Baldur's Gate 3 on track for 2023, maybe release date next month

Baldur's Gate 3
(Image credit: Larian)

Baldur's Gate 3 full release is still on track to release in 2023 with the "next major update" slated to land around the holidays.

We already knew that the hotly-anticipated sequel - which was released as an early access game back in October 2020 - was scheduled to release next year, but confirmation that the game is "on track" for a 2023 release is good news, especially for those holding off on playing the early access build.

There's also a chance we'll get a specific release date next month, too. 

"The good news is that we’re on track for release in 2023 – and we’ll have more on that in December," teased developer Larian Studios. 

"Acts 2 and 3 of the story are being actively playtested to ensure they’re up to the same level of polish and you’ll soon discover that there’s much more in the works (or already complete) than what you’ll encounter in an Early Access playthrough. Our goal is for even the players who have repeated Act 1 over and over again for hundreds of hours to feel like there’s a whole new experience in store for them at launch.

"It takes time to tell a great story, implement feedback, and iterate on such a large game, so we want to thank you for your patience as we get closer to Patch 9."

We also found out a little more about Larian's motion capture process, with the team inviting your comments on what to call this new snazzy "dance move":

As for why the team decided to release it as an early access title in the first place?

“Through releasing Divinity: Original Sin and Divinity: Original Sin 2, we’ve learned that working directly with our players during development makes our games better," Larian explains on the Steam storefront. "RPGs this large, with so many avenues for player choice and exploration, thrive from feedback as new features and fixes are incrementally added to the game.

Early Access gives players a chance to participate in development, and it gives us an opportunity to explore different game ideas with a live community to find what works best. We want to learn how you play the game and use that to make it a better experience for everyone."

If you're tempted to pick up the game ahead of its release, Larian says approximately a third of the game is available in the early access build, and "is a relatively stable experience with many hours of content". 

While you wait, here's our list of the best RPG games.

Vikki Blake
Weekend Reporter, GamesRadar+

Vikki Blake is GamesRadar+'s Weekend Reporter. Vikki works tirelessly to ensure that you have something to read on the days of the week beginning with 'S', and can also be found contributing to outlets including the BBC, Eurogamer, and GameIndustry.biz. Vikki also runs a weekly games column at NME, and can be frequently found talking about Destiny 2 and Silent Hill on Twitter.