Baldur's Gate 3: Difference between revisions

This article is about the 2023 video game. For the cancelled video game, see Baldur's Gate III: The Black Hound.

Baldur's Gate 3
Developer(s)	Larian Studios
Publisher(s)	Larian Studios
Director(s)	Swen Vincke
Producer(s)	David Walgrave
Programmer(s)	Bert Van Semmertier Blake Maltby
Artist(s)	Joachim Vleminckx
Writer(s)	Adam Smith
Composer(s)	Borislav Slavov
Series	Baldur's Gate
Engine	Divinity Engine
Platform(s)	Windows PlayStation 5 macOS Xbox Series X/S
Release	Windows 3 August 2023 PlayStation 5 6 September 2023 macOS 22 September 2023 Xbox Series X/S 7 December 2023
Genre(s)	Role-playing
Mode(s)	Single-player, multiplayer

Baldur's Gate 3 (BG3) is a 2023 role-playing video game developed and published by Larian Studios. It is the third installment in the Baldur's Gate series. The game's full release for Windows was in August 2023, with PlayStation 5, macOS, and Xbox Series X/S versions releasing later that year. In the game's narrative, the party seeks to cure themselves of a parasitic tadpole infecting their brain. It can be played alone or with other players.

The game's mechanics are adapted from the fifth edition of tabletop RPG Dungeons & Dragons and shares the tabletop game's Forgotten Realms setting with previous entries in the series. As in the tabletop game, players create a character with a character class and backstory, and embark on quests with a party of voiced companions. Players can optionally play as a companion, known as origin characters, instead of creating their own. The gameplay involves the exploration of large open areas, turn-based combat, and narrative choices which impact the party and the wider world. Outcomes for combat, dialogue and some exploration elements are primarily determined by rolling 20-sided die.

The first Baldur's Gate (1998) and its sequel (2000) were developed by BioWare and published by Interplay and Black Isle Studios. A third game developed by Black Isle was cancelled in 2003 following a licencing dispute. Dungeons and Dragons owner Wizards of the Coast (WotC) declined Larian's first pitch to make the game following the release of Divinity: Original Sin (2014). Impressed by pre-release material for Divinity: Original Sin II (2017), WotC welcomed a new pitch and eventually granted the rights for them to develop the game. Larian partially released the game in early access for macOS and Windows from August 2020, providing the studio with revenue and feedback. Following the full release, Larian continued to add free updates to the game until the final patch in April 2024.

Baldur's Gate 3 generated significant profit for both Larian Studios and WotC's parent company Hasbro. The title also achieved widespread critical acclaim. Praise was directed at its cinematic visuals, writing, production quality, and performances. The title was regarded as the best of the year by several publications and became the first to win Game of the Year at all five major video game awards ceremonies. It is sometimes considered one of the greatest video games.

Gameplay

Baldur's Gate 3 is a role-playing video game with single-player and cooperative multiplayer elements. Players can create one or more characters and form a party along with a number of pre-generated characters to explore the game's story. Optionally, players are able to take one of their characters and team up online with other players to form a party.

The game implements a flexible quest system with various approaches to resolving most quests. Players can eliminate almost any non-player character, regardless of their importance to the storyline, yet still continue to advance through the game. The game is divided into three acts, each taking place in a distinct region of the world. Within these acts, the game adopts a non-linear format, permitting players to tackle quests in virtually any sequence.

Baldur's Gate 3 features turn-based combat implementing the combat model from 5th edition of the Dungeons & Dragons tabletop role-playing game.

Unlike previous games in the Baldur's Gate series, Baldur's Gate 3 has turn-based combat, similar to Larian's earlier games Divinity: Original Sin and Divinity: Original Sin II; all combat is based on the Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition rules. Most mechanics and spells are taken from the tabletop role-playing game version of Dungeons & Dragons, although some are modified or omitted due to the adaptation of the game into a role-playing video game format. There are 12 character classes, which are further subdivided into 46 subclasses. A later update expanded this list to 58 total available subclasses. Each class focuses on a different aspect of the combat system, such as the wizard, who focuses on casting a large variety of spells or the barbarian, who focuses on unarmoured melee combat. The player can also select more than one class per character, which is referred to as multiclassing, allowing the player to build their character in many different and unique ways.

