Baldur’s Gate 3 Act 3’s performance issues have a simple explanation

Baldur’s Gate 3 players have noticed that the game runs worse in Act 3, but the reason for this is actually quite straightforward.

Larian Studios’ massive RPG Baldur’s Gate 3 is an undeniable hit that has transcended the often niche genre. However, the game does have its imperfections.

Since launching earlier this month, many have noted that Baldur’s Gate 3’s performance slows down quite a bit in Act 3. While it makes sense that the full game isn’t quite as polished as the first act, which spent almost three years being publicly playtested in early access, players are reporting that their PCs are struggling with the last section of the game.

This issue is obviously frustrating, but it does make a lot of sense. Baldur’s Gate 3’s third act lags behind the rest of the game simply because there’s so much more that needs to be processed.

Larian Studios

Act 3 is far more technically demanding than the rest of Baldur’s Gate 3

Unlike the rest of the game, which has players traveling through nature and some smaller settlements, Baldur’s Gate 3 takes place in the eponymous city. Both in-game and in Dungeons & Dragons lore, Baldur’s Gate is a huge, densely packed urban area that’s full of people.

As reported by Digital Foundry, performance testing shows the increased number of NPCs on screen takes a greater toll on CPUs than the rest of the game. Even on high-end processors, this leads to a significant drop in quality, especially when transitioning into cutscenes and dialogue.

Making Baldur’s Gate 3’s performance issues worse are the earthquakes that occur in the city during this part of the game.

Unfortunately, there isn’t much players can do to improve this. Lowering the settings helps a bit, but there are still noticeable variations in frame time.

While these issues don’t seem to be game-breaking, they are understandably frustrating. With the game launching on PlayStation 5 next month, it’ll be interesting to see how that console handles this part of the game. Until then, Baldur’s Gate 3 players will have to hope that Larian is able to smooth out Act 3’s performance in a future update.