Baldur's Gate 3 got a surprise announcement on PlayStation 5 yesterday during Sony's State of Play, but it left a lingering question in many fans' minds: is there an Xbox version coming as well?
Yesterday, Larian Studios announced the long-awaited, and long in early access entry in the Baldur's Gate franchise was coming on August 31st, with it hitting PC, GeForce Now, and PlayStation 5. However notably absent was the confirmation that an Xbox Series S|X version was releasing as well.
In a world where platform exclusivity, even if it's a timed exclusive, dominates the console world, naturally, Xbox players wondered if they'd get the chance to dive into the Forgotten Realms this August. Turns out they might.
In a statement to clear the air surrounding a potential Xbox version, Larian took to Reddit to dispel some lingering questions. Turns out an Xbox Series S|X version is in development, but the studio didn't feel comfortable announcing it yet thanks to some technical issues that have cropped up during the development.
"Thanks for all the hype and enthusiasm following yesterday’s announcement that Baldur’s Gate 3 is coming to PS5 day and date with PC on August 31st," the statement reads. It continues, explaining the problem:
"Xbox players, we’ve seen your questions about if/when you can expect Baldur’s Gate 3 on Xbox. We’ve had an Xbox version of Baldur’s Gate 3 in the works for some time, but we have run into some technical issues – particularly with split-screen co-op. We are still working on an Xbox version of BG3, but we’re not yet confident enough to announce it. We don’t like announcing anything until we’re ready, because we don’t want to get people's hopes up until we’re sure we can deliver."
Larian went on to confirm that there were no exclusivity agreements in place in terms of where and when they could launch Baldur's Gate 3, rather the decision to hold off officially announcing the version was simply due to the fact the technical issues were making it impossible for the version too, as it currently stands, live up to their "standards and expectations."
"There’s no platform exclusivity preventing us from releasing BG3 on Xbox day and date, should that be a technical possibility. If and when we do announce further platforms, we want to make sure each version lives up to our standards & expectations. Thanks for understanding!"
Baldur's Gate 3 has been in development for years, with the RPG hitting early access back in 2020. Since then, the Divinity: Original Sin studio has released multiple updates and classes to early access, leading up to this year's release. Set in the Forgotten Realms setting of Dungeons & Dragons, the entry is the third mainline title in the iconic RPG series which dates back to the late 1990s/early 2000s and were formative RPGs in the isometric space.
