A senior staff member from Larian Studios recently confirmed that Baldur’s Gate 3 sold more than 10 million copies. He also said there would be “discussions” about the game’s planned mod support but had strong words for some community members.

Baldur’s Gate 3 mod support in development

The developer gave an update on its plans for Baldur’s Gate 3 mod support a few days ago. Larian’s Director of Publishing, Michael Douse, described these plans as “robust” and coming “later in the year.” However, he didn’t offer a specific timetable.

This has led to some less than civil discourse, which prompted a statement from Douse. He said there will be a detailed discussion soon and that the studio’s been working on mod support since launch. He also revealed that the game went from around 2 Million players to “way over” 10 Million in a short period.

Unfortunately, Douse also had to call out the unfortunate behavior from some Baldur’s Gate 3 community members. “Threats & toxicity against our devs & community teams will only harm the conversation,” said Douse. “Please stop that.” In a follow-up tweet, he acknowledged that the community’s rapid growth makes dialogue between fans and developers more complicated. However, that means people will need to be patient. “In order to maintain the same level of dialogue, we need people to understand that these conversations take time,” he said.

Dause last talked about the status of mod Baldur’s Gate 3’s mod support last week. We have a system,” said Dause, “but it needs to be tested and still requires work.”

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The 27th annual DICE awards have come and gone, with Larian Studios‘ Baldur’s Gate 3 walking away with several big wins. These included Game of the Year, RPG of the Year, and Outstanding Achievement in Game Direction, Game Design, and Story. During their Game of the Year acceptance speeches, Baldur’s Gate 3 developers took an opportunity to address the state of the game industry.

Baldur’s Gate 3’s publishing director talks about industry-wide layoffs

Larian Studios’ Director of publishing, Michael Douse, talked about how the industry struggles to show appreciation for the people who make games. “This is a really human industry, and we’re really bad sometimes at showing developers what they’re worth and showing the players at home that we care about them,” he said. “It’s kind of the elephant in the room, especially surrounded by all this opulence.”

He went on to say, “Many, many people were let go at the start of this year.” He is referring to the waves of layoffs sweeping studios across the industry. The widespread downsizing started last year has shown no sign of stopping.

However, the Baldur’s Gate 3 developer encouraged laid-off developers not to give up on making games. “I want you to know that you are all talented and that you matter, and that you are the future of this industry.”

He encouraged them not to let the industry’s mistakes snuff out their passions.

The “secret” to Larian’s success

Larian Studios’ production head, David Walgrave, also had some things to say about the “secret” to Larian’s success. He says that Larian bases its decisions on figuring out what the players want and what the developers want to create. The Baldur’s Gate 3 developer also described how being told that something is impossible only makes Larian want to try harder.

Walgrave additionally talked about how Larian Studios isn’t beholden to shareholders and doesn’t rely on live-service games to make money. “We ask you to pay one price only for the game, and that’s it—you can own it for the rest of your life. We don’t have shareholders, but we also don’t think about them… In the long run, building a community, building a player base, building games that are actually fun is going to make you the most money, that’s it.”

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Unfortunately, 2023 wasn’t the best year for PlayStation exclusives. The only title from Sony’s stable to make it on our Game of the Year 2023 list is Marvel’s Spider-Man 2. However, there were plenty of third-party masterpieces to make up for it. Check out our favorite games of the year below!

PlayStation LifeStyle Game of the Year 2023 List:

10. Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty

Cyberpunk 2077’s had a long road to redemption. When Son kicked the game off the PlayStation Store because of technical issues, we never thought its DLC would end up on our Game of the Year list two years later. Phantom Liberty has enough content to be a game in its own right and offers an alternate take on how V’s journey could have ended up. Unfortunately, the DLC and the 2.0 update that launched alongside it are only available on PS5. However, if you have the PS4 version, you can still upgrade for free!

Buy Cyberpunk 2077 on Amazon

9. Final Fantasy 16

It seems inevitable that Final Fantasy 16 will be one of the more divisive entries in the series. It primarily concentrates on one character, Clive Rosfield, as opposed to a huge party, and the story is focused on his perspective. For some fans, that eschews franchise tradition, but we appreciated the narrowed focus compared to Final Fantasy 15, which was a bit all over the place. Clive’s story stands out as one of the more poignant we’ve seen in a Final Fantasy, and it’s a spectacle to behold.

