Baldur's Gate 3 will be leaving early access sooner than expected, now launching on August 3 for PC and September 6 for PS5. According to Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier, this is to avoid a clash with Starfield since both games are enormously ambitious RPG timesinks.
This was confirmed in a Steam blog post by developer Larian Studios, "We've been busy. We've grown, and so too has Baldur's Gate 3. Let's get into a little detail about what you can expect to see in the Panel From Hell: Release Showcase, just in time for the release of the game on August 3rd [...] YOU READ THAT RIGHT. We will be releasing the game in order of platform readiness [...] This means the PC version of Baldur's Gate 3 will be released at a time where you'll have more time to play it."
While the PC version has been pulled forward to August 3, the PS5 port has actually been delayed. It was initially scheduled to launch on August 31 but the team pushed it back to ensure it releases with 60fps support. "We don't want to compromise on quality, and feel it would be a shame to downscale to 30fps". The team is also "optimistic" about getting Baldur's Gate 3 on Xbox Series, but before it's ready to announce anything, "we need to ensure that the game is performing without compromise across the entire Xbox X|S ecosystem".
Readying for launch, Larian shed light on what we can expect this Summer. The level cap has been raised to 12; there will be two new races available at launch--Dragonborns and Half-Orcs (the Dragonborn race will be shown off in more detail on July 7 in the Panel From Hell: Reveal Showcase); a new Monk class; a new playable character called Karlach, a "battle-worn Tiefling Barbarian from Early Access", and a whole host of new spells.
With the new release date, that means there are only 35 days to go before we're finally playing the 1.0 build of Baldur's Gate 3. It has been in development for six years and in early access for just under three, but at long last, it's nearly ready for launch. And luckily, at least for PC players, you'll have some breathing room to enjoy it before Starfield arrives.