The game incorporates a roster of ten companion characters who are available for players to enlist into their party. Each of these characters has a personal story and a narrative that the player can explore further. The player can develop relationships with companion characters based on plot and dialogue choices made. Some of the companion characters are only accessible provided that the player makes specific plot or dialogue choices.

All characters, both major and minor, are fully voice acted and motion captured, amounting to approximately 1.5 million words of performance capture.

The game features a limited free floating camera, allowing the player to play the game in any camera ranging from fully third-person camera to an isometric top-down view. The game's user interface has both a mouse and keyboard and a controller mode. In both modes, the player can use spells and combat actions, manage inventory, see the map, display player and companion character's statistics and select various gameplay elements such as allied and enemy characters.

The game has modding support, although not all features and tools are available at launch, and modding options are expected to expand with subsequent updates. Many mods are available from the community, allowing the player to change various aspects of the game.

Plot

Setting

Baldur's Gate 3 takes place in the fictional world of the Forgotten Realms during the year of 1492 DR, over 120 years after the events of the previous game, Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn, and months after the events of the playable Dungeons & Dragons 5e module, Baldur's Gate: Descent into Avernus. The story is set primarily in the Sword Coast in western Faerûn, encompassing a forested area that includes the Emerald Grove, a druid grove dedicated to the deity Silvanus; Moonrise Towers and the Shadow-Cursed Lands, which are covered by an unnatural and sentient darkness that can only be penetrated through magical means; and Baldur's Gate, the largest and most affluent city in the region, as well as its outlying suburb of Rivington. Other places the player visits include the Underdark, the Astral Plane and Avernus.

Characters

The game is fully narrated by voice actress Amelia Tyler, who acts as the Dungeon Master, describing the world and the player's actions throughout the story. The player character can either be created from scratch by the player, chosen from six pre-made "origin characters", or a customisable seventh origin character known as the Dark Urge (Neil Roberts). All six pre-made origin characters can be recruited as part of the player character's party. They include Lae'zel (Devora Wilde), a githyanki fighter; Shadowheart (Jennifer English), a half-elf cleric; Astarion (Neil Newbon), a high elf vampire rogue; Gale (Tim Downie), a human wizard; Wyll (Theo Solomon), a human warlock; and Karlach (Samantha Béart), a tiefling barbarian. Four other characters may join the player's party: Halsin (Dave Jones), a wood elf druid; Jaheira (Tracy Wiles), a half-elf druid and leader of the Harpers; Minsc (Matthew Mercer), a human ranger who carries a hamster named Boo with him; and Minthara (Emma Gregory), a drow paladin. Jaheira and Minsc previously appeared in both Baldur's Gate and Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn.

The primary antagonists of the game are the Absolute (Cissy Jones), and her three chosen followers General Ketheric Thorm (J. K. Simmons), Lord Enver Gortash (Jason Isaacs), and Orin the Red (Maggie Robertson). Additional major characters include: Withers (Stephen Boxer), a mysterious undead entity who supports the player in camp; Raphael (Andrew Wincott), a devil with a penchant for making deals; Elminster (Crispin Redman), a renowned wizard and mentor to Gale; Auntie Ethel (Rena Valeh), a fussy trader of potions and sundries; Bhaal (Doug Cockle), the God of Murder; Mystra (Jane Perry), Goddess of Magic; Shar (Harriet Hare), Goddess of Darkness; Volo (Stephen Hogan), an unlucky writer; Mizora (Tamaryn Payne), a manipulative devil with a connection to Wyll; Isobel (Mia Foo), a half elf cleric working with Jaheira; Dame Aylin (Helen Keeley), Isobel's partner and an aasimar paladin; Ulder Ravengard (Chris Jarman), Wyll's father and Duke of Baldur's Gate; Kith'rak Voss (Richard Cotton), a githyanki knight; Dammon (Frazer Blaxland), a tiefling blacksmith, and The Emperor (Scott Joseph), a mind flayer with a key role in the main story. Sceleritas Fel (Brian Bowles), a fiend and manservant to the Dark Urge, only appears if the player has chosen to create a Dark Urge character. Viconia DeVir (Jess Nesling), a drow cleric and Mother Superior serving Shar who is integral to Shadowheart's storyline, previously appeared as a companion in Baldur's Gate and Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn where she was voiced by Grey DeLisle.