Buy Final Fantasy 16 on Amazon

8. Assassin’s Creed Mirage

This pseudo-prequel to Assassin’s Creed Valhalla takes the series back to its roots and pays homage to the original. Unlike the sprawling epics we’ve gotten in the last few entries, Assassin’s Creed Mirage is localized to 9th-century Baghdad and ditches many of the role-playing elements to emphasize stealth, assassinations, and parkour. We couldn’t help but be relieved to play a distilled experience, and Basim Ibn Ishaq’s origin story reminded us why we fell in love with the franchise in the first place.

Buy Assassin’s Creed Mirage on Amazon

7. Hogwarts Legacy

Despite the controversy surrounding the Harry Potter franchise, Hogwarts Legacy managed to captivate us with its rendition of the titular wizarding school and the surrounding countryside. For those of us who grew up alongside Harry, the chance to attend Hogwarts was a dream come true. Exploring its nooks and crannies, attending classes, and seeing the many easter eggs the developers included was a treat. Where Hogwarts Legacy goes above and beyond, though, is that the gameplay is fun enough to stand on its own merits. Even if this is your first visit to Hogwarts, you can still have a blast and leave wanting more.

Buy Hogwarts Legacy on Amazon

6. Star Wars Jedi: Survivor

Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order itched the scratch Star Wars fans had for years when it was released in 2019, and we couldn’t wait to get back to a galaxy far, far away in Star Wars Jedi: Survivor. It’s everything the first game was, but bigger and better. Cal gets more abilities and equipment, environments are more expensive, and we even get to chill in a cantina whenever we want. Star Wars Jedi: Survivor provides the excitement that most of Disney’s projects have lacked and has done much more to keep the franchise alive than it gets credit for.

Buy Star Wars Jedi: Survivor on Amazon

5. Street Fighter 6

Street Fighter 6 is our favorite fighting game of the year because of its respect for newcomers and veterans. It’s an excellent point to enter the series, thanks to its revamped mechanics and multiple control options. However, it still retains enough of the franchise’s traditions to keep from alienating those who cut their teeth on SF 2-5. We also loved the absolutely bonkers story mode that channeled Yakuza to make one of the best create-a-fighter experiences ever. If you have even a little interest in the fighting genre, it’s worth checking this game out.

Buy Street Fighter 6 on Amazon

4. Resident Evil 4 remake

Resident Evil 4 revolutionized the series when it debuted in 2005 and is lauded as one of the best games ever. Its influence on gaming as a whole is so strong that many doubted that a remake could do it justice. However, Capcom managed to pull off a fantastic retelling that complements the original perfectly. Almost every aspect of the original has been remade or expanded, and the updated gameplay makes blasting through Ganados a thrill. Resident Evil 4 remake is another excellent entry in the alternate continuity started with RE2 remake, and we’re excited to see which game gets reimagined next (fingers crossed for Code Veronica)!

Buy Resident Evil 4 remake on Amazon

3. Marvel’s Spider-Man 2

Marvel’s Spider-Man and its Miles Morales-centric follow-up were hard acts to follow. Somehow, Insomniac Games managed to outdo themselves and then some with Marvel’s Spider-Man 2. Peter Parker and Miles join forces to take on a multitude of threats while navigating their personal lives. From Kraven the Hunter’s militaristic menace to the symbiote Venom sapping Peter of both his good nature and healthy relationships, this gutsy sequel took an already solid foundation and gave both heroes an expanded inventory of unlockable abilities, gadgets, and suits with which fans could explore and defend New York City. While this movie could have resulted in a tired storyline or rote gameplay loop, instead it strengthened an already excellent series with thoughtful writing, inclusive characters, and comic book-powered combat to satisfy all players. The biggest problem with this tandem adventure is that it eventually has to end.

Buy Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 on Amazon

2. Baldur’s Gate 3

Player agency has been a hot topic in the gaming industry for decades. Some studios like to keep players focused on the task at hand, while others open their worlds up for a bit more interaction. However, with Baldur’s Gate 3, Larian Studios went beyond this. It removed practically all limitations to how a player could affect their surroundings. See a locked door? You can talk the key out of an NPC, blow it down, find a hidden route to completely bypass it, or simply ignore it. The challenge in this CRPG is to find your way, and there are so many possibilities and so much raw content that everyone’s playthrough will be different.

