Baldur's Gate 3 launch times and file size details

(Image credit: Larian)

Baldur's Gate 3 launches on August 3rd. That's about a month ahead of schedule, just in case you missed Larian's announcement about moving the date up. After its few years in early access, Baldur's Gate 3 will be entering full launch (at least on PC) on Thursday with the final character race and class choices, plenty of new improvements, and the rest of the game's story and map past Act 1.

PC players can buy Baldur's Gate 3 from Steam or GOG for $60/£50. Here's all the details you need to know about when Baldur's Gate 3 unlocks, the (lack of) preloading, and just how big this game actually is. (It's big.)

Baldur's Gate 3 launch times

Baldur's Gate 3 unlock times — (Image credit: Larian Studios)

Baldur's Gate 3's global launch time on PC is at 8 am PDT on Thursday, August 3. Here's when that unlock time translates to around the world:

8 am PDT (Los Angeles)
11 am EDT (New York/Quebec)
12 pm BRT (Rio de Janeiro)
4 pm GMT (London)
5 pm CEST (Berlin)
1 am, August 4 AEST (Sydney)
3 am, August 4 NZST (Auckland)

There is no preloading for Baldur's Gate 3

Unfortunately you won't be able to preload Baldur's Gate 3, Larian clarified in a news post, saying simply, "There will be no pre-loading of the game before [launch]." Larian later explained that this is because it's already available in early access and that the way Steam handles game preloading isn't compatible with what's effectively a very large patch. "Steam doesn’t support pre-load for Early Access titles because switching to pre-load would break the game for people currently playing Early Access." Because of that, you're going to need to download Baldur's Gate 3 all in one go on Thursday. That means a lot of folks probably won't be able to play until Friday because, surprising no one, it is big.

Baldur's Gate 3 download size

Baldur's Gate 3 is "approximately 122 GB," according to Larian Studios. Be sure you've got enough space to spare, whether you're installing it on your PC or on a Steam Deck. Once you've got the game downloaded on whichever platforms you choose, remember that there is cross-save compatibility, meaning your save files tied to your Larian account will be available wherever you're signed in.

Lauren has been writing for PC Gamer since she went hunting for the cryptid Dark Souls fashion police in 2017. She accepted her role as Associate Editor in 2021, now serving as self-appointed chief cozy games and farmlife sim enjoyer. Her career originally began in game development and she remains fascinated by how games tick in the modding and speedrunning scenes. She likes long fantasy books, longer RPGs, can't stop playing co-op survival crafting games, and has spent a number of hours she refuses to count building houses in The Sims games for over 20 years.