Does Baldur's Gate 3 Really Have 17,000 Endings?

Amid the altogether glowing launch reception for Baldur's Gate 3, which went on to win just about every GOTY award under the sun and which we also put at the summit of the best games of 2023, there were a fair few reviews and posts from long-time CRPG fans who argued that Larian's take on the series felt more like a Divinity game than a Baldur's Gate game. That's not necessarily calling it bad – the Divinity games are beloved, after all – but perhaps it just doesn't feel like the Baldur's Gates of old. And I remember similar conversations around Baldur's Gate 3's early access launch about three years ago.

Baldur’s Gate 3 players on Xbox have been dealing with a major bug that’s causing lost save files, but a fix is expected for next week, according to Larian Studios. The developer posted on X, formerly Twitter, on Tuesday to reassure fans that Microsoft’s firmware update should address the save file bug when it’s released on Jan. 16.

Baldur’s Gate 3 developer Larian Studios has said Microsoft plans to release a firmware update to fix the pesky save bug that has plagued the game’s release on Xbox.

Microsoft has reportedly uncovered the cause of an issue that can result in Baldur’s Gate 3 saves being lost on Xbox Series X/S.

Acts! It used to be just those old-timey theatre productions that had them, but as in many respects, videogames have nipped through a stage exit and stolen theatre's underpants. One act isn't the same as another, however: take the third act of Baldur's Gate 3, which many players feel isn't a patch, or indeed a hotfix changelog, on the thunderously well-received RPG's first two acts. According to senior RPG designer Anna Guxens, Larian have been following the reaction and are thinking about how they can handle act three's "drastic" tone shift better in future releases. It's a timely observation, because in separate news, Larian's CEO Swen Vincke has posted that he's "figured out" the first act of Larian's next unannounced project.

Can I make a confession? It took me about a month to get through the third act of Baldur's Gate 3. Not because it was particularly challenging or—relative to the acts that preceded it—especially long, but because the second I arrived in Rivington I felt compelled to put the game down and go do something else for a while.

A new Baldur's Gate 3 hotfix is now live, introducing a variety of tweaks and fixes that improve the experience on all platforms.

Baldur’s Gate 3’s latest hotfix is here, and it promises a whole host of fixes to certain crashes, blockers, and more.

With Baldur's Gate 3 scooping up accolades all over the place last year, anticipation for developer Larian's next game is already sky high; but while the studio has made it clear an official reveal is still some way off, progress is apparently being made behind the scenes: studio boss Swen Vincke says he now «figured out» the first act of Larian's new project.

Baldur's Gate 3 director Swen Vincke says he's finally settled on the first part of his next project, after four months of trying.

To the surprise of absolutely no one, Baldur's Gate 3 has claimed the Game of the Year award in the 2023 Steam Awards, along with the crown for Outstanding Story-Rich Game. It probably would have won even more, but the Steam Awards rules limit games to nominations in a maximum of two categories, presumably to avoid any across-the-board ass-kickings.

I'm just now getting to know Minthara in Baldur's Gate 3—both on my evil necromancer playthrough and my Honour Mode run, where I intend to pick her up from Moonrise Towers after risking my neck to knock her out. Still, I've cast off the shackles of spoilers after completing my first playthrough—gleefully getting my mitts on whatever details I can about my future drow bestie—which makes this a good point to mention that there'll be spoilers for Minthara's full plot line below. In a recent interview with IGN, Larian CEO Swen Vincke and co-lead writer Adam Smith discussed her character arc and the nature of evil, and they come to a conclusion I find genuinely fascinating: Minthara may grow to adore her compatriots, but she's still evil with a capital E. «She has this very unexpected story where she does soften,» says Smith, «and you see her learning how to deal with being part of a group.» However, Smith's keen to point out that her story «is not a redemption arc.» Minthara's tenderness, Smith implies, is a facet of her character from the get-go that you slowly discover—not something the player creates for her. Another surprising revelation is that Minthara can actually question why you slew the tieflings at the grove if you went full murder with it—even if that was the only way to recruit her until recently. "[Minthara] says, 'Okay, so now I'm not hearing the voice of The Absolute anymore … I killed all those tieflings, it's because I was brainwashed. What is your excuse?'" He goes on to point out that if you just reply 'cause I'm evil', she actually really dislikes that.