Baldur’s Gate III will enter Early Access at its full release price of $60, according to developer Larian Studios. The game is the latest in the venerable series of CRPGs based in the classic Dungeons & Dragons setting of the Forgotten Realms. The game was first announced during E3 2019, and while the date of its full release is uncertain, Early Access will begin on September 30th.
The original Baldur’s Gate was released in 1998 and was credited by many publications at the time with almost singlehandedly resurrecting the computer RPG genre. The game is an uncontested legend, and it’s spawned a long-lived series of successors and expansions. Baldur’s Gate was so beloved that it got an enhanced version in 2012, and an enhanced version of the sequel, Baldur’s Gate II, followed a year later. The name Baldur’s Gate is familiar even to gamers who’ve never played it as a vital piece of video game history.
The latest game to uphold the series’ illustrious legacy will be playable soon, though not without some strange caveats. As publishing director Michael Douse revealed on Twitter, the game is going to cost a full $60 when it hits Early Access later this month. This is surprising and unpleasant news for a lot of fans; an early access game is by definition an unfinished product, and pricing an incomplete game at the same amount as a finished and polished triple A title feels awfully unfair to some. Douse seems to recognize this, as he has told fans that they shouldn’t feel pressured to buy the game during Early Access; at the same time he highlights that Baldur’s Gate III will be much, much larger at the end of Early Access.
This news is a blemish on what is otherwise a very good time to be a fan of Dungeons & Dragons. Just last week, Wizards of the Coast announced its newest expansion book, Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything, which will feature new spells and subclasses to bring new variety and power to D&D campaigns. The book is set to release on November 17th. Farther in the future, fans can look forward to D&D‘s iconic Forgotten Realms appearing in Wizards of the Coast’s popular trading card game Magic: The Gathering, the first time D&D has appeared in the game outside of a single joke card. Last year was the most successful year in the history of Dungeons & Dragons, and Wizards seems to be rewarding the player base for making such a huge milestone happen.
Douse’s revelation makes it look like Larian Studios just isn’t in on the festivities. Fans are clearly disinclined to invest in an unfinished game for such a high cost, and in some Twitter replies, it almost sounds like Douse is actively encouraging them not to. Larian Studios has an impressive pedigree; it’s the studio responsible for the beloved Divinity: Original Sin games, after all. There’s little doubt that it can deliver an exceptional experience for Baldur’s Gate III. It’s just unfortunate that it’s starting the journey on these terms.
Baldur’s Gate III releases in Early Access on PC and Google Stadia on September 30th, 2020.
