Larian Studios’ upcoming RPG Baldur’s Gate 3 will enter early access on September 30, following a recent delay that pushed it out of its planned August launch window.
The studio announced the new date in Tuesday’s Panel From Hell livestream. The game will launch on both PC via Steam and Google Stadia.
Larian Studios placed a caveat on the release date. Larian CEO Swen Vincke admitted that the studio is currently optimizing the game to keep its minimum specs lower. Vincke said that the process could lead to another delay, but added, “it’s looking OK, and I’m an optimist by nature and I hope that everything’s gonna work out.”
The game was originally slated for an early access release this month, but the studio pushed the game back on August 4. Larian previously noted that remote production due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic slowed down the game’s development.
The early access build includes the game’s first act and will allow players to hit level four. Six character classes will be available at launch, with more to be announced throughout early access. Split-screen multiplayer will not be available at launch.
The game’s Steam page says that the build will include “approximately 25 hours of self-contained content.”
Larian cited the successful early access launch for Divinity: Original Sin 2 as part of its decision. Vincke says that the studio hopes to get the same positive community feedback out of Baldur’s Gate 3 launch.
In addition to the release plan, the stream showed off plenty of new footage and details from the game. Vincke gleefully revealed a new cinematic that involved a creepy lobotomy. A short gameplay clip showed off a cantrip which allows level one rangers to summon familiars. In the demo, the player controls a spider, using it to attack enemies. Crabs, cats, and ravens were cited as other possible summons.
No official release window was given for the full game, but Vincke says it won’t be anytime soon: “We’re going to go into early access and we intend to stay there for a while as we improve everything our community doesn’t like about it.”
