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Baldur’s Gate 3: release dates, file size, preorder, and early access

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After many years of waiting, plus months in early access getting things just right, Baldur’s Gate 3 is finally poised for a full release on August 3 for PC and September 6 on PS5, with Xbox consoles not officially confirmed as of yet. This sequel looks to be the follow-up fans of the most popular Dungeons & Dragons spinoff have been dreaming of, with deep character customization, meaningful decision-making, and tactical turn-based combat.

Whether you’ve been following the game’s progress through the early-access versions or waiting for the final product, you will want to be ready to begin your adventure the moment the title drops on your platform of choice. We can’t help you build your character sheet, but we can at least make sure you’re ready to roll your character the moment Baldur’s Gate 3 opens.

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Baldur’s Gate 3 release time

A map showing when Baldur's Gate 3 launches around the world.
Larian

In a rare move, Larian Studios split the release date for Baldur’s Gate 3, moving the PC date forward to August 3 and PS5 version back to September 6. If you are a PC player, you can start playing at 8 a.m. PT and 11 a.m. ET on August 3. See the above map for other time zones.

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Baldur’s Gate 3 file size

Larian Studios has officially stated that PC players will need 150GB of free space to install Baldur’s Gate 3, but Director of Publishing Michael Douse later stated that the game itself will only take up 122GB, noting “We like you having at least 150GB because that’s just good for you.” To be safe, we suggest having 150GB free just in case.

The file size for the PS5 version is still unknown.

Baldur’s Gate 3 preload options

A Baldur's Gate 3 character lights the way.
Larian Studios

PC players will not be able to preload Baldur’s Gate 3 prior to its launch date and time. You will have to wait until the game releases before downloading the entire game to play. However, we do know that those who preorder the Digital Deluxe Edition are eligible for 72-hour early access to Act 1 of the game only on the PS5 version of the game, implying that preloads will be done sometime before that period. The PC Digital Deluxe Edition does not include a 72-hour head start.

Again, we will update you when official word is given.

Baldur’s Gate 3 preorder details

Baldur’s Gate 3 is available to preorder as the base game, Digital Deluxe Edition on PS5, and Collector’s Edition for both PC and PS5 through its official store.

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Jesse Lennox
Jesse Lennox
Jesse Lennox loves writing, games, and complaining about not having time to write and play games. He knows the names of more…
Which Baldur’s Gate 3 class should you pick?
A mage holding a flaming object.

The world of Dungeons & Dragons, which is of course where Baldur's Gate 3 comes from, is all about choice and crafting your own story through the world. Baldur's Gate 3 promises plenty of ways to alter the story, including a reported 1,700 different ending permutations. But the first and most important decision you make will be which class your main character is. Along with your race, your class is what will define how your character plays, including what roles they are best suited for and what abilities they can learn in and out of combat. With 12 to pick from at the start, plus 48 total subclasses within those main 12, it can feel like an overwhelming choice to make so early. To make things easier, we'll break down all the classes in Baldur's Gate 3 to help you decide which one to pick.
All Baldur's Gate 3 classes
Barbarian

The Barbarian is likely the easiest class to wrap your head around just based on the name. This class focuses primarily on the Strength stat and is all about melee damage. They are proficient with light and medium armor, shields, simple and martial weapons, plus get the unique Rage class action. When you enter the Rage state, you deal more damage and can survive fatal wounds. Their saving throws are linked to the Strength and Constitution stats.

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How long is Baldur’s Gate 3?
A party of heroes stands on a cliff in Baldur's Gate 3.

CRPGs are notorious for being very lengthy investments, and Baldur's Gate 3 is no exception. Even in its early access days, players were spending hundreds of hours on just the first act of the game, though just doing the main story would be significantly less. Some people may spend hours just in the character creator choosing their race and speccing out their class, while others may dive in and only do the main quests. In a game this large, your playtime will vary quite a bit, but no matter how much, or little, of a completionist you are, we can give you a good idea of just how long Baldur's Gate 3 will take to beat.
How long is Baldur's Gate 3?
Oh boy, this is going to be a somewhat complicated and intimidating answer. Baldur's Gate 3 is a massive CRPG that is all about giving you a unique and tailored experience. Everything from your race, stats, and skills to choices, dialogue choices, and successful or failed skill checks can alter your playtime in some way. There's also the vast number of optional activities and objectives you can choose to engage with or ignore, as well as your difficulty level, to consider. Prior to launch, Larian Studios developer Swen Vincke said that an average playthrough of the game would take "between 75 to 100 hours, that's what we're seeing. That's not doing everything, that is just going to be a playthrough. There will be people who will be way over that, the ones who want to do everything. They will probably hit 200 hours, I think. On average, we're seeing people who are going through take about 75 to 100 hours."

From our experience, we would say that figure is accurate if you're playing on the normal difficulty and taking time to do some sidequests and diversions to explore and engage in a decent amount of the optional content. Normally, a 25-hour range would be a bit wide as an average, but when you consider how your class comes into play, how much combat you encounter, to what degree you are role-playing, and whether or not you're playing alone or in co-op, it starts to make more sense.

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Do you need to play the first two Baldur’s Gate games before playing 3?
A female adventurer with scales on her face.

Baldur's Gate 3 is officially out of early access and first impressions imply that it could be one of the best games of 2023. While there aren't many scored reviews out (critics only had a few days with the game before launch), several "reviews in progress" have shared some glowing thoughts on the massive computer role-playing game (CRPG). We've published our own early thoughts, which align with the critical consensus, noting that it could very well be the best Dungeons & Dragons video game ever.

With so much hype around the release, there's a question that might spring to mind: Do you have to play Baldur's Gate and Baldur's Gate 2 before playing 3? That would involve going back to play two enormous games from over 20 years ago, which seems like an overwhelming task. If that's stressing you out, don't worry: There's great news for newcomers.
Do you have to play Baldur's Gate 1 and 2 before playing Baldur's Gate 3?

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