There was a significant commotion when the Xbox version of Baldur’s Gate 3 was conspicuously absent. Fans speculated that Sony may have secured an exclusivity agreement, despite Larian’s earlier promise that there would be no exclusives.
However, the team quickly clarified the true reason for the Xbox version’s absence. The culprit is the Xbox Series S console, which is posing considerable challenges in delivering the split-screen co-op feature. As you are aware, Microsoft requires feature parity between Xbox Series S and X, which means that the Xbox Series X release of Baldur’s Gate 3 is now being delayed until this problem is resolved.
There is no guarantee that the issue will be resolved. After all, even 343 Industries decided to remove the previously announced split-screen co-op feature from Halo Infinite (though the community has since found a workaround for that). Nevertheless, Larian remains steadfast in considering this feature crucial, as confirmed by CEO Swen Vincke a few weeks ago.
A few hours ago, Michael Douse, Larian’s Director of Publishing, provided an update on the optimization progress and hinted that the Xbox release of Baldur’s Gate 3 may not happen before 2024.
Contrary to any impression of exclusivity, we have not entered into any agreements that prevent us from launching on Xbox. The issue at hand is a technical obstacle. We are unable to remove the split-screen feature due to our obligation to maintain feature parity, and thus we continue to make efforts to address it.
We have a dedicated team of engineers working diligently to achieve what no other RPG of this magnitude has accomplished: seamless drop-in, drop-out co-op on the Series S. We anticipate providing an update by the end of this year.
Baldur’s Gate 3 will be launching on PC this Thursday after almost three years in Steam Early Access. The PS5 version will become available on September 6th. As confirmed in the recently published exclusive interview with Wccftech, both versions will support cross-saving, and the possibility of cross-play for co-op gameplay will be explored after the release.
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