Story

The protagonist wakes up inside a giant dimension-crossing illithid (mind flayer) flying ship. They are infected with a parasitic tadpole that enthralls and transforms people into illithids; however, the transformation does not happen, and the ship comes under attack from githyanki warriors riding red dragons. The mind flayer crew teleports the ship to the Nine Hells and are attacked by an army of Devils. The protagonist is freed during the fighting and steers the damaged ship to Faerûn, where it crashes. They encounter other survivors of the wreck, all likewise implanted with tadpoles.

The party seeks to remove their parasites through numerous avenues, all of which fail to provide a cure. They are saved from the tadpoles' overwhelming psychic force by a "Dream Visitor" inside Shadowheart's mysterious prism, a device that is sought after by the githyanki. The protagonist then becomes involved in the fate of the Emerald Grove, where local druids and tiefling refugees face off against the goblin horde that worships a cult of the "Absolute". Once the party either sacks or saves the grove, they travel through the mountains or the Underdark to reach Moonrise Towers, a cultist stronghold, in search of a new cure.

The protagonist seeks sanctuary from the curse around Moonrise Towers in a tavern called the Last Light, held by a group of tiefling refugees, Flaming Fist conscripts, and Harpers. General Ketheric Thorm, the reigning lord of Moonrise and Chosen of Myrkul, is using a relic named the "Nightsong" as an engine for his immortality. The party scours the depths of Moonrise in pursuit of the Nightsong, revealed to be Dame Aylin, a daughter of Selûne. After either slaying or freeing the Nightsong, the protagonist confronts Ketheric, as well as his cohorts—Orin the Red (the Chosen of Bhaal) and Enver Gortash (the Chosen of Bane). Through their Netherstones and a mysterious crown, the triumvirate collectively controls the Absolute (revealed to be an Elder Brain, the ultimate form of the illithid race) and seeks to rule the Sword Coast by manipulating everyone infected with a tadpole. Orin and Gortash depart with the Elder Brain for Baldur's Gate, while the protagonist defeats Ketheric and claims his Netherstone.

The protagonist arrives at Baldur's Gate as Gortash and Orin attempt to pit them against the other, while the companions find closure for their personal quests. It is revealed that the "Dream Visitor" is, in fact, a visage taken by a renegade illithid called the Emperor, who resides within the prism and oversees the imprisonment of a powerful githyanki, Orpheus. Orpheus is the source of psionic resistance the party possesses against the Absolute, and the Emperor has been leveraging this in his favour. The protagonist eventually faces off against Gortash and Orin, assembling the Netherstones to subdue the Elder Brain. The Elder Brain, having anticipated the triumvirate and the protagonist's every move, overpowers the party before the Emperor comes to the rescue.

Realizing that the Netherstones require an illithid wielder with Orpheus' powers to be effective, the protagonist either frees Orpheus and allows him to transform, which causes the Emperor to resign to his fate and join the Absolute, or has either the Emperor, a transformed Karlach, or the player character consume Orpheus in order to see the mission through. After defeating the Elder Brain, the protagonist can choose to either kill it and every illithid tadpole with it, ending the threat forever, or betray their comrades and rule as the Absolute.

