Baldur’s Gate 3 is gunning for the top of the Steam charts with jaw-dropping stats

By Tomas Franzese August 4, 2023

Baldur’s Gate 3 left early access and officially launched on August 3, and it’s seeing an unprecedented level of success. At the time of writing, the peak player count for the game is hovering around 537, 000, according to data from SteamDB.

Baldur’s Gate 3 saw steady growth in player count ahead of its early access launch in recent weeks, and that player count number has only continued to skyrocket. Right now, Baldur’s Gate 3 is the third most concurrently played game on Steam. The only games Baldur’s Gate 3 is lagging behind are Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and DOTA 2, two popular multiplayer games with massive communities. PUBG: Battlegrounds, the game in fourth place, is around 200,000 players behind Larian Studios’ latest.

Steam charts show Baldur's Gate 3 at #3. — SteamDB

For a game that is from the fairly niche CRPG genre, has been gestating in early access for years, and hasn’t been as zeitgeisty as other 2023 RPGs like Starfield, these numbers are ridiculously impressive. For reference, SteamDB lists the all-time peak for Larian Studios’ previous game, Divinity: Original Sin 2, at 93,701. Then, if you want to look at older games in the Baldur’s Gate series, the all-time peak player count for Baldur’s Gate: Enhanced Edition on Steam was 3,756 players, while the all-time peak for Baldur’s Gate II: Enhanced Edition was only 2,644.

This is a massive win for single-player games and RPGs, showing that there are plenty of people who still care for and want to play great games in that style. It’ll be exciting to see how far up this concurrent player count could go. Will it reach the heights of games like Counter-Strike: Global Offensive?

Baldur’s Gate 3 is available now for PC. It will also launch for PS5 on September 6.

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Tomas Franzese is a Staff Writer at Digital Trends, where he reports on and reviews the latest releases and exciting…

Gaming

Is Baldur’s Gate 3 coming to Xbox?

A mage holding a flaming object.

After years in early access only on PC, Baldur's Gate 3 is finally here in its final state. This CRPG has the internet buzzing about just how long and varied the experience can be. What's even better is that it can be played in co-op, though with limited cross-platform features. Those looking at the game may notice that there is only ever mention of a PC and PS5 version, which obviously raises the question about Xbox consoles. Baldur's Gate 3 doesn't have any exclusivity deal with PlayStation, so why isn't it on Xbox, and will it ever be?
Will Baldur's Gate 3 come to Xbox?
https://twitter.com/Cromwelp/status/1685821620756021249?s=20

Long before launch, Larian stated that it intended to release Baldur's Gate 3 on Xbox consoles alongside the PC and PS5 releases, but ran into a technical hurdle that it wasn't confident it could resolve. That issue was that the game couldn't run in split-screen mode on the weaker Series S. Because Xbox requires games to be able to run on the S as well as the X, that meant that the team had no choice but to delay the release on that platform.

Gaming

Before starting Baldur’s Gate 3, you’ll need to know these Dungeons & Dragons basics

A Drow prepares to throw an item in Baldur's Gate 3.

If you’re looking to dive into Baldur’s Gate 3, but don’t have any knowledge of the series, don’t worry. The new CRPG tells a standalone story that doesn’t require that you have any knowledge of the series’ first two games. You might, however, want to be a little familiar with Dungeons & Dragons.

Baldur’s Gate 3 is the most comprehensive adaptation of the tabletop game ever made, heavily drawing from D&D’s 5th edition ruleset to build its own RPG systems. And while everything is explained in the game through tooltips, the mass of systems can be overwhelming if they're totally new to you. You’ll have to learn a wealth of tabletop gameplay knowledge in a short time to start killing owlbears and charming your way through conversations.

Gaming

Which Baldur’s Gate 3 race should you pick?

Baldurs Gate 3

Some RPGs with multiple races don't limit you too much depending on which you choose to play, but most RPGs also don't have 11 choices as Baldur's Gate 3 does. Your race will obviously be a massive cosmetic choice, with your choices ranging from normal Humans to scaly Dragonborn and stout Dwarfs, but the effects of this choice will ripple throughout your playthrough. Your race can have a huge impact on the various stories in Baldur's Gate 3 since some characters will react to your race differently, but you'll never know how that will play out until you come across them. What we can help you with when creating your character is selecting the best race to pair with your class in Baldur's Gate 3.
Elf

The Elf is typically seen as a ranger or a more dexterous race, which holds true for Baldur's Gate 3. They come with two extra stats in Dex and are proficient with both long and shortwords, as well as long and shortbows. They also have two important traits, the first being Darkvision which lets you see up to 12 meters in the dark. The second is Fey Ancestry which gives them a bonus to saving throws when they are being charmed, plus can't be put to sleep using magic. This is a great race to pair with a Ranger or Rogue class.
Tiefling