Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - Latest News Community Update #18: Baldur's Date

Hello and howdy, dear readers!
What’s it called when the long-awaited third installment in a beloved RPG series finally gets a proper release day announcement? That’s Baldur’s Date. 😌

Baldur’s Gate 3 releases on August 31, 2023 for PC, Mac, and PS5.

Earlier today we unveiled a brand new gameplay and story trailer during Sony’s State of Play livestream. Fret not, our PC-focused friends, as you will still want to see this trailer:



Meet General Ketheric Thorm, a seemingly invincible necromancer leading an army of the dead towards the city of Baldur’s Gate. Ketheric isn’t the antagonist, but one of three main antagonists that your party will need to contend with if you ever want to get those tadpoles out of your head (maybe even if you decide you don’t 😏).

Ketheric’s plans for the people of Faerûn are as complex as his motivations, and so we knew his role would benefit from the kind of depth and gravitas that renowned character actor J.K. Simmons could provide. One take at the recording booth and we knew we’d made the right call. Take a look behind the scenes:



We’ll introduce you to two more antagonists over the coming months, so keep an eye out (but close them if someone approaches with anything… wiggly).



Those of you who prefer to navigate the world using analogue sticks and buttons may have caught a glimpse at what full controller support for Baldur’s Gate 3 will look like for launch. With split-screen co-op, too, you’ll be able to experience the entirety of your adventures in Faerûn with another player on the same device!



Baldur’s Gate 3 will also support cross-progression between PC, Mac and PS5, allowing you to transfer your saves between platforms and continue your adventure wherever you purchase the game. Personally, we’ll be taking our experience on the road with the Steam Deck, and then venturing home to enjoy the cinematic experience of interrupting an ogre’s horizontal tango from the comfort of our sofa. Don’t forget the popcorn!



There’s more: Baldur’s Gate 3 is getting a Digital Deluxe Edition on launch. Here’s what you can expect to find within:

• Divinity Bard Song Pack - Astound audiences by performing this special set of new songs from the Divinity series
• Paintings from Rivellon - Discover a new collection of paintings across the Forgotten Realms
• Adventurer's Pouch - Receive a collection of camp supplies and potions to help get your journey started
• Digital OST - Enjoy the music of Baldur's Gate 3 from composer Borislav Slavov
• Digital Artbook - Explore the art and design of Baldur's Gate 3 in this digital artbook, written by Larian
• Digital Character Sheets - Peruse a set of four-page D&D character sheets for each Baldur's Gate 3 origin character

Bring a little bit of Rivellon to the Forgotten Realms with these Divinity-inspired artefacts:

• Mask of the Shapeshifter: Allows you to change race and appearance on the fly, inspired by Fane
• Cape of the Red Prince: Cloak inspired by the Red Prince
• Lute of the Merryweather Bard: Playable instrument inspired by Lohse
• Needle of the Outlaw Rogue: Dagger inspired by Sebille
• Bicorne of the Sea Beast: Headgear inspired by Beast

We’ll have more to share later, but here’s a little peek at the Mask of the Shapeshifter in-game. No faces were ripped in the creation of this mask! (Technology really has come a long way since DOS2.)



Do you already own Baldur’s Gate 3 on PC and Mac? Are you planning to purchase it in Early Access before launch? You’re going to get a free upgrade to the Digital Deluxe edition on launch day! Same goes for owners of our Collector’s Edition (available to pre-order via our website for both PC & PS5 while stocks last!) – here’s a reminder of all that’s inside:



Filled with tangible treasures we’re sure you’re going to love, and now it comes with the Digital Deluxe Edition – so even more value in that rather large box. If you want the full run-down of what you’re going to get with each edition, check out this handy chart.



With today’s news, we’re just over 6 months away from Baldur’s Gate 3’s release day. It's been quite the journey so far, and we still have plenty of surprises to talk about before we get there. Including [Redacted], [Redacted] being able to [Redacted] into a [Redacted]. Wow, it feels good to say those ones out loud, they’ve really been eating away at us!

A note on Minimum System Requirements
One last thing: Baldur's Gate 3's graphical fidelity and complexity has improved quite a bit as it's grown throughout Early Access. We've been keeping an eye on its minimum system requirements, and as the game nears release we've raised the minimum system requirements listed on Steam to better reflect the realities of the launch version.

Baldur's Gate 3 may be playable on systems below these minimum suggested specifications, but we believe this may hinder the player experience. Check our store page for the latest specs.

That's all from us, until next time!

Is there going to be an Xbox version? Is the PS5 console exclusivity timed or permanent?

//Edit:
BTW come on ... you just have to tell us what is this.
Another UI change? Console version? Something entirely different?

A lot of this trailer was console UI, so that would be my guess. I was a trailer for the PlayStation State of Play event, so it follows.

Indeed, those buttons are hard to read but it seems like square for back and L2 for ... dunno, somethng that is on left side.

Now i feel a little calmer. :3

Yay! Can’t wait for Aug 31st!

Was very cool to read that, until Rivellon and DoS inspired content for digital deluxe edition 🤦

I really wasn’t expecting to meet Ketheric! I guess this means he’s probably “The General” who we’re hoping to find at Moonrise Towers, and the other two antagonists mentioned are the Absolute’s other two chosen?

Lots of other interesting nuggets in the new vids, though the thing that’s got me most intrigued is who is shouting “Undergarments!” at 44 secs into the Release Date trailer, and why?!

PS I’m so happy about the digital art book! Especially as I won’t have to pay extra for it .

Yay! My PC barely meets specs lol!

So four pages of origin character sheets? Humm so two per page would mean 8 origin characters…

so....Mac owners too???

Oh...hello...





Complete with spear, and Selunite armor, this lady looks like a mirror of Shadowheart.

Yes! Will edit for clarity

so...is there ps5 to pc crossplay?

For me, that would be a “four-page set of D&D character sheets” whereas the announcement says “a set of four-page D&D character sheets” which sounds to me as though each character sheet is four pages long.

Could i ask please if the collectors edition dice digital download will come as a seprate steam key to the game code?
I want to give the copy of Baldur's gate 3 away that comes with the collectors edition as I already have a copy, but id like to keep all the DLC.

A lot of potentially interesting stuff. I'm still going to try not to invest myself too much in the game anymore until full release.
Seeing the displacer beast was exciting though. And I hope the revamped Character Creation isn't just for console 🙂

I also like the new art cover :

(Astarion's right arm looks a bit weird though, or is it just me?)

A "minor" concern :
In the trailer, Astarion's hair is still bright white, so maybe a definite change 😐?
I still hope the colors in the CC will be fixed (less neon-like and homogeneous lightning throughout the playthrough).
Hard to tell with the trailer what's the current state since they have mostly used "safe" colors.

It looked fine until you said that and made me think about it! But now you’ve pointed it out, because his elbow (I think) vanishes into the clouds, which themselves have a vaguely elbow-shaped dip, it does look a bit as though his right arm bends at the point we can see it and therefore is much shorter than the other.

Other than that, which I now can’t unsee, it looks very lovely!

And what's with all the freckles on Shadowbae? Some of those look raised and irregular, its not a good combination.

Oops, my bad 😅

@Blackheifer : it's blood I think 🙂 not freckles.