After announcing the game’s August 31 release date at yesterday’s State of Play event, a PR representative for Larian Studios revealed that Baldur’s Gate 3 is not a PS5 console exclusive, and that Larian Studios is free to develop versions of the game on other platforms including Xbox consoles should it so desire. Larian Studios has now issued a full statement, revealing that while an Xbox version of the game is in fact in development, issues with incorporating split-screen co-op to the same standard on both Xbox Series X and Series S consoles are delaying its release.
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Larian Studios’ long-awaited Baldur’s Gate 3 title debuted with a new turn-based combat system through Steam Early Access in late 2020. Since then, the developer has been collecting extensive player feedback and incorporating changes for over two years. Yesterday, during the PlayStation State of Play event, it reaffirmed the August 2023 launch window announced in December with an exact date: August 31, 2023.
Fans were quick to notice that Larian Studios made no mention of an Xbox release despite the fact that the game will also be releasing on PC, macOS, and GeForce Now on the same date as the PS5 release. A PR representative for Larian Studios came out to clear the air, shooting down the idea of Baldur’s Gate potentially being exclusive to PlayStation consoles:
Right now Larian is planning to release Baldur’s Gate 3 for PC, Mac, GeForce NOW, and PS5. That said, they don’t have exclusivity and will announce support for additional platforms if and when they’re ready.
As such, Larian Studios is free to release Baldur’s Gate 3 on Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One consoles should it feel the need to. Keeping in mind that no Xbox release has been announced in the almost four-year period since the initial announcement, it may have been reasonable to assume that an Xbox version of the game was never planned.
Larian Studios has now released a full statement about the matter, revealing that “technical issues” with an Xbox version that is indeed in development have kept the studio from formally announcing it:
Following yesterday’s PS5 and release date announcement, we’ve clarified that right now, we’re planning to release Baldur’s Gate 3 for PC, Mac, GeForce NOW, and PS5. That said, we have no exclusivity for which platforms we can bring BG3 to, or when, and will announce support for additional platforms if and when we’re ready.
We’re seeing a lot of varied interpretations of what that means, so we wanted to clarify further. We’ve had an Xbox version of Baldur’s Gate 3 in development for some time now. We’ve run into some technical issues in developing the Xbox port that have stopped us feeling 100% confident in announcing it until we’re certain we’ve found the right solutions – specifically, we’ve been unable to get split-screen co-op to work to the same standard on both Xbox Series X and S, which is a requirement for us to ship.
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 and expectations.
No release date for the Xbox version has yet been announced, but Larian Studios’ statement has at least confirmed that Xbox gamers will eventually get to enjoy Baldur’s Gate 3 at some point. Let us know what you think about Baldur’s Gate 3 on Xbox in the comments below, and check out the rest of our coverage of the State of Play event as well.
Source: PushSquare