Larian Studios has provided an update on the Xbox version of its RPG, Baldur"s Gate 3. In a tweet, studio CEO Swen Vincke said the Xbox version remains on schedule for a release before the end of 2023.
Swen Vincke stated that the Xbox version is currently in active playtesting. While an exact release date has yet to be announced, Larian is confident Baldur"s Gate 3 will launch on Xbox Series X|S consoles before the end of the year.
Latest on the Xbox - being actively playtested, still on schedule for this year. We"ll announce the exact release date when we"re sure it"s done.
— Swen Vincke @where? (@LarAtLarian) October 31, 2023
This update comes after the developer previously estimated that the Xbox launch window would fall between September and November. Technical hurdles with implementing split-screen co-op on the less powerful Xbox Series S had threatened to delay the port beyond 2023.
"Super happy to confirm that after meeting [Phil Spencer] yesterday," said Vincke in a tweet in August. "We"ve found a solution that allows us to bring Baldur"s Gate 3 to Xbox players this year still, something we"ve been working towards for quite some time."
However, Larian worked with Microsoft to find a solution enabling a 2023 Xbox release, even if split-screen will be excluded at launch on Series S. Microsoft has pledged continued support to add this feature post-launch.
In August 2023, the full 1.0 version of the game launched for the PC, and it became a massive critical and sales hit. Baldur"s Gate 3 launched for PlayStation 5 earlier in September, making its full MacOS debut alongside its third major patch update.
Despite this, Microsoft"s huge leak of internal documents and emails in late September revealed that the company had dismissed Baldur"s Gate 3 at first. The email showed that the game was last on a list of games that Microsoft felt could be included in its Xbox Game Pass service.