Game News Baldur's Gate 3 Community Update #32: Get Ready For The Patch 8 Stress Test

[Infinitron]

Tags: Baldur's Gate 3; Larian Studios

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1086940/view/782037674453106724

Good news, everyone! It’s January. The world has finished another lazy rotation around the Sun, and as you’re gazing into the murky horizon of 2025 like a groundhog in search of Spring, we’re hard at work to bring you your next excuse to return to Faerûn.

Patch 8 is still moving along nicely, but before we let you in on the upcoming stress test to try your hand at breaking things, we’re adding some finishing touches and working with our partners to ensure you can fully test cross-play. We hope to let you into the Patch 8 stress test towards the end of this month.

Today’s community update is here to remind you of what’s arriving in our final major patch and uses the upcoming photo mode to celebrate some of the creations you’ve shared with us during our journey together. Someone grab the tissue, it can’t really be the end, can it?

Register Now
If you’ve not yet signed up to take part in the Patch 8 stress test to help test things out, you can still register your interest by clicking on the banner with the handsome feller below!

Want to join the stress test from an Xbox? You’ll need to download the Xbox Insider Hub App to become an Xbox Insider and join the playtest from the app once the stress test begins to go live.

Arriving With Patch 8
The final major patch for Baldur’s Gate 3 is right around the corner and will deliver several hotly anticipated features, including cross-play, photo mode, and 12 new subclasses, which you can read more about in Community Update #30.

With plenty more fixes to be included! And don’t worry, this isn’t the end of our bug fixing.

New Subclasses
Soon there will be 12 new ways to experience Baldur’s Gate 3 - a new subclass is being added for each of the 12 classes in the game, complete with new VFX and animations that we teased in Community Update #31.

You’ve got to try out all of them, right?

Photo Mode
Patch 8 also introduces photo mode, so get ready to smile for the camera, or if you’re like Karlach, stare into the middle-distance as you contemplate all your past mistakes.

While you’re adventuring around the Sword Coast, you’ll be able to toggle photo mode on or off and play around with a multitude of options for the party you’ve brought along with you, including during combat encounters. Position them to your liking, change facial expressions to fit the scene, and play around with the camera, lens, and scene settings.

During dialogues and cinematic scenes, you won’t be able to alter the camera or position your party, but you will have access to a whole bunch of post-processing effects, such as colour-grading settings, frames, and stickers, that can be used whether you’re tottering around Baldur’s Gate, or kissing your beloved.

We’re looking forward to seeing the creativity you’ll bring once you get your hands on Patch 8!​

 

[Sergio]

Thanks but no thanks.

 

[Larianshill]

Why does a patch need a stress test? The previous patches did not need a stress test.

 

[Curious_Tongue]

The previous patches did not need a stress test.

Not receiving one is not the same as not needing one.

 

[Clockwork Knight]

Why does a patch need a stress test? The previous patches did not need a stress test.

During the Patch 8 stress test, registered Xbox, PlayStation, and PC players will be able to test out cross-play by either creating or joining a lobby and inviting friends through the Larian Network. With such a large technical feature being implemented, we’re keen to see how you get on with cross-play during the stress test so that we can make any small changes before Patch 8 is released!

 

[Crispy]

There's nothing quite like having gay sex with a tentacled being with your friends over the internet and across multiple platforms!

 

[Crispy]

While you’re adventuring around the Sword Coast

Also, this is like false advertising.

 

[Mr. Magniloquent]

So 12 subclasses and bunch of faggy reddit stuff. I perked up when I saw the shadow magic sorcerer, but it's not like any of the Shadow Adept or Shadowcaster PrCs that are actually cool.

 

[Infinitron]

Why does a patch need a stress test? The previous patches did not need a stress test.

During the Patch 8 stress test, registered Xbox, PlayStation, and PC players will be able to test out cross-play by either creating or joining a lobby and inviting friends through the Larian Network. With such a large technical feature being implemented, we’re keen to see how you get on with cross-play during the stress test so that we can make any small changes before Patch 8 is released!

Besides this, it's also possible that at this point Larian have wound down their BG3 QA teams, so they need more help from players to test patches.

 

[lightbane]

Soo, when is the final edition launching?

 

[Clockwork Knight]

Soon™

https://www.videogamer.com/news/baldurs-gate-3-devs-shift-full-attention-to-their-next-game/

Baldur’s Gate 3 devs officially shift “full attention” to their next game as CEO teases “the story ain’t over”​

January 10, 2025


Larian Studios’ Baldur’s Gate 3 is one of the most ambitious and celebrated RPGs of all time, and it deserves every ounce of popularity. With the game managing to still decimate player counts in 2025, BG3 is a game that could live forever.

However, following the release of Patch 8 this month, Larian is done with major updates to BG3 as the studio plans to “bid Faerun adieu”. While more Baldur’s Gate 3 content could release, especially considering past games owned by Wizards of the Coast saw additional DLC by new devs, Larian is mostly done.

Baldur’s Gate 3 devs put “full attention” to new project​

In a post on Twitter, Larian Studios CEO Swen Vincke commented on an amazing video telling the tale of Larian. Dubbed “From Bankruptcy to Baldur’s Gate 3”, the spectacular video goes through the history of the game developer and touches on some of its lowest points.

While commenting on the video, Vincke teased that Larian is far from done. The studio’s next project won’t be ready for many years, but the CEO still wants fans to “stay tuned”.

“Got me all nostalgic – it really has been a[n] incredible journey so far,” Vincke said. “But the story ain’t over yet. Stay tuned. Going to try to skip the dark night of the soul moment though if you don’t mind.”

In a separate statement to VideoGamer by Larian, it was confirmed that the team is now fully committed to the studio’s next project. While some minor support for BG3 is still in place for bug fixes and managing the game’s modding portal, the bulk of the studio is now acitvely developing its next game.

“Swen and the team[‘s]… full attention is focused on crafting their next title,” VideoGamer was told as Larian moves to a “media blackout” for the foreseeable future.

Preliminary work has already been done on Larian’s next RPG as graphics engineers quickly moved to fix the biggest technical issues with Baldur’s Gate 3. While the studio hasn’t revealed what their next game will be—although many are hoping it’s a return to Divinity—one thing is certain: it isn’t Baldur’s Gate 4.

 

[The Nameless One]

Well, looks like either someday or never, we'll have an actual sequel to Baldur's Gate II.