1. Alan Wake 2

It took 13 years for Alan Wake 2 to be released, but the wait was worth it. FBI agent Saga Anderson joins Alan’s struggle to escape the Dark Place, and we’re once again thrust into the madness surrounding the town of Bright Falls. The plot is a roller coaster examining family, religion, and the supernatural, and it had us hooked from beginning to end. Excellent pacing keeps the lengthy story from becoming a slog, and the ability to alternate between Saga and Alan’s story means each player will have a slightly different experience during their playthrough. While it’s rooted in survival horror, we recommend this game to anyone who wants a strong single-player experience.

The post PlayStation LifeStyle’s Game of the Year 2023 appeared first on PlayStation LifeStyle.

Larian Studios has said that it’s aiming to include Baldur’s Gate 3‘s incoming patch 5 in the PS5 physical edition. Out sometime in Q1 2024, the disc will be available for both the PS5 and Xbox Series X.

Baldur’s Gate 3 PS5 physical edition packs a ton of digital and physical goodies

According to Larian’s director of publishing Michael Douse, the physical version of Baldur’s Gate 3 will come on three discs on the Xbox and will include patch 5. Larian wants the same for PS5. However, nothing is set in stone yet as the team is still working on a similar version for Sony.

Here’s hoping it all works out. Recently, CD Projekt RED announced Cyberpunk 2077 Ultimate Edition for both the PS5 and Xbox Series X, but it’s only the latter that’s set to receive the base game as well as the Phantom Liberty expansion on disc. The PS5 version is due to receive a DLC code, much to some fans’ dismay, reportedly because Sony has some cumbersome SKU conditions developers have to meet.

Baldur’s Gate 3’s disc edition will come with digital content as well as physical goodies including a cloth world map, fabric patches, stickers, poster, and soundtrack CDs.

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PS Plus Premium has received two new game trials, and while trials are nothing to write home about, these two have caught everyone’s attention because they sit on two opposite ends of the spectrum. Sony has added a game trial for the critically acclaimed Baldur’s Gate 3 alongside the widely-panned The Lord of the Rings: Gollum.

PS Plus Premium members puzzled by the game trials

Premium members welcomed Baldur’s Gate 3 trial, which lasts two hours. It’s unusual for Sony to offer game trials for newly released third-party games, but it presumably wanted to drum up some interest in Larian’s hit title ahead of its gorgeous physical edition coming to PS5 early next year.

On the other hand, the one-hour Gollum trial simultaneously has players confused and amused. It’s one of the worst-rated games of 2023 that barely works, and there just aren’t enough patches possible to fix that travesty. The game quickly became meme fodder, and things only became worse when it emerged that developer Daedlic was forced by publisher Nacon to make a AAA game with a small budget. But the worst was yet to come. Nacon decided to publish an apology that was written by the AI chatbot ChatGPT.

Premium members can check out both games now, and their progress will carry over should they make a full purchase.

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Baldur’s Gate 3 developer Larian Studios, fresh off its critically acclaimed and award-winning title, teased its next big game.

Larian Studios posted to X (formerly Twitter) about its eight nominations for The Game Awards, including Game of the Year. Ultimately, it tied with Alan Wake 2 for most nominations, with Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 close behind at seven. Larian founder and CEO Swen Vincke retweeted the post, adding, “This is a real honor, especially in a year with so many releases. Seeing our little ‘niche rpg’ make such waves is very motivating.”

Vincke continued, teasing Larian’s plans for its follow-up title. “I wish I could tell you about our next big game but this is really encouraging us to ensure it pushes many boundaries. I’m very excited about it.”

While Vincke remained tight-lipped about additional details, several people commented that they’d “be there” for whatever Larian produces following Baldur’s Gate 3’s massive success.

Baldur’s Gate 3’s Critical Success

Baldur’s Gate 3 initially released under Early Access in October 2020. Over the next few years, Larian added new content and adjusted some aspects following player input. In August 2023, it launched in full for PC. A PlayStation 5 port came out a month later after a delay to clean up some issues. At the time of writing, the Xbox Series X|S port has yet to release, though Larian teased an incoming update this week.

