Baldur's Gate 3 confirmed for release in 2023

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Larian has for some time now said that its "expectation" is that Baldur's Gate 3 will go from early access to full release sometime in 2023. Now it's official: In a new video released as part of today's D&D Direct event, the studio said the big RPG epic will be out next year.

The video is largely a recap of progress made since Baldur's Gate 3 was announced in 2019—in fact, it's called "The Journey So Far"—dressed up in Larian's now-traditional cosplay silliness. There's no question the game has come a long way over the intervening years, a fact clearly visible in the before-and-after graphical comparisons.

But there is one interesting bit of news stashed away in there, which is the long-awaited confirmation that yes, 2023 is the year. 

"By the Nine Hell, we've added a lot of great stuff already," the tiefling narrating the video adventure says. "And there's more where that came from. So join us in early access on our journey to Baldur's Gate 3, or come along in 2023 when the game releases."

The 2023 confirmation might be disappointing for especially optimistic fans who were tightly crossing fingers for an arrival in late '22, but Larian generally isn't known as a studio that rushes releases—in fact, it briefly delayed the early access release of Baldur's Gate 3 at the last minute so it could work out some last-minute problems.

Andy Chalk

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.