Development and release

Background

Wizards of the Coast's predecessor, TSR, Inc., wanted publisher Interplay Entertainment to produce a video game using the Dungeons & Dragons (DnD) property. BioWare agreed to develop the title, having formed a partnership with Interplay for Shattered Steel (1996). Initially titled Iron Throne, the game was titled Baldur's Gate (1998) at the suggestion of Interplay co-founder Brian Fargo. Created by a largely inexperienced group of developers, BioWare delivered the game a year behind Interplay's schedule, but it nonetheless achieved commercial success, leading to an expansion in 1999. A direct sequel followed, Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn (2000), using the second edition of DnD for its rule set, and was likewise published by Interplay and Black Isle Studios. The first two Baldur's Gate games provided pre-scripted, branching narratives. BioWare's third game with the DnD property, Neverwinter Nights (2002), used DnD's third edition, and facilitated a gameplay experience closer to the tabletop game by emphasising multiplayer and allowing players to control non-player characters. Following a licencing issue, another Dungeons and Dragons video game, The Black Hound, was designated as the third game in the Baldur's Gate series; it was cancelled when Interplay lost the rights to release Baldur's Gate titles on PC.

Several companies sought the rights to make the title over the following decade. Interplay's Brian Fargo described interest by Obsidian Entertainment's CEO Feargus Urquhart, Larian Studios' CEO Swen Vincke, and Fargo himself. Canadian developer Beamdog made enhanced editions of the first and second games, followed by a large 2016 expansion using the Infinity Engine. Cameron Tofer, co-founder of Beamdog, said making the third game was the studio's "long-term goal".

Vincke first approached Wizards of the Coast about making the game during Larian's development of Divinity: Original Sin (2014), but Wizards declined, citing their inexperience. Shortly before the release of the sequel, Divinity: Original Sin II (2017), Wizards were intrigued by pre-release footage and asked Larian for a pitch for Baldur's Gate 3. Vincke created a design document around a month before the release of Origin Sin II in a hotel room with several designers and writers. Vincke said Larian and Wizards knew it needed work but acknowledged that the studio was busy; Wizards asked them to refine it. Wizards had a new chief executive officer at this time and Vincke met him on one of his first days. Larian had to meet several milestones, including an approved design document, and Wizards eventually provided the licence to Larian Studios.

Studio growth and challenges

Game director Swen Vincke at the 2024 Game Developer's Conference

Larian Studios built new cinematic functionality into their game engine, viewing these capabilities as key to accessibility. The studio's cinematic ambitions came with challenges, requiring the studio grow considerably. The use of close-up sequences for dialogue needed teams to focus on lighting and cinematic quality assurance; likewise, the audio team was larger than what was required for Larian's previous titles. The studio's size increased from around 140 employees in 2017 to over 450 in 2023, making it one of the world's largest privately owned video game companies. Industry journalist Jason Schreier described Larian Studios as a "unicorn": large enough to make triple-A games but not subject to the mechanics mandated by publicly traded publishers, like microtransactions and battle passes, to "maximize revenue and "minimize risk"

In part due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Baldur's Gate 3 had an usually long 6-year development cycle. Larian closed its Saint Petersburg office following the invasion. Anticipating military enlistment for staff, they liaised with embassies and consulates to support relocation efforts, with 90% of employees based in Saint Petersburg moving to another office. The game's complex code base meant the effects of closing this office were felt throughout development.

Vincke described Baldur's Gate 3 as Larian's "Covid game", with the pandemic reducing productivity, causing communication issues internally and with external partners, and preventing performance motion capture. Larian had two London-based studios continuously working on motion capture. Vincke estimated this included 1.5 million words of dialogue in 2020; in 2024, Vincke's said 1.3 million lines and over 140 hours of cutscenes. The game has over 170 ending variations, which required a substantial testing effort, and Larian's writers worked on ending dialogue and descriptions for over a year. The studio lost staff over the 6-year development period, including cinematics lead Jim Southworth, who died shortly after the game's release.

Larian Studios revealed Baldur's Gate 3 with a trailer at a conference for Google's cloud gaming platform, Stadia, in July 2019. Vincke said letting potential customers play without installing the game had "great conversion power", but stated the title would not be exclusive to Stadia. Following Google's discontinuation of Stadia in 2023, Vincke expressed regret, describing it as "a really stupid deal", but said the funds provided by deal had funded the game's visuals.