Recently, Larian Studios took home seven Golden Joystick awards for Baldur’s Gate 3, including Ultimate Game Of The Year, PC Game Of The Year, and Studio Of The Year. It received similar nominations for The Game Awards. Along with the aforementioned Game of the Year nomination, Baldur’s Gate 3 also received nods for Best RPG, Best Game Direction, Best Narrative, Best Score and Music, Best Community Support, Best Multiplayer, and Best Performance for Neil Newbon as Astarion.

Baldur’s Gate 3 is available now for PC and PlayStation 5.

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After a long early access period and successful launch on PC, Baldur’s Gate 3 finally made it to PS5 last week. Developer Larian celebrated this milestone with a hilarious animated short symbolizing the game’s transition from early access to a finished product.

Baldur’s Gate 3 releases hilarious “Launch Party” short

The “Baldur’s Gate 3: Launch Party” short stars human wizard Gale, vampire rogue Astarion, Half-Elf cleric Shadowheart, and Tiefling barbarian Karlach. After completing their adventures in the realm of “Ear-lay-axe-ease,” the four prepare to enter a portal to the land of “Le-onche.” Upon arriving at Baldur’s Gate, the team soon encounters the launch version of themselves. The Launch version of Asterion is quick to point out how much they’ve changed, noting Gale’s face and Shadowheart’s old haircut. The short also has enough sight gags, in-jokes, and memes to justify multiple replays.

This is the second animated short that Larian released for the popular Baldur’s Gate 3, releasing “The Greatest Foe” in June. The earlier short featured Gale, Shadowheart, Astarion, Wyll, and Lae’zel preparing for their rematch with an overpowered frog. It referenced the notoriously broken Addled Frog, which was infamous for its ability to wipe the player’s party in early access.

Baldur’s Gate 3 developer Larian Studios worked with the animation YouTube channel Mashed on both videos. The channel makes animated shorts based on many popular game franchises, though Sonic and Nintendo parodies are the most common. Still, it seems fair to say that Mashed was the right choice for these collaborations.

Baldur’s Gate 3 fans were very impressed with the second short, with some commenters hoping this becomes a full animated series. Larian and Mashed didn’t respond to those comments, and it seems unlikely that wish will come true. Then again, shows like The Legend of Vox Machina prove there is a market for adult D&D cartoons.

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The Baldur’s Gate 3 PS5 port is finally out for everyone, giving those with only a PlayStation system an RPG to play in wake of Starfield’s Xbox and PC exclusivity. And while console ports don’t always go over smoothly, early reports of Baldur’s Gate 3’s technical performance on PS5 have been promising, backing up Larian’s words that it was built with PS5 in mind.

The Baldur’s Gate 3 PS5 port runs well, according to early reports

Digital Foundry’s Oliver Mackenzie performed the analysis and found that the PS5 version is running many settings at Ultra. Textures and shadow quality were pointed out as being comparable between the two, while PS5 benefits from a slightly stronger depth of field. Quality Mode is also running natively at 1440p. Performance Mode looks similar, but has slightly more visual artifacting.

Performance Mode also seems to mostly hit its 60 frames per second target in both indoor and outdoor environments, even during combat. The city in the title’s third act, though, does have some slowdown where performance can drop well under 30 frames per second in some instances in both modes. There is also some screen tearing as it drops frames. Quality Mode also doesn’t have motion blur, which Mackenzie stated it makes the mode feel “a bit choppier than it probably should.”

Even with these small hiccups, Mackenzie noted that it was a “pretty good experience on PS5 hardware” and that the PS5 version “just about does the job” for users that don’t have access to a beefy PC. However, he still noted that Larian Studios still has some issues to iron out on mid-range PCs and PS5. The team has already been quick to fix some issues, so it’s possible that more remedies will come down the line.

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Larian Studios has released a Baldur’s Gate 3 update just in time for today’s PS5 launch, fixing a number of bugs. The patch also addresses HDR performance issues on the console that were widely reported by early access players.

Baldur’s Gate 3 September 6 update patch notes

The update is available on both the PS5 and PC. Complete patch notes are as follows:

HIGHLIGHTS

• Fixed a bug that locked players out of many of Minthara’s lines of dialogue.

