Explore the Forgotten Realms and work with others to save the land, kick squirrels, or get together with bears. Here are the details for Baldur's Gate 3, including its release date, gameplay, and story

Baldur's Gate 3 Release Date: August 3 on PC, September 6 on PS5, 2023 on Xbox Series X|S.

Baldur's Gate 3 comes out on August 3, 2023. It will be available on PC via Steam, GOG, and GeForce Now. The PlayStation 5 release, on the other hand, will come out on September 6, 2023. Originally, the game would come out on all platforms on August 31, 2023. However, following an announcement last month, the release date of the game was both delayed and advanced. The Xbox Series X|S version of the game is also confirmed for a December 2023 release date.

Although the PC version of the game didn't have a preload of sorts, the PS5 version of the game will have one. Larian Studios recently announced the PS5 version's preload dates. We say dates because there are two PS5 preload dates depending on which version the player preordered.

Players who ordered the Standard Edition can preload their game starting September 4, 2023. Those who ordered the Digital Deluxe Edition, on the other hand, were able to preload their game last August 31, 2023. This is because the players who ordered the Digital Deluxe Edition of the game have 72-hour Early Access to the game's Act 1. The Early Access period started on September 2, 2023. If that seems like too much time for the game's first Act, it's rot. It's actually quite possible for players to spend their whole Early Access period in Act 1.

Although the Xbox version of the game will be available this year, there is a catch. The Series S version of the game will not have split-screen coop. The Series X version will still have the feature. Both versions of the game will have all of the updates, as well as cross-platform progression between Steam and Xbox. Additionally, players can now preorder the Physical Deluxe edition of the game. This edition includes physical copies of the game, as well as various other physical goodies, as well as in-game ones. The Physical Deluxe Edition is priced at $79.99, and will ship in Q1 2024.

Baldur's Gate 3 gameplay

The game is a turn-based role-playing game heavily inspired, if not entirely based on, the Dungeons and Dragons (D&D) 5th Edition. Players create a character using a race and class from D&D, and must then travel the Forgotten Realms to forge their story. Players can create multiple characters and form a party with computer-generated characters to progress in the story. Additionally, players can also team up with others to play the game in co-op multiplayer.

As mentioned above, the game primarily uses mechanics from the 5th Edition of D&D. This includes the well-known D20, a twenty-sided dice that will predict most, if not all, of the events happening in the game. This ranges from random encounters to the combat itself. Players who have tried D&D before should be familiar with the mechanics but for those who are not, we shall give a quick rundown.

For random encounters, the game will decide what kind of roll they will need, ranging from skill rolls like acrobatics, to stat save rolls like Dexterity saves. The player must then roll the D20, add bonuses to their roll, and compare that to the requirement set by the game. It should be equal to or greater than the roll to succeed. This will happen quite a bit in the game, as the player will no doubt encounter a lot of situations that will require dice rolls.

For combat, on the other hand, the same thing happens. Players must roll the D20, add their bonuses to the roll, and hope that the number they get is greater than or equal to the Armor Class, or AC, of the enemy. The same goes for enemies. Thankfully, the game streamlines this process for you. All players have to do is input their combat commands, and the game will automatically compute if your attack hits or not. This makes the flow of combat go much smoother, as you won't have to constantly roll the dice.

Going back to the random encounters, a lot of the game's plot is similar to other open-world games. Players can choose specific dialogue options when talking with NPCs and enemies. This will change your relationship with them, as well as open or close various paths and routes. This adds to the game's replayability, as each playthrough will definitely be different from the ones before.

Baldur's Gate 3 story

The game's story takes place over 120 years after the events of Baldur's Gate 2: Shadows of Amn. The player's character gets captured by mind flayers, monsters with psionic powers. They planned to turn the player's character, as well as other creatures, into fellow mind flayers. However, after a group of warriors attack the ship the player is on, the player and the other possible hosts find themselves freed, and crashland the ship into the land of Faerun. Free from their would-be captors, the player must now find a way to remove a parasite the mind flayers have planted into their heads, as well as protect Faerun from the invasion of the mind flayers.

Again, the game comes out on September 6, 2023. Preload for standard edition owners will start tomorrow, at September 4, 2023. Check out our gaming news articles for the latest in gaming news.