The Dungeons and Dragons inspired game series Baldur's Gate is finally getting a third installment years after the second game in the series released back in 2000. However, while Baldur's Gate 3 is finally on its way, the extremely high profile game seems to be having a limited release, only launching through PC and Stadia.
When pressed on this issue, Larian Studios suggested that the limiting factor of keeping the game off consoles is due to the power of the PS4 and Xbox One not being enough to run the game properly. However, this doesn't necessarily mean that the idea of a console released for Baldur's Gate 3 is completely out of the question, just not for this console generation.
Baldur's Gate Only Recently Came to Console
A Baldur's Gate title not coming to consoles is far from unprecedented, as the series has been primarily kept on PC until October 2019, when the original games finally made it to console. The Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition bundle was the very first time that the game released on a home console, landing on the PS4, Xbox One, and Switch, just in time to get players excited for Baldur's Gate 3. However, porting decades-old games onto the PS4 and Xbox One is likely a much easier ask than porting a game meant for modern gaming rigs onto what are now six-year-old consoles.
Baldur's Gate 3 holding off on a console release as it first arrives to the market is nothing new for the series, even if it does slim down the available player base considerably. Then again, the fan base for the beloved Baldur's Gate series is likely mostly on PC, considering that most people who have been engaging with the series have been playing on the platform from the beginning. In that case, while excitement for the game is high and there is a market on console, the game will likely perform fine on PC and Stadia alone.
Next-Gen Consoles should be able to run Baldur's Gate 3
If the argument for avoiding a console release is that the current generation of consoles isn't powerful enough to run Baldur's Gate 3, then next-gen could be the answer. With the PS5 and Xbox Series X on the way this year, there may be an opportunity to finally bring that section of the gaming market into the Baldur's Gate community. The Xbox Series X alone is reported to be twice as powerful as the Xbox One X, and up to eight times as powerful as the base Xbox One.
Not much information has been officially released when it comes to the PS5, aside from the massively impressive SSD nearly eliminating loading times, but it is expected to be comparable to the Xbox Series X. With this kind of power in the systems, it would be hard to believe that Baldur's Gate 3 would actually be to intense for the Next-Gen systems to handle. However, there are certainly more limiting factors to releasing a game on multiple consoles, specifically the added development cost required to port a game to a new system.
Next-Gen Delays Could be Holding Back Release Announcements
Both Sony and Microsoft have been trying to curtail rumors recently that the current Coronavirus outbreak may be leading to delays of the console. Regardless of how the outbreak is affecting manufacturing, other effects of the world, like supply and demand, may lead to Next-Gen delays due to shortages limiting the amount of consoles that can be built. As a result, Larian Studios could be holding back on announcing a console release for Next-Gen systems until the future of the hardware is more solidified.
Looking back again to the majority of players that would be excited about Baldur's Gate 3 likely playing on PC could mean that Larian Studios simply isn't prioritizing consoles. In that case, potential Next-Gen delays could lead the studio to giving up on a console release for the time being and focusing more on the PC and Stadia versions until more information appears. That being said, this doesn't mean that an eventual release on consoles is completely out of the question in the future, depending on how well the market responds to the swirling rumors around the title launching for systems.
Larian Studios Would be Missing out Big
For a high priority title like Baldur's Gate 3 with a dedicated fan base looking to join in on the Dungeons & Dragons style action, limiting the release to so few platforms could be a mistake. While PC players do have advantages over console, with customizable and rigs that can be modified to always have the best specs available on the market, many players still prefer the pre-built systems. So missing out on the overwhelming section of the gaming market that sticks exclusively with consoles could be a mistake if Larian Studios is looking to maximize on the title's hype.
With the Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition bundle on PS4, Xbox One, and Switch now, the fan base has had the potential to spread further than ever. As a result, the market for the series has also expanded beyond the limited scope of PC and Stadia to players from a much wider community. In that case, from a business standpoint at the very least, it would be more beneficial to work on a console release than to hope that PC and Stadia sales are enough to justify the development costs of creating the game in the first place, possibly even hosting Steam's early access version on more platforms.
Baldur's Gate May Have Exclusivity Deals
One final barrier to a console release could also be exclusivity deals, such as how Baldur's Gate 3 will reportedly have features exclusive to Stadia. At the moment there don't seem to be any deals in the works, especially considering that the game has already been confirmed to release for at least two platforms. However, it is possible that either Google or Steam included some sort of timed exclusivity when it comes to the release in order to help Stadia stay afloat and give Steam an edge over the Epic Game's Store.
