all felt comfortable with what we were doing.”