Update: Larian Studios has published a statement which was sent to PSU and further clarifies that what is keeping Baldur’s Gate 3 from releasing on Xbox consoles is a technical issue involving split-screen co-op not working properly on the Microsoft platform.
More specifically the issue is that Larian Studios is struggling to get split-screen co-op running “to the same standard on both Xbox Series X and S, which is a requirement for us to ship.”
That sounds like the issue might be the Xbox Series S console, Microsoft’s cheaper option into current gen. If the less-powerful Series S isn’t capable of properly running Baldur’s Gate 3 to Larian Studios standards, then it might be the case that it doesn’t release on Xbox at all.
You can see the full statement from Larian Studios here:
Following yesterday’s PS5 and release date announcement, we’ve clarified that right now, we’re planning to release Baldur’s Gate 3 for PC, Mac, GeForce NOW and PS5. That said, we have no exclusivity for which platforms we can bring BG3 to, or when, and will announce support for additional platforms if and when we’re ready.
We’re seeing a lot of varied interpretations of what that means, so we wanted to clarify further. We’ve had an Xbox version of Baldur’s Gate 3 in development for some time now. We’ve run into some technical issues in developing the Xbox port that have stopped us feeling 100% confident in announcing it until we’re certain we’ve found the right solutions – specifically, we’ve been unable to get splitscreen co-op to work to the same standard on both Xbox Series X and S, which is a requirement for us to ship.
There’s no platform exclusivity preventing us from releasing BG3 on Xbox day and date, should that be a technical possibility. If and when we do announce further platforms, we want to make sure each version lives up to our standards & expectations.”
– Larian Studios
Original Story:
Larian Studios is able to bring Baldur’s Gate 3 to other formats besides PS5 if it wants to, with Sony having no exclusivity rights to the upcoming RPG despite an Xbox Series X/S version having not been announced yet.
The highly anticipated sequel was announced during Sony’s latest State of Play event yesterday evening, although aside from PS5 there’s no other console version planned. This resulted in speculation that Sony had exclusivity rights to the game, but that isn’t the case.
A statement provided to Push Square reads:
Right now Larian is planning to release Baldur’s Gate 3 for PC, Mac, GeForce NOW, and PS5. That said, they don’t have exclusivity and will announce support for additional platforms if and when they’re ready.
Baldur’s Gate 3 is scheduled for release on August 31, 2023 for PS5, PC and Mac. The game’s Collector’s Edition will feature a bunch of extra goodies including 72 hours early access to Baldur’s Gate 3, plus various digital and physical swag.
Elsewhere, Larian Studios has confirmed that Baldur’s Gate 3 will feature Cross-Save Progression and DualSense support, although hasn’t gone into detail on the latter yet.
[Source – Push Square]