Everything we know about Baldur's Gate 3: Gameplay, Story, Platforms and Release Date

The highly anticipated Baldur’s Gate III will feature turn-based combat based on the D&D 5th edition rules but with modifications

Prepare to embark on an exciting adventure with Baldur's Gate III, a highly anticipated role-playing video game brought to you by Larian Studios. Get ready to immerse yourself in a world of epic quests and captivating characters as you navigate a highly detailed universe that will leave you spellbound. The game currently remains in an early access state and will fully release on August 3, 2023. Lastly, the PS5 version will see a September 6, 2023 release. The developer team is also working on bringing the Xbox Series X/S version to life.

Credit: Larian Studios

Contents

1 Gameplay
2 Plot
3 Development
4 Early Access Features
5 Release Date and Platforms
6 FAQ

Gameplay

Credit: Larian Studios

Baldur’s Gate III will offer both a single-player and a co-op multiplayer experience. The player can create one or more characters that will form a party with other NPCs generated by the computer. Additionally, to play co-op, the player must take one of his NPCs to form a party with other players. Baldur’s Gate III features turn-based combat, which is a huge change of direction from the series’s traditional formula.

Larian’s previous two titles, “Divinity: Original Sin” and “Divinity: Original Sin II,” also featured this kind of combat system. Both critics and the community alike highly acclaimed these games. Baldur’s Gate III will be constructed based on the 5th-edition Dungeons & Dragons rule set but with changes and tweaks to make it work as a video game.

Plot

Credit: Larian Studios

In the year 1492 DR, evil forces are experiencing a resurgence, over a century following the events of Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn and a mere few months after the conclusion of Baldur's Gate: Descent into Avernus. The invading mind flayers have kidnaped the player character. The protagonist and numerous other creatures find themselves harbouring Illithid Tadpoles within their physical forms.

These parasitic organisms have the power to captivate their hosts and ultimately transform them into mind flayers. However, the flying ship they are all on becomes the target of a relentless assault orchestrated by formidable Githyanki warriors and their red dragons. The conflict results in the protagonist's liberation as they pilot the crippled ship back to Faerûn, only to encounter a dramatic crash landing. The main character, searching for a remedy for their parasitic condition, encounters fellow individuals who have managed to survive the ill-fated journey.

Development

BioWare and Black Isle Studios were the creators of the first Baldur's Gate game. The game got published by Interplay Entertainment in 1998. The game used a licenced adaptation of the Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) system and was set in the Forgotten Realms. The success of the game led to the release of Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn. Baldur's Gate III: The Black Hound, another sequel, was being made by Black Isle Studios in 2003.

However, Interplay had a lot of fiscal issues at the time, so they shut down Black Isle and cancelled the game's production. In 2008, Atari bought the rights to make D&D video games from Interplay. The previously abandoned Baldur's Gate III: The Black Hound has nothing to do with Larian Studios' new game. Larian Studios has been keen on developing a follow-up to the Baldur's Gate games for a while.

After releasing Divinity: Original Sin in 2014, Larian Studios reached out to Wizards of the Coast about making a Baldur's Gate sequel. Wizards of the Coast thought the company was still too recent to the business to be given the Baldur's Gate licence. Larian then invested its resources in creating Divinity: Original Sin II, which came out in September 2017. Wizards of the Coast liked what they saw about the pre-release game, so they called Larian to see if they were still interested in making Baldur's Gate III.

Larian agreed, and while finishing up the release phase of making Divinity: Original Sin II, a small group got together to work on the design plan for the new Baldur's Gate that they would be presenting to Wizards of the Coast.

Early Access Features

Baldur's Gate III became available via early access on October 6, 2020. This game version consists of only the first act, which has about 25 hours of content and a tiny fraction of the entire game’s map. There are also 16 races and six classes to choose from in the character creation menu, with additional choices scheduled for the final release. Your character’s max level is capped at 4 in the early access of Baldur’s Gate 3.

Release Date and Platforms

Initially, it was reported that Baldur's Gate III would be available for Windows, macOS, and PlayStation 5 on August 31, 2023. Later, the PC launch date was changed to August 3, and the PS5's was changed to September 6. Larian also said that an Xbox Series X and Series S port was in the works, but it still needs to be officially confirmed because the split-screen co-op on the Series S was having issues.

They further confirmed that the game isn't just for PlayStation consoles and might come out on Xbox if the problems are fixed. As for the last-gen consoles, an announcement related to Baldur’s Gate 3 release on PS4 and Xbox One is yet to be made.

Baldur's Gate 3 is coming to PS5 day and date with PC: August 31, 2023.

Watch the brand-new trailer featuring J.K. Simmons and check out our blog for more: https://t.co/BaCxCmjXNZ

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