08 December 2023 , 04:22
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Larian Studios has finally confirmed the Baldur's Gate 3 Xbox release date, with the game surprise launching onto the Xbox Series X|S today.
Baldur's Gate 3 was the big winner at The Game Awards tonight, with the game picking up the awards for Best Performance (for Neil Newbon as Astarion), Best Community Support, Player's Voice, Best RPG, Best Multiplayer, and finally, Game of the Year. However, it's also about to win a new batch of fans as the Xbox Series X|S version of the game was finally confirmed after months of delays. After the show finished and Larian Studios accepted its award for Game of the Year, the game appeared on the Xbox Store. It's out right now.
Larian Studios said back in February that Baldur's Gate 3's Xbox release date was being held back by the Xbox Series S, before coming to an agreement with Microsoft at Gamescom. This agreement meant that Baldur's Gate 3 would be allowed to break the parity clause on Xbox Series X|S, which stipulates that games must be feature-complete on both versions of the current-gen Xbox. However, in order for the game to arrive in 2023, split-screen co-op will be unavailable for the Xbox Series S at launch. Larian later confirmed that the Baldur's Gate 3 Xbox release date would be announced at The Game Awards – which didn't actually happen. There was no announcement, but the Baldur's Gate 3 Xbox Store page still appeared without any fanfare.
Gate of the year
It was always going to be Baldur's Gate 3. It speaks volumes that in a year with so many phenomenal games, like Alan Wake 2, Super Mario Bros. Wonder, and Street Fighter 6 that there was such an obvious frontrunner. Even The Legend Of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, which received overwhelming critical acclaim, was no match for Baldur's Gate 3.
It's funny to think that Larian changed the release date of Baldur's Gate 3 to avoid clashing with the launch of Starfield (via IGN) only for Bethesda's latest to pick up one nomination and zero wins, instead seeing Baldur's Gate 3 dominate the competition. Even if it wasn't quite as dominant as expected, with Alan Wake 2 picking up the second-most lucrative prize of the night for Best Game Direction (which shouldn't be a shock since Alan Wake 2 has phenomenal direction, but beating Baldur's Gate 3 was surprising).
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Regardless, Xbox players who were burned by Starfield, or simply want to see what all the hype is about are in luck. Because while the Baldur's Gate 3 Xbox release date wasn't announced, we got one better, because it's out right now.