Quests and writing

Dungeons and Dragons creative director Mike Mearls said the team did not object to Larian making changes to DnD lore, hoping changes would tie into increased player agency. Mearls said that collaborating with Larian felt like a natural extension of Wizards of the Coast's DnD team, with both companies anticipating required adjustments to fifth-edition rules. Vincke suggested using mind flayers as antagonists after seeing an illustration in Volo's Guide to Monsters. Writer Adam Smith said Wizards had not documented the process of transforming into one, so Larian produced a 7-day timeline, inspired by body horror and the films of David Cronenberg. Baldur's Gate 3 is set over 100 years after the first two entries; Smith said Wizards of the Coast had "filled out" the intervening century because the area was integral to the Forgotten Realms and Sword Coast settings. Larian collaborated with Wizards on a precursor module for the game, Baldur's Gate: Descent into Avernus (2019). The module provided information on events occurring since Baldur's Gate II.

Smith described the team's approach as "reactive", saying that identifying frequent player choices informed their writing decisons. Some characters were changed substantially throughout development. Larian reduced the hostility of companions to the player character, including Shadowheart and Lae'zel. Vincke said Lae'zel was among the companions changed least across development. Karlach's infernal heart was a late addition to the game. According to region producer Elena Statsenko, Baldur's Gate 3 has 288 quests, and they aimed to incorporate moral dilemmas and outcome variety for different player types. Quest design considerations included how to integrate them with the main story and the extent to which playing an origin character changed them.

Release and post-release

Larian partially released an unfinished version of the game's first act into early access in October 2020. Over 2.5 million people played the game in early access, with this revenue sustaining the studio during this period. The game's scope increased throughout this period. Some companions were not able to be recruited in the early periods. Other changes included new character classes and subclasses, user interface updates and game balancing. Eurogamer's Ruth Cassidy said characterisation changes in the full release compared to early access—decreasing hostility to the player and increasing their vulnerability—felt like fan service.

Larian experienced issues while developing a version for Xbox Series X and Series S. Performance variation between the two consoles in split-screen co-operative play because feature parity was a requirement of the Xbox platform. Following an in-person meeting with Microsoft Games executive Phil Spencer at Gamescom, Vincke and Spencer arranged a compromise where the game could be brought to Xbox consoles without split-screen play on the Xbox Series S.

In March 2023, Larian Studios staff were concerned that the game would be delayed to avoid competition from another title, Bethesda Softworks' Starfield, after the lengthy development cycle. Vincke accelerated the game's Windows release by four weeks, and delayed the PlayStation 5 version by one week. The game was released for Windows on 3 August 2023, PlayStation 5 on 6 September 2023, and macOS on 22 September 2023. Following the PlayStation 5 version's launch, Larian revealed an animated short, "The Launch Party", co-produced with UK-based animation studio Mashed.

Post-release

Following release, Larian Studios added new content to the game via patching. The September 2023 update, for example, allowed players to customise their appearance at any time. In December 2023, the developer added two difficulty modes and an expanded epilogue featuring over 3,500 new lines of dialogue. An eighth and final patch was released in April 2024. The patch introduced 12 new sub-classes, a photo mode, cross-platform play, and co-operative split-screen for Xbox Series S.

Larian also revealed a physical edition of the game. The included disc does not contain the game, which must be downloaded, but contains the game's full soundtrack across three discs. The edition also featured a cloth-printed map; stickers; and a chalk-paper poster of a mind flayer.

Reception

Reception

Aggregate scores

Aggregator	Score
Metacritic	(PC) 96/100 (PS5) 96/100 (XBSX) 99/100
OpenCritic	98%

Review scores

Publication	Score
Eurogamer	4/5
Game Informer	9.5/10
GameSpot	10/10
GamesRadar+	5/5
IGN	10/10
Jeuxvideo.com	19/20
MeriStation	10/10
NME	5/5
PC Gamer (US)	97%
Polygon	Recommended
Push Square	10/10
TechRadar	5/5
The Guardian	5/5

Critical

According to review aggregator website Metacritic, Baldur's Gate 3 received "universal acclaim" from critics, with 98% of critics recommending the game on aggregator OpenCritic.

