With Cyberpunk 2077, World of Warcraft: Shadowlands, and Baldur’s Gate 3 coming out this fall, it’s certainly shaping up to be the season of the RPG. And speaking of Baldur’s Gate 3, the long-awaited follow-up to BioWare’s 2000 masterpiece has just gone into early access.
Why does this matter to our crowd? It’s because players have the option to dive into BG3 either by themselves or as part of a party of friends. Or at least it’s meant to; bugs have apparently kept it largely unplayable, though Larian says it’s fixing those problems soon.
“We are aware of the multiplayer issues some players are currently experiencing. We are currently investigating the issues and working on a fix,” the team wrote on Steam. “For now, we suggest switching the game to DX11 instead of Vulkan. You can do so by clicking on the icon next to ‘play game’ on the launcher, and selecting DX11 mode. Leaving the tutorial level by activating the transponder at the helm while the player character is downed in combat will crash the game. In multiplayer, avoid saving the game during cinematics for the time being. Also, in multiplayer avoid listening in to a conversation in COOP that has ended. If the host saves directly after combat in multiplayer, the game may crash. Save with caution in multiplayer.”
Only the first act of Baldur’s Gate 3 is available during the early access period, and any save games will not transfer to the full release. The title has a $60 price point and has no set launch date, although the team anticipates it being in early access for a year or more.
According to the development team, the game “allows you to combine your forces in combat, and split your party to follow your own quests and agendas. Concoct the perfect plan together… or introduce an element of chaos when your friends least expect it.”
