Fans of Baldur’s Gate have been eagerly awaiting the latest entry in the franchise. In fact, the game will release in early access at the end of this month. Today we got the final word on how much the game will cost when it does, and it probably isn’t what fans wanted to hear. A Baldur’s Gate 3 early access copy will cost you a full $60.
The director of publishing at the studio behind the game, Larian Studios, Michael Douse, went on Twitter to explain. Douse says that the early access version will contain one 25-hour playthrough, but the full version is “much” longer. He also goes on to say that fans should not feel pressured to buy a Baldur’s Gate 3 early access version. It seems that he realizes that $60 is very steep for an early access game.
For context, another of the studio’s games, Divinity: Original Sin 2, launched on PC for $45. This makes it Larian’s most expensive game by a pretty considerable margin. The early access version is apparently only the first part of the game’s campaign. It essentially boils down to the Baldur’s Gate 3 early access version being a $60 playable pre-order, even if early access lets the development team make changes and fixes before the “full” release.
The no longer forgotten realm
It remains to be seen if fans will be willing to fork out $60 for a game in early access. It could cause a perception problem for the game, which can be notoriously difficult to get over, even if the game ends up great. Fans of this franchise have been waiting so long for new content though that they may be willing to try out a Baldur’s Gate 3 early access version for such a high price. We will see what happens one way or the other when the game releases into early access at the end of the month on September 30. You can sign up for early access on Steam.