Production quality

Critics praised the game's detail and scope. Several critics compared the studio as a gracious dungeon master, with the game faithfully emulating the tabletop Dungeons and Dragons rules and experience. The Guardian's Nick Rueben praised Larian for anticipating creative problem solving by players. Polygon's Gita Jackson described the game as a "masterpiece" but criticised the underlying systems as "tedious" and "unfun". GameRant's Shane Moyer suggested that the game's dynamic, complex systems could be divisive. Several reviews praised the game's production quality, citing the cinematics, performance capture, and fully voiced cast. Digital Foundry's Alex Battaglia said the PC version's technical polish "shamed" the performance of triple-A titles. PC Gamer's Fraser Brown expressed surprised that bugs were infrequent and minor given BG3's scope and complexity.

Writing

The game's writing was widely acclaimed. The game's quests and side-quests received commentary: IGN's Leana Hafer said the side quests were "strong"; Van Aken praised quest outcome variety; Dekker supported the game's decision to prioritise player freedom over satisfying quest resolution. Eurogamer's Ruth Cassidy criticised the main narrative as having false urgency. Windows Central's Jennifer Young said narrative decisions had weight because almost every character could die. PCMag's criticised that some choices could inadvertently prevent players accessing some plot lines. The Dark Urge character origin received dedicated coverage, with GamesRadar+'s Jasmine Gould-Wilson describing it as the canonical version of the game.

Several praised the character writing as elevating the narrative beyond its standard fantasy tropes or archetypes. Ali Jones said companion's personalities contrasted well with their character classes—for example, Shadowheart as a healer "[serving] a goddess of darkness and loss" and Karlach as a traumatised barbarian "determined to draw on joy". Jackson praised the companion's reactivity, highlighting the vampire spawn Astarion's embrace of his freedom. Eurogamer's Ruth Cassidy criticised the initiation of romance arcs and the false urgency of the main narrative, while PCMag's reviewers praised them for developing naturally and being "unabashedly sexual". Hafer and Jones praised the romance overall, with Jones describing the approach as more mature than "picking the right dialogue options or passing a Charisma check".

Commercial

Early access sales & revenue.

Prior to the game's full release, Jason Schreier wrote that its success was likely, citing positive reception to the early access, strong pre-order sales, and high interest in the Dungeons and Dragons property. It became one of 2023's largest launches after release. In February 2024, Larian's publishing director Michael Douse said the game had over 10 million players; Larian has not released precise sales figures. The Irish Independent reported that Larian's 2023 pre-tax profit increased twentyfold from the previous year, reaching €249 million, and citing 15 million copies sold. Steam Spy estimated there were over 20 million owners of the game on the Steam platform. Vincke described the game's performance as "way beyond" expectations; he had been concerned the game's entire audience had purchased it during early access. In a Q4 2023 earnings call, Wizards of the Coast's parent company Hasbro said the game had earned the company $90 million. Douse said the game's player count increased 20% over 2024, with IGN's Wesley Yin-Poole attributing this to modding.

Accolades

Larian Studios acceptance speech after receiving the Game of the Year award at The Game Awards 2023

Baldur's Gate 3 had record-breaking award success continuing over a year beyond its release. According to Vincke, Larian sent rotating groups of staff to award ceremonies because it started to impact the studio's development activities. In April 2024, the game became the first to win Game of the Year, or the equivalent category, at all five major ceremonies: the Golden Joystick Awards, the Game Developers Choice Awards, the DICE Awards, the BAFTAs, and The Game Awards. Several publications also selected Baldur's Gate 3 as the best title of the year, including Ars Technica, GameSpot, GamesRadar+, and PC Gamer.

