RPGs come in a variety of shapes and styles, and one of the most robust renditions of the genre is the CRPG (computer role-playing game). Due to their complexity, these games usually require the precise control schemes and expanded input options you can only get on computers (hence the on-the-nose genre name). However, developers have gotten much better at translating CRPGs over to consoles, which allows many games that previously would have been PC exclusives to jump to more platforms. Baldur’s Gate 3 is one such upcoming title.
Baldur’s Gate 3 is the latest CRPG by Larian Studios, the company behind the Divinity series. As you can probably guess by the title, Baldur’s Gate 3 is the sequel to Baldur’s Gate 2, which is one of the greatest RPGs of all time. Given Larian’s pedigree (and what everyone has experienced so far), Baldur’s Gate 3 is being widely hailed as a must-play RPG. Baldur’s Gate 3 will launch for PC on August 3, and while plenty of gamers are waiting for the title with bated breath, many are also wondering if the game will ever be available for consoles. After all, Divinity: Original Sin 2 didn’t see a console port until two years after its debut, and the rest of the Baldur’s Gate franchise took even longer than that to come to consoles.
Well, the good news is that console players will eventually be able to enjoy Baldur’s Gate 3. The bad news is that “eventually” could be quite a while for some.
Currently, you can pre-order the Steam, GOG, physical collector’s edition, and PlayStation 5 versions of Baldur’s Gate 3 from the official Baldur’s Gate 3 site, which confirms the game will launch on at least one home console. However, only the Steam and GOG versions will launch on August 3. The PlayStation 5 port won’t be ready until September 2 (barring unforeseen delays, that is). While the release date for the PC version of Baldur’s Gate 3 was recently bumped up, the release date for the PS5 port has not been moved as of the time of this writing.
Of course, that information still leaves potential Xbox Series X/S and Nintendo Switch versions of the game unaccounted for. Well, Larian Studios actually talked about an Xbox version of Baldur’s Gate 3way back in February…but not in very optimistic terms. Shortly after Sony’s first State of Play of 2023, a Larian representative told IGN that an Xbox Series X/S version was definitely in the works, but it was currently suffering from technical issues.
Apparently, Larian’s coders couldn’t quite get split-screen co-op to work on Xbox consoles, and until they did, the company wouldn’t make any official release announcements for the Xbox version of the game. Admittedly, that was almost half a year ago, but since Larian still hasn’t provided a release window for Baldur’s Gate 3 on Microsoft’s miniature monolith, odds are Larian Studios is still working through technical issues. There is some hope that the Xbox version of the game will be available before the end of the year, but there is no official word regarding even an estimated release date at this time.
What about Game Pass? As of the time of this writing, Baldur’s Gate 3 is not coming to Xbox Game Pass. At the very least, there has been no indication that there are any plans to bring the game to Game Pass, and the Xbox team usually makes a big deal out of any new releases that will be available on day one via the subscription service. If Baldur’s Gate 3 ever does come to Game Pass, it will likely not be when the game is officially launched for the hardware.
As for a Nintendo Switch port of Baldur’s Gate 3, Larian Studios has been largely silent on the subject. While Baldur’s Gate 1 and 2, as well as Divinity: Original Sin 2, were eventually ported to Nintendo’s hybrid handheld, that by no means guarantees Baldur’s Gate 3 will be available via the hardware as well. After all, Baldur’s Gate 3 will likely be one of the biggest RPGs ever made, which means that porting it to the Switch would require a historically impressive, cloud technology-fuelled endeavor. Fingers crossed, though.
While Baldur’s Gate 3 has technically been available on PC since 2020, gamers have only been able to play the incomplete early-access version. The road to release has been long, but it’s almost over. Console players will have to wait a little longer (or a lot longer, depending on the Xbox version’s technical issues), but the wait will be well worth it.