Baldur's Gate 3 Xbox Series Version Confirmed for 2023 Release Window

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Baldur’s Gate 3 is easily one of the notable game releases of the year so far, but until recently it was only confirmed for two platforms: PC and PS5. Larian Studios held off on saying exactly when the game would arrive on Xbox consoles, if it would at all.

Now Larian has broken its silence, confirming that the Xbox version of Baldur’s Gate 3 will arrive sometime in 2023. Larian Studios CEO Swen Vincke made the announcement via his official Twitter/X account.

Super happy to confirm that after meeting @XboxP3 yesterday, we’ve found a solution that allows us to bring Baldur’s Gate 3 to Xbox players this year still, something we’ve been working towards for quite some time.

— Swen Vincke @where? (@LarAtLarian) August 24, 2023

In the tweet, Vincke confirmed that he had met with Xbox head Phil Spencer, and “found a solution” that would allow Larian to finish work on the Xbox Series X|S version of Baldur’s Gate 3 and release it this year.

Prior to Baldur’s Gate 3‘s PC release date on August 3, Larian had previously held off on confirming a release window for the Xbox version, citing additional work that needed doing before it could be made ready to play on those platforms.

At the same time, Larian readily confirmed that the PlayStation 5 version of the game would be available by September 6, 2023.

What’s Going On With Baldur’s Gate 3 on Xbox?

According to Larian at the time Baldur’s Gate 3 was not yet ready for a release on Xbox Series X and S. However, a follow-up tweet by Vincke stated that all the improvements Larian wished to make for the Xbox version of the game would be present on Xbox Series X.

These include interface adjustments for gamepad play, technical optimizations to take advantage of the Xbox Series consoles’ fast SSD storage, and cloud save compatibility between Steam and Xbox Series.

However, one key difference between the Xbox Series X and S versions lies in support for split-screen cooperative play. While the Xbox Series X version of the game will allow two players on the same console to play a campaign together via split-screen, the feature is not available on Xbox Series S.

It may have to do with the Xbox Series S’ hardware limitations. Though less expensive, the Series S is a less capable device, whereas the Series X matches the PS5 and relatively high-end PCs in performance.

All improvements will be there, with split-screen coop on Series X. Series S will not feature split-screen coop, but will also include cross-save progression between Steam and Xbox Series.

— Swen Vincke @where? (@LarAtLarian) August 24, 2023

That said, Xbox Series S owners will benefit from the rest of the improvements Larian made to the game aside from split-screen co-op.

And thanks to the game’s cloud save support, they’ll be able to continue playing the same campaign if and when they decide to upgrade to a Series X console, or even pick up the game on PC.

Baldur’s Gate 3 is available on PC, and will launch on the PS5 on September 6, 2023. The Xbox Series X|S version will launch sometime in 2023.

Baldur’s Gate 3 Xbox Series Version Confirmed for 2023 Release Window

What’s Going On With Baldur’s Gate 3 on Xbox?

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