Players are still getting lots of mileage out of 2023’s Game of the Year. And while a series of updates adding dialogue options, expanding story pathways, and improving the game’s performance gave them plenty of reason to return to the Forgotten Realms, it’s the game’s most recent update that has proved the true staying power of Larian Studios’ instant classic.
In early September, PC and console versions of Baldur’s Gate 3 received in-game mod support via the game’s most ambitious free update to date. And in under two months, players have downloaded over 50 million mods, according to the Belgian developer. It’s an impressive number that proves players are still infatuated with the game a year and change after release.
“Apparently 10,000 of those downloads were you renaming Withers to ‘Bone Daddy,”’ an X post from the developer said. “So, uh, glad we could facilitate that.”
Mod support has always been one of the joys of PC gaming. The ability to alter one’s game, whether to freshen up the experience for another playthrough or rename a fan-favorite character just for the laughs, has long extended the life of older games. In recent years developers like Larian and Bethesda Games Studios have integrated that support for console players, who can’t access community work on popular sites like Nexus Mods.
As of early October, more than 2,000 mods have been made available through the developer’s official tools. Some of the most popular mods on consoles so far include increasing the size of your active party, improved UI and HUD, new hairstyles, clothes, and even new playable classes.
Larian estimates that over 40 percent of players are playing with mods across all platforms. If you’re looking to get started, check out some of Inverse’s favorites so far.
While Patch 7 is likely the only update Baldur’s Gate 3 ever needed to live on forever, Larian has already confirmed that it won’t be the game’s last.
“We’ve still got a few more patches up our sleeve for Baldur’s Gate 3 — which will include both crossplay and photo mode, alongside other fixes and updates,” the developer wrote in a blog post about the recent update.
If you’ve been somehow living under a rock and aren’t aware of Baldur’s Gate 3, the isometric RPG is a sequel 23 years in the making. It’s a sequel to Bioware’s seminal RPGs based on Dungeons and Dragons lore and sits comfortably as one of the best video games ever made. Despite its success, Larian has already announced that once its support for the game comes to an end, it’s moving on from the franchise entirely.
