Last week, Larian Studios found itself in a spot of controversy after announcing Baldur's Gate 3 for PS5 and skipping over other platforms. Pretty quickly, Larian co-founder, Swen Vincke, stated that there was no exclusivity deal in place, and now, the studio has explained its position further. Baldur's Gate 3 for Xbox does exist, but there are technical issues delaying the release and announcement. 

Larian typically hasn't engaged with console exclusives. Its other RPGs, like Divinity: Original Sin, have released across all major platforms. Following on from last week's PlayStation announcement for Baldur's Gate 3, Larian co-founder, Swen Vincke, spoke out against rumours of a PS5 exclusivity deal, saying that the studio “isn't playing the exclusivity game”.

Now, Larian has backed that up with a more substantial statement. The studio confirms that while Baldur's Gate 3 is in development for Xbox consoles, the team has “run into some technical issues”. Specifically, the team is struggling to get split-screen co-op working on both Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S.

Interestingly, Microsoft's own first-party studio, 343 Industries, had to scrap split-screen co-op plans for Halo Infinite last year due to technical issues as well. This seems to indicate that developers are indeed struggling to dial games down for the weaker Series S console.

Larian goes on to say that there is “no platform exclusivity” preventing them from shipping Baldur's Gate 3 on Xbox at the same time as other platforms. However, the team needs more time with the Xbox version before announcing any dates.

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KitGuru Says: The announcement of Baldur's Gate 3 for PS5 didn't contain the usual telltale signs of a timed exclusive. Hopefully whatever technical issues are in place currently can be worked out, even if the Xbox version does have to be delayed. 

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