Baldur's Gate 3 launch live blog

Four years after its announcement, three years after its early access launch, and nearly a quarter of a century after the series began, Baldur's Gate 3 is almost upon us. Kicking off an astounding RPG double-header alongside Starfield, it's the product of developer Larian's years of expertise as perhaps the final remaining guardians of the fantasy CRPG formula.

If you've played any of the game's early access over the past three years, you'll know just how big Baldur's Gate 3 is. But if you haven't, suffice to say that with dozens of potential characters, hundreds of hours of gameplay, and thousands of potential endings, this is a monumental game. Our Baldur's Gate 3 review in progress will be published later this week, but just one playthrough barely scratches the surface of everything this game has to offer.

Which brings us to this blog. Baldur's Gate 3 promises to be so massive that it's likely to be weeks before all of its secrets have been uncovered. It would be impossible to share every interesting detail, but as the community starts to get its teeth into the game over the weekend, we'll be sharing some of their most exciting discoveries, as well as our own perspectives on the game. It'll be live throughout launch week, so keep checking back for more.

First things first, logistics. The Baldur's Gate 3 release times confirm exactly when you'll be able to start downloading the game - unfortunately, due to the game's existence in early access, there is no Baldur's Gate 3 pre-load. That's bad news for people with slow internet, and… still bad news for people with fast internet, because it means a longer wait.

Also, a reminder that the Baldur's Gate 3 release date occurring this week is only for PC - a PS5 version is on its way on September 6. Sadly, there's nothing concrete on an Xbox release just yet - Larian has said it's working on a port, but it won't be ready for the other launches.

Still, whether you're diving straight into the download or waiting for a console release, you can get prepping. Long-time fans have been busy helping out, making their own character creators, offering crash courses on D&D-style combat, and pointing out the things that early access players might have missed. All that community help should make the wait slightly easier.

Something that won't be easy, however, is the fact that Baldur's Gate 3 is about to wipe all your early access saves, and make any mods you've got installed incompatible with the game. So you might want to work on that before launch, too.