In a year stuffed full of delays, it’ll be a welcome change to see a game launch early, and that’s just what Baldur’s Gate 3 is doing – at least on PC. Larian Studios announced today that it’s pushing out the multiplayer-optional PC version four weeks ahead of schedule to August 3rd, followed by the PlayStation 5 launch on September 6th. OK, yes, the PS5 launch is technically a delay, but just a week. Larian’s Michael Douse explains:
“We’ve always been a studio that aims to release on as many platforms as possible, in order of readiness. We’ve also aimed for the highest possible quality on every platform we’ve released on. We’re at a point where we’re reaching 60fps on PlayStation 5, which is remarkable considering the breadth and depth Baldur’s Gate 3 aims for. It features over 170 hours of cinematics, more than twice the length of the entirety of Game of Thrones, and more than three times the dialogue of all three Lord of the Rings novels combined. It is a massive, expansive game that truly brings D&D to life, with multiplayer and split-screen co-op, and at a scale that’s roughly 4 times that of our previous game, Divinity: Original Sin 2. Reaching a technical bar that matches our design ambitions felt like the right move, while holding back the PC version when we knew we’d be ready felt like the wrong move in such a busy launch period.”
The Steam dev blog also announces a level-cap bump from 10 to 12, and the Dragonborn and Half-Orc races and Monk class will be playable at launch. There are so many races and subraces and classes they did an infographic to help you keep it all straight. This is the kinda game where building a character could take days before you ever actually get to the storyline.
