author: Zuzanna Domeradzka
Phil Spencer Helped Bring Baldur's Gate 3 to Xbox - Release Window [Update #2]
Xbox Series X/S owners will be able to play Baldur's Gate 3 on their consoles sooner than they might have thought. Tips on porting the game were given to Larian by Phil Spencer himself.
Update #2
Information provided to IGN by Swen Vincke reveals that Baldur's Gate 3 will hit Xbox consoles in the September-November 2023 release window..
Update #1 (August 28)
There is hope that Xbox Series S console owners will get access to split-screen co-op mode in the future. The following message was published on Xbox's X/Twitter profile. :
"To answer some questions we're getting, we'll continue to work with Larian to explore the addition of split-screen on Series S post launch [of Baldur's Gate 3 on that console - ed. note]."
Original news
PC gamers have been able to enjoy Baldur's Gate 3 for some time now. To play this highly ratedand extremely popular game by Larian, PlayStation 5 console owners have to wait until September 6. Xbox fans are in a slightly worse situation, as the matter of porting the third "Baldur" to Microsoft consoles was uncertain from the beginning. However, the developers, despite the obstacles, did not stop working on it. Today, however we received an assurance that Baldur's Gate 3 will be released on Xbox Series X/S later this year.
This information was shared on the Twitter profile of Swen Vincke, that is, the founder and head of Larian, as well as the creative director of Baldur's Gate 3. On the occasion of the ongoing gamescom fair in Germany, he had the opportunity to talk to Phil Spencer, head of the Xbox brand.
"Super happy to confirm that after meeting XboxP3 [Phil Spencer - ed. note], we've found a solution that allow us to bring Baldur's Gate 3 to Xbox players this year still (...)"
Despite advice from Phil Spencer, porting the game to the technologically weaker Xbox Series S is still problematic. Swen Vincke announced that Baldur's Gate 3's version for this "poorer" console will not offer a split-screen co-op mode - it will support cross-save (transferring save game data between the PC version and Xbox consoles) however. Xbox Series X owners, on the other hand, will receive an uncut game, with all the features.
It has not been known for a long time that developers are forced to make compromises when it comes to creating versions of games for the Xbox Series S. Nevertheless, Phil Spencer himself recently stated that he "can't see a world where he drops support for XSS" (via Eurogamer).
