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Originally launched as a Steam Early Access title back in 2020, Baldur's Gate 3 has slowly but certainly been getting built up for its full release date, and the game's community had hoped to see a finished build before the end of the year. Unfortunately, the developer, Larian Studios, previously confirmed that this wouldn't be the case, which came as a disappointment to most gamers.
The latest messaging from Larian Studios, however, is a tad more hopeful, as the team has now issued an official confirmation that Baldur's Gate 3 is coming out in 2023. To be sure, this isn't great news for those who want to play the full game as soon as possible, but it does mean that it's unlikely to get pushed back even further still, which is quite the silver lining.
Rumblings about Baldur's Gate 3 not hitting its 2022 release target aren't a new thing, but Larian Studios wasn't ready to commit to the idea of a postponed release up until now. The wording is now clear, however, as the information was shared as part of the studio's official D&D Direct video featurette. Larian also took the opportunity to acknowledge both those players who had already joined the game's Early Access period and those who are waiting for Baldur's Gate 3's full launch, inviting everyone to "come along in 2023 when the game releases."
Keeping the above in mind, even though Baldur's Gate 3 isn't leaving early access soon, it's still in a good place, development-wise. The game is receiving large, substantial patches at a regular pace, and early adopters get to share their feedback on the game's systems, features, and content with Larian directly, which assists in speeding up hotfix delivery and balance passes. By the time 2023 is here, Baldur's Gate 3 should be a very polished RPG experience, given the developer's track record.
In fact, the previous major update for Baldur's Gate 3 added Barbarians as a viable character class, opening up an extremely wide variety of new build options and functionality. Many more of these classes are expected before all is said and done, as Larian Studios seems to be hoping to cover virtually every major Dungeons & Dragons character trope to some extent.
As for the narrative development, however, that's an entirely different proposition. Theories about the story of Baldur's Gate 3 are numerous indeed, and since Larian is deliberately limiting the scope and width of available Early Access content, most players shouldn't have everything spoiled to them ahead of time. The full narrative won't be available before the full launch, after all, and 2023 is still a bit far out.
Baldur's Gate 3 is now available for purchase on PC and Stadia as an Early Access release.