The highly anticipated release of Baldur’s Gate III on Xbox platforms has been delayed until 2024, according to Director of Publishing at Larian Studios, Michael Douse. In a recent tweet, he explained that the lack of a release date is not due to exclusivity, but rather technical limitations that the studio is facing with the lower-end Xbox Series S consoles.
Douse revealed that the studio is having trouble getting the split-screen co-op feature to work properly on the Xbox Series S. Larian Studios is committed to launching with feature parity across all platforms, which means they cannot simply remove the functionality. Despite the ongoing efforts of their engineers to achieve seamless drop-in, drop-out co-op on the Xbox Series S, it seems that more time is needed to overcome this technical hurdle.
The Xbox Series S has been a topic of debate in the gaming community due to its lower-end specifications, including a 30fps limitation. While this trade-off allows for a more affordable system, in the case of Baldur’s Gate III, it has compromised the game’s release on the entire current-gen Xbox ecosystem. The studio is determined to ensure that both the Series S and Series X consoles have the same features and performance.
Developer’s Commitment to Feature Parity
Larian Studios CEO Swen Vincke emphasized that achieving feature parity between Xbox consoles is a priority for the development team, regardless of Microsoft’s desires. The inclusion of split-screen co-op in such a vast game requires extensive optimization and memory usage. Vincke acknowledged that when the co-op party splits into different directions and engages in separate quests and combat, the on-screen activity becomes taxing and memory-intensive.
Despite the challenges, Larian Studios remains committed to bringing the seamless drop-in and drop-out co-op feature to the Xbox Series S, aiming to accomplish what no other RPG of this scale has achieved before. Baldur’s Gate III has already garnered attention for its extensive cinematics and diverse romance options, including a romance with a brown bear, propelling it to the top of Steam’s best sellers list.
In a recent announcement, Larian Studios confirmed that preloading of the game would not be possible, even for early access players. The massive size of the game, weighing in at approximately 122GB, necessitates a fresh download for all players. The studio advises players to start afresh, as many changes and improvements have been made since the early access version.
While impatient fans will have to wait until 2024 to experience Baldur’s Gate III on Xbox platforms, Larian Studios remains dedicated to delivering an optimized and feature-packed game. The technical hurdles of split-screen co-op on the lower-end Xbox Series S consoles have posed a significant challenge, but the team is determined to achieve feature parity and provide a seamless co-op experience.
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