Baldur’s Gate 3 is the first modern entry from the classic 1990s CRPG series. Based on Dungeons and Dragons 5e rules, it takes place in the DnD setting of The Forgotten Realms; we’re tracking all of the key information as Larian release it, ahead of the game’s full release in August 2023.
This guide will ensure you’re up to speed with everything you need to know about Baldur’s Gate 3. We’re tracking all of Baldur’s Gate 3 classes in a separate guide, if you’d like to dive into this in-depth. You can also check out some other top DnD games here – or if you’d rather do things the old-fashioned way, Wargamer has plenty of advice on DnD classes, DnD races and DnD character sheets.
Baldur’s Gate 3 release date
The full Baldur’s Gate 3 release date is August 31, 2023, according to a trailer from the Game Awards on December 8 2022. We emphasise ‘full’, because the game is already extremely playable – act one has been available in early access since October 7 2020, and Larian have updated it continuously since then.
Baldur’s Gate 3 updates
Larian has released plenty of Baldur’s Gate 3 updates since the game entered Early Access.
Patch #9 was released on December 14, 2022. Named ‘Holy Knight’, it predictably adds the DnD Paladin to the game, along with two subclasses. If you’re not one for praying to 5e gods, there’s still plenty to be pleased about in the latest patch. Larian’s revamped the reaction system in combat, and raised the game’s level cap to level 5.
Prior to that the most recent major Baldur’s Gate 3 update was Patch #8. This added the DnD Bard class and DnD Gnome species to the game, along with new hairstyles, and most importantly… shovels! It came out on July 7, 2022. Before that, Patch #7 on February 15 brought the DnD Barbarian class to Baldur’s Gate 3, and revamped the game’s animations.
Past patches have been used by Larian as an opportunity to flesh out Baldur’s Gate 3’s class roster, but a few still need to be added to the game including the 5e Monk and DnD Artificer. On the races front, we’re still missing Dragonborn, and Half-Orcs.
Some classic heroes will make their appearance in Baldur’s Gate, Minsc and Boo – and Minsc is voiced by none other than Matt Mercer!
Baldur’s Gate 3 platforms
Right now, in early access, Baldur’s Gate 3 is exclusive to PC, but developer Larian recently confirmed that it will be launching on PS5 as well – and on the same August 31 release date. On PS5, you’ll be able to play local co-op split screen with two players, or online with four.
But – good news for Xbox owners – the game is not a Sony exclusive. Larian is going to bring Baldur’s Gate 3 to Xbox Series X and S. Apparently, it’s had trouble getting the split screen to work on these consoles, so it’s yet to declare a BG3 Xbox release date.
Larian has ruled out a release on last-gen consoles, however, so there’ll be no PS4 or Xbox One release.