At the Golden Joystick Awards, the game broke the previous record with seven wins, including Best Storytelling, Best Visual Design, and Studio of the Year for Larian. At The Game Awards, the game won in six of the nine nominated categories, including Best Role Playing Game, Best Community Support, and Best Multiplayer Game. Baldur's Gate 3 was one of two titles to win multiple awards at the 2024 DICE Awards, receiving Best Role-Playing Game alongside Outstanding Achievements in Story, Game Design, and Game Direction. At the BAFTA Game Awards, the title won five awards; lead writer Sarah Baylus and composer Borislav Slavov accepted the awards for Best Narrative and Best Music, respectively. At the 24th Game Developers Choice Awards in San Francisco, it received four awards, including Best Narrative and Best Design.

The game's performances received awards recognition. Neil Newbon (Astarion) won Best Supporting Performer at the Golden Joysticks and Best Performance at The Game Awards. Newbon's performance was also nominated at the DICE Awards. Newbon shared nominated with the game's narrator, Amelia Tyler, at several ceremonies, including the New York Game Awards and the Golden Joysticks. At the BAFTAs, Newbon and Tyler were nominated for alongside Samantha Béart (Karlach) for Performer in a Leading Role. There were three nominations for the Performer in a Supporting Role: Tracy Wiles (Jaheira), Dave Jones (Halsin) and Andrew Wincott (Raphael), with Wincott's performance winning. Several awards were for BG3's LGBTQ representation. It won the GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Video Game. At the 2024 Gayming Awards, it received four nominations, including two for Best LGBTQ Character, winning with Shadowheart, and the Game of the Year.

The game's score, and composer Borislav Slavov, received several nominations. In 2020 and 2021, he received Hollywood Music in Media Awards nominations for Original Song – Video Games ("Weeping Dawn" and "I Want to Live", respectively), and for the full score in 2023. Slavov was nominated for Best Score and Music at the Game Awards. Slavov won in the Music category at the BAFTAs.

