Baldur's Gate 3 is getting 'new features' and a release date announcement in December

A majestic dwarf in Baldur's Gate 3 — (Image credit: Larian Studios)

Since Baldur's Gate 3 launched in early access back in 2020, Act 1—the only one available until the full launch—has been fattened up with giant badgers, musical instruments and D&D's objectively best race, but at this point you probably just want to know when the heck it's coming out. Good news: more information on the 2023 release date will be coming in December.

Patch 9 will add new features before the end of the year, and in the accompanying Panel From Hell Larian will "go into detail about some of the most discussed topics in the community". That includes the release date, so hopefully we'll have a better idea of when in that 12 month period we can expect to embark on a complete adventure through the Forgotten Realms.

This week's dev blog update noted that Acts 2 and 3 are being "actively playtested" at the moment, and there's also plenty more in the works for Act 1. After completing the first act ages ago, I've only dipped back in to quickly muck around with new classes, but if you've already played through it countless times you should still encounter enough new things at launch so that playing through it again won't feel like a repeat.

"Our goal," says Larian, "is for even the players who have repeated Act 1 over and over again for hundreds of hours to feel like there’s a whole new experience in store for them at launch."

In the meantime, we'll have to entertain ourselves by speculating about what's coming in the next patch. There are still races and classes waiting in the wings, and I'm very keen to get into trouble as a rowdy half-orc. What Christmas present are you hoping the patch will bring you?

Fraser is the UK online editor and has actually met The Internet in person. With over a decade of experience, he's been around the block a few times, serving as a freelancer, news editor and prolific reviewer. Strategy games have been a 30-year-long obsession, from tiny RTSs to sprawling political sims, and he never turns down the chance to rave about Total War or Crusader Kings. He's also been known to set up shop in the latest MMO and likes to wind down with an endlessly deep, systemic RPG. These days, when he's not editing, he can usually be found writing features that are 1,000 words too long or talking about his dog.