Developers have reassured fans that Baldur's Gate 3 is still coming to Xbox, but that Larian Studios has certain technical challenges it needs to overcome first.
"Our ambition is definitely to get it ready for this year", said Larian Studios head Swen Vincke, but the fact remains that the studio is struggling to get Baldur's Gate 3 to run on Xbox Series S (via IGN). As such, there is currently no concrete release date for Xbox versions of the game.
Larian has been struggling to get Baldur's Gate 3's split-screen co-op feature running smoothly on the Xbox Series S. Despite the feature working as intended on Xbox Series X, Microsoft policy demands that Xbox Series X versions of their games cannot have any features that Xbox Series S editions lack. This means that canning the feature on Series S simply isn't an option for Larian.
Speaking on the issue, Vinke stated: “It's not that we planned this. Our plan was that we wanted to have a simultaneous release. But we've been on this game for a long time. It's a really big game. The amount of things you can do in it is insane. I think people will be surprised when they see everything. There are constraints we have to overcome, so we just work on them. Some take more time.”
The Larian chief did float the idea of "compromises", too, but made it clear that "we're trying to be very limited in the compromises we have to make [for the Xbox Series S version.] That's one of the reasons why we're taking more time also."
That said, Xbox owners aren't alone in having to wait a little longer to get their hands on the game. Though Baldur's Gate 3 recently got an earlier release date and is set to release on August 3 for PC, PS5 players will need to wait until September 6.
Baldur's Gate 3's early access launch, alongside developer Larian's pedigree, has some suggesting it could be one of the best RPGs of recent years, and may even earn a spot on our list of the best co-op games. However, it would be a shame to see game features paired back so as to meet Microsoft's demands for parity across both its Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S versions.
If you're looking for something to play in the meantime, Amazon Prime Day 2023 is almost upon us, offering a range of gaming deals for savvy customers.
