Baldur's Gate 3 is going to come out a month early on PC and a week late on PS5, and we can thank Starfield for that - at least in part.
The PC release now hits on August 3 across Steam and GOG. As the devs say in a Steam blog, "This means the PC version of Baldur’s Gate 3 will be released at a time where you’ll have more time to play it." The long-awaited RPG had originally been scheduled to come out on August 31 across both PC and PS5, just one week before Starfield's September 6 release date, and just a single day before Starfield Early Access drops on September 1.
Developer Larian is pretty explicit about the reasons for the change in date in a comment to PCGamesN: "This is an extremely busy period for RPGs. Earlier in the year, we had new Zelda, then Diablo for the first time in something like a decade, with Starfield and Cyberpunk’s releases coming up as well. Our cleanest window for launch is Thursday, August 3 - we know Baldur’s Gate 3 will be ready on PC then, so it made sense to bring that date forward."
The PS5 version of Starfield will now launch on September 6, the very same day that Starfield comes out. With no Starfield on PS4 or PS5, this will give PlayStation fans another option for a big RPG on their preferred platform, though the devs say the console delay is more about improving technical performance. "Baldur’s Gate 3 is targeting 60 frames per second and we’re close to achieving that on the platform but need a bit more extra time. We don’t want to compromise on quality, and feel it would be a shame to downscale to 30FPS or make other compromises to hit an arbitrary date."
The devs also say they're "optimistic" about bringing the game Xbox Series X, but they're still working to make sure the game's running well across both current-gen Xbox machines in both single-player and local split-screen modes.
That Steam blog linked above also features a lengthy breakdown of all the features planned for release, including a new reveal for the Monk class and a full breakdown of all the races, classes, and origin characters you'll be able to choose from when starting out. Larian also says the level cap will now be 12, up from the previously-announced 10.
If you want to get an early taste of Baldur's Gate 3, it's available now in Early Access on PC, but there's an important caveat: any saves you create now will not transfer to the final game.
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