Highlights
- Baldur's Gate 3's PlayStation 5 version is not in trouble, despite not being available for preload like Starfield.
- The developers are focused on shipping the game with the latest patches to ensure a consumer-friendly experience.
- Comparisons between Baldur's Gate 3 and Starfield will increase as the latter's release draws closer.
While Baldur’s Gate 3 has been in the hands of PC players for just shy of three weeks now, PlayStation 5 players are waiting until September 6 to sink their teeth into Larian’s critically-acclaimed RPG.
Starfield is also releasing on September 6, albeit for Xbox Series X/S and PC. One Twitter user pointed out the fact that Starfield is currently available to preload, while Baldur’s Gate 3 is not. This fact led them to conclude that Baldur’s Gate 3’s upcoming PlayStation 5 version was “in trouble.”
Well, Larian Studios’ head of publishing Michael Douse was quick to respond, shutting down this users’ theory.
“We want people to have the latest patches, because that seems like the consumer friendly thing to do. It’s not very complicated,” he replied.
As of August 17, Baldur’s Gate 3 has had four substantial hotfixes with two planned patches on the way. Patch 1 will have over “1000 fixes and tweaks” according to Larian’s CEO Swen Vincke.
Douse is correct to say that allowing players to preload the game without patches is unnecessary since they’ll just have to download the patches on release day regardless. As Starfield’s release gets closer, people have been quick to pit Baldur’s Gate 3 and Starfield against one another, despite the latter not having been released yet.
With two of the biggest RPGs of the year releasing within a month of one another, there were always going to be people who compared the two games. These comparisons will only get more frequent when Starfield actually releases. Starfield developers recently held a Q&A on Bethesda’s official discord, giving additional information on companions, housing, traits and more.
The game was recently in the news after the game’s title screen leaked, leading to some calling it low-effort or basic. Former World of Warcraft developer Mark Kern commented that a low-effort title screen reflects the lack of care a team has for its product. This resulted in Bethesda executive Pete Hines replying that the title screen design has been in place for years, and calling into question how much a team cares about its product is unprofessional.
Baldur’s Gate 3 releases September 6 for PlayStation 5, and Starfield also releases on September 6, for Xbox Series X/S and PC.