CRASHES AND BLOCKERS

• Fixed sometimes not being able to talk to NPCs or party members because the game thought you were still in a dialogue.
• Fixed a rare crash that would occur when faraway characters got close to the party.
• Fixed a crash that would occur if a guard responding to a crime created a summon (e.g. an elemental), and you fled the combat or were incapacitated without killing the summon.

PS5

• Fixed an issue causing the game’s audio to stop working on PS5.
• Fixed graphical issues on HDR TVs when the HDR black level calibration was set to 0.
• Fixed a crash that would occur when opening the onscreen keyboard.

PERFORMANCE

• Fixed a memory leak when creating and destroying many objects.

MULTIPLAYER

• Improved performance when cycling through Character Sheet tabs in splitscreen.
• Fixed splitscreen not working correctly when a client with splitscreen already enabled joins a multiplayer game.
• Fixed dismissed avatars not showing up properly in Withers’ Wardrobe if the host is at camp and is already looking inside the wardrobe.
• Fixed characters sometimes disappearing on splitscreen when the client reconnects after disconnecting while listening in on a dialogue.
• Clients rejoining a multiplayer game where there’s a dismissed avatar in Withers’ Wardrobe will now be able to pick that avatar up again rather than have to create a new avatar. (This bug would happen when the client left the session and another player selected that client’s avatar in the middle of the dismiss-to-camp dialogue.)

FLOW AND GAMEPLAY

• Trader NPCs will now retain their Approval Rating of avatars and companions even after they’re dismissed to Withers’ Wardrobe.
• Fixed the Emperor not dying and therefore not triggering the Game Over flow if you bring him to 0 HP outside of combat in the Astral Plane.
• Fixed not being able to talk to Minthara at camp if you dismissed her outside of camp.
• Fixed Level Up not working as expected if you level up while the game is saving.
• Fixed Hag’s Bane not having an effect on Auntie Ethel.

UI

• Fixed text being cut off in the title of tutorial pop-ups.
• Fixed button prompts getting cut off on the Multiplayer Settings screen on splitscreen.
• Fixed some UIs not updating when saving, causing, for example, Shadowheart’s inventory to appear empty when you recruit her on the beach.
• Fixed the tadpole count in the Radial Menu on controller.

CONTROLLER

• Fixed characters getting stuck when the Analog Stick Selection setting is set to Left Stick and you rotate the stick in circles as far as it can go.

ART

• Added nipple covers to Cazador’s spawn for when the nudity filter is enabled.

LEVEL DESIGN

• Moved Withers’ Wardrobe in the crèche camp to avoid clipping with Shadowheart’s tent.

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Baldur’s Gate 3 doesn’t seem like it would smoothly translate to console, given all of its intricacies. However, according to Larian Studios, the complex RPG was made for PS5 since “day one.”

The Baldur’s Gate 3 PS5 port has a few exclusive features

As noted by a post on the PlayStation Blog, product manager Emily Gera said it was “been built for PS5 from day one” and talked about how the team went about adapting it all to a controller. Radial menus, as is often the case with kinds of ports, played a big role, and players can even customize these menus to better suit their needs.

“We took its interface and streamlined it, turning our original UI into radial menus which felt more intuitive to use with a controller,” said Gera. “Your most essential tools can be accessed at the pull of a trigger button, which brings up a large radial for access to your map, journal, spellbook, character sheet, combat log, alchemy, short rests, long rests, and your camp, as well as your level-up screen and Illithid Powers skill tree.”

Game director Swen Vincke also told PlayStation Access that the studio “completely transformed” the user experience for the port and worked on it for a long time so it would function well with a pad. He also said it was working out quite well, judging by the comments from PC players who have been using a controller.

Players also control their avatar directly with the analog like a standard third-person game, but there is also a point-and-click mode for those who want to emulate how movement works on PC. Vincke even noted that the studio dropped the camera lower for this port, which “feels really natural” since it more closely resembles other console action games. It can also be zoomed out with the right stick for a more traditional tactical view.

PS5 users will even get a few exclusive features, albeit small ones. The DualSense lightbar will light up and correspond with the spell that’s being cast. The brightness will also intensify “during moments of heightened pressure,” which will be accompanied by haptic feedback. Status effects will also have their own DualSense lightbar colors. The adaptive triggers seem to have more gameplay relevance, as a slight pull will show just a bit of the radial menus, while a harder press will reveal more of it.

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