My Chemical Romance frontman Gerard Way made an unexpected detour during a recent live show, pausing between songs to weigh in on "Baldur's Gate 3" after a fan in the crowd held up a sign asking him about the game.
The moment was caught on camera and quickly spread online, drawing attention from both the gaming community and fans of the band.
My Chemical Romance's Gerard Way Wants to Play 'Baldur's Gate 3'
A fan on TikTok called 'Katana Luciana' shared a video regarding a banner she brought to a My Chemical Romance concert asking the lead singer if he has already played the game. This caught the attention of the band, leading to Way stopping mid-concert to answer the question.
Way admitted to the crowd that he has not actually played "Baldur's Gate 3" yet, but made clear it is on his radar. "No, I've only played Baldur's Gate 1," he said during the show. "Not that I probably wouldn't have liked 2 or 3. I did play the Icewind Dale expansion, but I just ran out of time, you know?"
He then turned to the audience and asked whether the third entry was worth playing, suggesting his interest in the franchise is very much still alive. "Did you play Baldur's Gate 3? Is it good? I would assume so; the first one was a lot of fun. It was the closest thing at the time to playing D&D," Way said (via PC Gamer).
Larian Studios, which developed "Baldur's Gate 3," caught wind of the moment and jumped in on social media, offering Way a free copy of the game. The title won Game of the Year at The Game Awards 2023 and remains one of the most acclaimed RPGs of the current generation.
Way Claims He's Been a Fan of the Franchise Since the First
Way's familiarity with the original "Baldur's Gate" speaks to how long he has been engaged with the RPG genre. The first "Baldur's Gate" released back in 1998 and was notable at the time for bringing the Dungeons & Dragons ruleset to life in a way that felt close to the tabletop experience.
Way made exactly that comparison during the concert, describing the original game as the closest thing available at the time to actually playing a session of D&D.
He also mentioned playing through the "Icewind Dale" experience, which he referred to as an expansion, though it was technically a standalone game set in the same Forgotten Realms universe.
It is a minor mix-up, but one that reflects how intertwined those early Infinity Engine RPGs were in the memories of players who grew up with them. Way's comments confirm he has spent real time with that era of classic PC role-playing games, even if his schedule has kept him from catching up on what the franchise became under Larian's direction.
Gerard Way Loves Classic RPG Titles
Way's passion for the genre has surfaced in various forms over the years, including documented love of "Dungeons and Dragons," a past stream of "Overwatch" where he discussed his affection for the character D.Va, and his work co-creating the Umbrella Academy comic series, which carries its own clear influence from genre fiction and collaborative storytelling.
For fans who know Way's history with gaming and comics, hearing him trace his RPG roots back to the original "Baldur's Gate" was hardly surprising.
But it was a reminder that one of the more prominent figures in early 2000s rock music has been a gamer for a very long time, and that "Baldur's Gate 3" is apparently still sitting in his backlog waiting to be opened.
