Baldur’s Gate 3 will launch out of early access in 2023
The mindflayers got Swen Vincke though
It wouldn’t be a Dungeons & Dragons event without an update on Baldur's Gate 3 from Larian Studios, and last night’s D&D Direct finally confirmed that the game will burst forth from the skull of its early access form in 2023.
Larian’s CEO Swen Vincke didn’t make his usual armoured appearance for the announcement, unless you count his legs poking out from behind a desk. Get well soon, Swen. Larian have styled the release date announcement as a look back at Baldur’s Gate 3’s “journey so far” while it’s been in early access. It’s a bit daft, but neatly summarises how the game has evolved over the past two years.
Baldur’s Gate 3 was almost lost among the fancy audience-pleasing D&D Direct announcements – hey, Spelljammer, Dragonlance and the D&D movie – but Larian have been very cool cucumbers throughout its open-ended early access period, so that’s not surprising.
Larian have always insisted that Baldur’s Gate 3 would be out when they think it’s good enough to be considered ready. The game’s seventh patch added barbarians in February, and Jeremy Peel took them for a spin to vent his primal rage. “The barbarian, to whom I have devoted hundreds of words? They may never join your party, in hundreds of hours of play,” he said. “Larian is aiming for a game that is endlessly malleable, a radiant pool of options you cannot possibly see the bottom of.”
Baldur’s Gate 3 will be out sometime during the twelve months of 2023 on Steam and GOG, but not the Epic Game Store at launch.
Disclosure: Adam Smith, formerly of this very site, has been working away on Baldur’s Gate 3 for Larian Studios.