Baldur’s Gate III might not come to Xbox until 2024

While both the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X share many similarities when it comes to hardware specs, Microsoft’s creation of the lesser-powered Series S has caused some headaches for a number of developers. One prime example can be seen with Baldur’s Gate III. Due to Xbox’s console feature parity requirements, the much-anticipated RPG might not come to Microsoft’s consoles until 2024.

Baldur’s Gate III is one of the most anticipated RPGs of 2023, with the Larian Studios-developed title set to leave its PC Early Access period on the 3rd of August. Just one month later on the 6th of September, the game will be headed to PlayStation 5 (launching on the 6th of September).

Unfortunately, the state of Baldur’s Gate III on Xbox is less clear, with Larian Studios struggling to get the game’s split-screen co-op to work correctly on the lesser powered Series S – preventing it from being released on either Xbox Series variant.

While we still do not know when to expect the Xbox version to come out, Larian Studios’ director of publishing – Michael Douse – implied that Xbox fans might not see the game until 2024, saying “We have quite a few engineers working very hard to do what no other RPG of this scale has achieved: seamless drop-in, drop-out co-op on Series S. We hope to have an update by the end of the year.”

In stating that they hope to have an ‘update’ by the end of 2023, Larian Studios have all but confirmed that Baldur’s Gate III will not make it to Xbox this year. 

For the uninitiated, Microsoft requires all games developed for the Xbox Series X and S to have feature parity with one another. What this means is that while Series S games are allowed to run at lower framerates with reduced resolutions and such when compared to the Series X, any actual gameplay features must be equal on both consoles.

Larian’s current struggles with getting split-screen co-op to work on the Series S is holding back the Series X version of Baldur’s Gate III. While it is unfortunate to see that Xbox owners will have to wait quite a while to play the much-anticipated title, Larian Studios’ ongoing and open communication regarding the issue is welcome to see. Hopefully the Xbox version isn't too far away.

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KitGuru says: Are you excited for Baldur’s Gate III? What do you think of Microsoft’s Xbox parity requirements? Is the Series S holding back this generation of consoles? Let us know down below.

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