Baldur’s Gate 3 Introduces One of Its Villains Plus Final Release Date
In yesterday’s PlayStation State of Play online conference, Larian made a surprise appearance. The developers of Divinity Original Sin (one and two) announced that their upcoming RPG, Baldur’s Gate 3 will be released worldwide on August 31, 2023.
The surprising confirmation also accompanies the announcement that the game will simultaneously launch on the PlayStation 5.
Baldur’s Gate 3 Release Relived
Last year, we confirmed that Baldur’s Gate would launch “sometime” in 2023. It was further confirmed during The Game Awards 2022 that the window would be in August 2023. Now we have confirmation that the highly anticipated turn-based RPG will release on the last day of August.
Baldur’s Gate 3 Pre-Orders
Larian also went along with announcing a digital-only Digital Deluxe Edition will be released, alongside the Standard and Collector’s editions. This exclusive Digital Deluxe will contain various in-game and collectible goodies, such as a Bard Song Pack, an in-game dice skin, an adventurer’s pouch filled with in-game potions, and supplies as the soundtrack and art book.
It was also confirmed that Digital Deluxe preorders will gain 72-hour early access to Baldur’s Gate. This is only limited to the first Act, however, just like what current Early Access players have. A nice little bonus as well is that anyone who will purchase the game during its Early Access period will receive a free upgrade to the Digital Deluxe Edition. Larian already previously unveiled the limited edition collector’s edition on the official website at the end of last year for $269.99/259.99 euros on both PC and now PS5. This includes the bonuses such as the heft Mindflayer vs. Drow statue, digital copy of the game, art book, D20 die and more.
Divine Divinity
That’s not all, as fans of Larian will get items as well from the lands of Rivellon and the Divinity universe:
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Paintings from Rivellon: perfect for us to hoard and sell to NPCs, just like in Divinity!
- Mask of the Shapeshifter: the infamous mask of everyone’s face-ripping Undead hero Fane makes its debut into the Forgotten Realms. This will allow players to change their race and appearance entirely.
- Cape of the Red Prince: general cloak that will have influences from The Red Prince
- Lute of the Merryweather Bard: Loshe’s lute that she plays when not being possessed by demons.
- Needle of the Outlaw Rogue: Sebille’s own dagger she used to threaten us with
- Bicorne of the Sea Beast: a simple sailor’s hat. Inspired by Beast the Dwarft
Ifan fans may be left out in the cold for now, as there doesn’t seem to be an item inspired by him just yet.
J.K the Necromancer
The Baldur’s Gate 3 Release Date trailer showed off during the State of Play also teased us with one of the big baddies that our characters will get to chase around. Esteemed character actor J.K. Simmons will be playing an immortal necromancer named General Ketheric Thorm.
Hopefully, Thorm will have a tragic backstory and will not be outright evil (like most necromancers tend to be portrayed as). Additionally, hopefully, Larian will maximize Simmons’ presence here, and his antagonist will be an ever-looming persistent threat to us.
Larian did mention that Thorm will not be the main villain, but will be a major hurdle that we will need to overcome. That said, they will also be introducing two more villains over the coming months. We’re excited to see what other foes and ultimate bosses are heading our way in the later acts.
Baldur’s Gate 3 on the PlayStation 5
It seems that this will be Larian’s first foray into releasing on multiple platforms at the same time. Their previous game, Divinity Original Sin 2, launched primarily on PC but was later on ported to consoles. This time around, Baldur’s Gate 3 will launch on both PC (and Mac!) and PlayStation 5 at the same time.
It is also worth noting that there was no mention of the PlayStation 4, which means it looks like developers are slowly shying away from the last-gen hardware and have started planning primarily to take advantage of the newer platforms.
To support PlayStation play, Baldur’s Gate 3 will have full controller support at launch. Considering that the team at Larian was able to translate DOS II well into things like even the Nintendo Switch, then it seems like BG3 will be in good hands. Additionally, both PC and PS5 will have up to two-player split screen in case you want to party up with a friend or spouse. Otherwise, you can play with up to four players online.
Larian also did briefly mention that they’d personally “be taking their experience on the road” with the Steam Deck so it looks like native support should be on the way. There will also be cross-save progression between all platforms, provided you purchase the game on both Steam and PlayStation.
Out of the Gate
Since Baldur’s Gate 3 has been in Early Access, the game has seen a number of updates including the addition of new playable Classes the Barbarian and Bard as well as the Gnome race. You can always keep track of the latest info including Armor, Weapons, Spells and more via our wiki.
We also have a bevy of guides available, with every class and subclass in Early Access covered thus far. Want to build the best Abjuration Wizard, Eldritch Knight, or Wild Magic Sorcerer? We got you covered!
For more news, check out Sony’s State of Play is Happening on February 23rd and Elden Ring Sells a Staggering 20 Million Units in One Year of Launch.
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