Larian knows its audience, promises 'improved smooches' in Baldur's Gate 3

Baldur's Gate 3 is a very horny RPG, as well as being broadly brilliant, and Larian knows exactly what its players want: smooching. Patch 6, dropping next week, will give the horny romantics something to get excited about in the form of "improved smooches", along with some other additions.

In a tease on Twitter, the BG3 account shows off a tender moment between burly Druid Halsin and thirsty vampire Astarion, and the response has been predictably enthusiastic. The little forehead kiss at the end? Flawless. It's also a very Halsin thing to do, given that he's a protective bear.

I'm just sad that, in my current playthrough, I'm a psychotic dragon lad who is too busy doing murders to smooch anyone. I guess I'll save the romance for my next one.

On top of the improved smooches, Larian also teased new camp idle animations, new legendary actions in Honour mode and more bug fixes. "It's a hefty one," according to a follow-up tweet, and full patch notes will be released soon.

Despite being a largely singleplayer game, and one that launched six months ago, Baldur's Gate 3 remains one of Steam's most played games. The fact that it's great, and that it encourages multiple playthroughs, has no doubt contributed to this, but Larian's stewardship is likely an equally important contributing factor. It's rare for any game that isn't a live service affair to get this much constant attention from its developer, and every patch seems to add meaningful improvements and additions.

I'm still keeping my fingers crossed for an expansion, but even without one I suspect I'll be playing BG3 for a long damn time.

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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.