In a surprise update, Larian says it has "probably this time really maybe" fixed Baldur's Gate 3's notorious character portrait bug which somehow survived 32 previous hotfixes

Patch 8 has been out for a few months, and Baldur's Gate 3 fans have noted that the infamous portrait bug that has plagued the game since its 2023 release was never squashed – until now, that is (hopefully, anyway).

A few months back, the long-awaited Patch 8 arrived and brought everything to Baldur's Gate 3, from cross-play to 12 new subclasses, such as the Circle of Stars Druid – but it never fixed the bug that transforms Tavs' and their parties' portraits into what fans hilariously had dubbed "Zoom call" shots. Today's hotfix (or "room temperature fix," as Larian Studios jokingly calls it in the official patch notes), standing as the game's 33rd, is here to save the day, though.

While it addresses various problems, from a plethora of potential crash-inducing things to UI "jitteriness" and other such bugs, it more notably targets the issue that no other hotfix has yet successfully managed to overcome: the strange, soulless portraits that companions randomly don. "Fixed, probably this time really maybe, the weird character portraits," read Larian's notes on Hotfix #33 – and as funny as I always found the bug, I'm honestly relieved.

I may never see another stone-cold, hard stare into the abyss from Shadowheart, but I'd say it's likely better that way. Alternatively, if the fix proves to be like Larian's past attempts, I might gaze into her mindless eyes again. Either way, it's not the only improvement of note – another silly highlight is that "the Gloves of Power no longer get all stretchy-looking when worn by male dwarves who have the Chain Shirt +1 equipped."

As for the future of Baldur's Gate 3 with Patch 8 out, Larian is cooking up its own "two very ambitious RPGs" now, with one of the mysterious projects having been codenamed Excalibur – potentially pointing to an Arthurian game of sorts. Dungeons & Dragons stans don't need to worry, however, as Hasbro is also "talking to lots of partners" about the next Baldur's Gate game already and is working on a separate new D&D game, too.

Baldur's Gate 3 dev says players with over 60 hours in the RPG "are just scraping average," so it's time to get those rookie numbers up – but with nearly 2,000 hours myself, I'm not sure how to feel.