Baldur’s Gate 3 dev responds to speculation that PS5 port is in “trouble”

Larian Studios’ Director of Publishing pushed back on a gamer comparing preload dates for Starfield and Baldur’s Gate 3 on PlayStation 5.

Baldur’s Gate 3 is set to release on PlayStation 5 on September 6, the same day Starfield finally comes to PC and Xbox Series X|S.

This has led some fans to compare the games, especially Xbox players disappointed that Baldur’s Gate 3 isn’t releasing on the platform anytime soon due to development issues with the Series S.

One Xbox fan, who tried to use the two games’ preload dates to claim Baldur’s Gate 3 was in trouble, prompted a response from a Larian Studios executive, who provided a good reason for waiting to push out a game.

Larian Studios

Fans have to wait longer for Baldur’s Gate 3 PS5 preload date for “consumer friendly” reasons

The conversation started when Twitter user astaranx pointed out that Starfield is available to preload on Xbox, while Baldur’s Gate 3’s PS5 preload date isn’t until August 31. The user drew two conclusions from this: Starfield is “more ready” for its release next month, and Baldur’s Gate 3’s PS5 port must be running into some issues.

Larian Studios’ director of publishing Michael Douse disputed this with a simple explanation.

We want people to have the latest patches, because that seems like the consumer friendly thing to do. It’s not very complicated.

— Very AFK (@Cromwelp) August 19, 2023

Because Baldur’s Gate 3 is out on PC and already receiving updates, the developers chose to start preloads closer to the game’s early access launch to ensure PS5 players get the most up-to-date version.

In the weeks since its release, Baldur’s Gate 3 has received four Hotfixes that improve the game’s performance, make balancing changes, fix issues that caused it to crash, and more. Two larger patches are in the works and are set to make more tweaks and incorporate player requests.

Larian has promised patch parity between different versions of the game to ensure fans have an equal experience regardless of where they are playing. This means having to wait longer to preload Baldur’s Gate 3 on PS5 is not a sign of development troubles, but a necessity to help ensure the port’s launch goes smoothly.