Date	Award	Category	Recipient(s)	Result	Ref.
2020	11th Hollywood Music in Media Awards	Original Song — Video Game	Borislav Slavov (for "Weeping Dawn")	Nominated
2021	12th Hollywood Music in Media Awards	Original Song — Video Game	Borislav Slavov (for "I Want to Live")	Nominated
2023	Golden Joystick Awards	Best Storytelling	Baldur's Gate 3	Won
		Best Game Community		Won
		Best Visual Design		Won
		PC Game of the Year		Won
		Studio of the Year	Larian Studios	Won
		Best Supporting Performer	Amelia Tyler (Narrator)	Nominated
			Neil Newbon (Astarion)	Won
		Ultimate Game of the Year	Baldur's Gate 3	Won
	14th Hollywood Music in Media Awards	Original Score — Video Game	Borislav Slavov	Nominated
	The Game Awards 2023	Game of the Year	Baldur's Gate 3	Won
		Best Game Direction		Nominated
		Best Narrative		Nominated
		Best Community Support		Won
		Best Role Playing Game		Won
		Best Multiplayer Game		Won
		Player's Voice		Won
		Best Score and Music	Borislav Slavov	Nominated
		Best Performance	Neil Newbon	Won
	The Vtuber Awards	Stream Game of The Year	Baldur's Gate 3	Nominated
	The Steam Awards	Game of the Year		Won
		Outstanding Story-Rich Game		Won
	The Streamer Awards	Stream Game of the Year		Nominated
2024	New York Game Awards	Big Apple Award for Game of the Year		Won
		Herman Melville Award for Best Writing in a Game		Won
		Statue of Liberty Award for Best World		Nominated
		Tin Pan Alley Award for Best Music in a Game		Nominated
		Great White Way Award for Best Acting in a Game	Amelia Tyler (Narrator)	Nominated
			Neil Newbon (Astarion)	Nominated
	27th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards	Game of the Year	Swen Vincke, David Walgrave	Won
		Role-Playing Game of the Year		Won
		Outstanding Achievement in Game Direction	Swen Vincke	Won
		Outstanding Achievement in Game Design	Nick Pechenin, Edouard Imbert, Farhang Namdar	Won
		Outstanding Achievement in Character	Astarion (Neil Newbon, Adam Smith, Chrystal Ding, Stephen Rooney)	Nominated
			Karlach (Samantha Béart, Adam Smith, Chrystal Ding, Sarah Baylus)	Nominated
		Outstanding Achievement in Story	Adam Smith, Chrystal Ding	Won
	35th GLAAD Media Awards	Outstanding Video Game	Baldur's Gate 3	Won
	24th Game Developers Choice Awards	Game of the Year		Won
		Best Audio		Nominated
		Best Design		Won
		Innovation Award		Nominated
		Best Narrative		Won
		Social Impact Award		Nominated
		Best Technology		Nominated
		Audience Award		Won
	20th British Academy Games Awards	Best Game		Won
		Animation		Longlisted
		Artistic Achievement		Nominated
		Audio Achievement		Longlisted
		Game Design		Longlisted
		Multiplayer		Nominated
		Music	Borislav Slavov	Won
		Narrative	Baldur's Gate 3	Won
		Performer in a Leading Role	Amelia Tyler (Narrator)	Nominated
			Neil Newbon (Astarion)	Nominated
			Samantha Béart (Karlach)	Nominated
		Performer in a Supporting Role	Andrew Wincott (Raphael)	Won
			Tracy Wiles (Jaheira)	Nominated
			Dave Jones (Halsin)	Longlisted
		Technical Achievement	Baldur's Gate 3	Longlisted
		EE Game of the Year		Won
	Webby Awards	Best Game Design		Won
		Best Game Design (People's Voice)		Won
		Independent Creator		Won
		Independent Creator (People's Voice)		Won
	Gayming Awards	Game of the Year		Won
		Readers Award		Won
		Authentic Representation Award		Nominated
		Best LGBTQ Character	Dame Aylin	Nominated
			Shadowheart	Won
		Industry Diversity Award	Larian Studios	Nominated
	Nebula Awards	Best Game Writing	Adam Smith, Adrienne Law, Baudelaire Welch, Chrystal Ding, Ella McConnell, Ine Van Hamme, Jan Van Dosselaer, John Corcoran, Kevin VanOrd, Lawrence Schick, Martin Docherty, Rachel Quirke, Ruairí Moore, Sarah Baylus, Stephen Rooney, Swen Vincke	Won
	Hugo Awards	Best Game or Interactive Work	Baldur's Gate 3	Won
	The Game Awards 2024	Best Community Support		Won
	The Steam Awards	Labor of Love		Nominated

Future

Following release, Larian reiterated interest in updating the game via patches and, despite significant fan interest, would not commit to downloadable content (DLC). While delivering a March 2023 talk at Game Developers Conference, Vincke announced the studio would not work on a sequel or downloadable content, saying they had tried but their internal ambitions were too large. The company began working on DLC because of fan interest, but it was scrapped because there was no passion for the idea internally. Larian said it was working on two projects, with both using their own intellectual property, and targeting a release before 2030.

As of 2025, there were two Dungeons and Dragons video games in production, with one in production at French developer Gameloft, and another by Swedish developer Starbreeze Studios. Hasbro's digital games vice-president Dan Ayoub said in March 2025 that discussions were ongoing over the future of Baldur's Gate and hoped to announce plans in the near future.

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Review aggregators

• Metacritic (PC): "Baldur's Gate 3 for PC Reviews". Metacritic. Fandom, Inc. Archived from the original on 22 September 2023.
• Metacritic (PS5): "Baldur's Gate 3 for Playstation 5 Reviews". Metacritic. Fandom, Inc. Archived from the original on 8 October 2023.
• Metacritic (XB): "Baldur's Gate 3 for Xbox Series X Reviews". Metacritic. Fandom, Inc. Archived from the original on 6 January 2024.
• OpenCritic: "Baldur's Gate 3". OpenCritic. Archived from the original on 3 September 2023.

External links

• Official website