Hello there,
Stay informed with all our latest happenings—our voice is now echoing across more spaces on the internet! Perhaps you’ve spotted our BlueSky account, now awakened and actively engaging. Our Community Team has taken the natural leap to join Tumblr too—because if our characters are destined for countless slow-burn romance stories, we’re here for it.
In another piece of news, some of you on PS5 might have accidentally received Patch 8 prematurely—oops! If you’re puzzled by this, don’t fret. You can revert to Patch 7 by uninstalling and reinstalling the game. Detailed instructions can be found here. Consider it a bit of time travel.
Moreover, the Patch 8 stress test is now officially underway across Xbox, PlayStation, and PC!
If you’ve signed up to participate on PlayStation or PC, watch your inbox for an email from us containing your game code and instructions to access the stress test.
For those registered via the Xbox Insider Programme, the Baldur’s Gate 3 Stress Test is now available for download in the Xbox Insider Hub. For further details, please click here.
To discover how to set up a cross-play lobby and learn about the bug fixes arriving in Patch 8, keep reading!
During this Patch 8 stress test, players on Xbox, PlayStation, and PC will have the opportunity to explore cross-play by creating or joining lobbies.
If you wish to experience cross-play with friends on different platforms, and you’ve been granted access to the test while your friends haven’t, you can request additional Patch 8 stress test keys for PlayStation and Steam (PC) by visiting: https://larian.com/account/connected and linking your game account with your Larian account.
Check out the video below for a step-by-step guide on setting up cross-play!
Once cross-play is enabled from the multiplayer online settings, you will be able to create or join your own cross-play multiplayer lobby. Navigate to the Multiplayer menu, select Cross-Play, and create your lobby!
We suggest console players host a cross-play lobby if playing with a PC player during the Patch 8 stress test.
To add friends via the Larian Network, click on the + sign in the Create Lobby screen during cross-play setup. Enter their Larian account username and send a request! Once accepted, you’ll see them online and can invite them to your lobby.
While it’s preferable for console players to host cross-play sessions, should you intend to join a modded PC lobby, the PC host must contain fewer than 100 mods, only including those approved for console and Mac, marked with the “Available on Mac and Console” tag while browsing mods. Otherwise, a mod mismatch will occur, and joining the host’s game won’t be possible.
Looking to enjoy multiplayer closer to home? Patch 8 is also set to introduce split-screen functionality to Xbox Series S consoles! If you’re participating in the stress test on Xbox, you get an early assessment of this feature.
Register For The Patch 8 Stress Test
The stress test is now open, with access details sent to your email if you’ve signed up for PlayStation or PC. Xbox players must download the Xbox Insider Hub App to become Xbox Insiders and join the playtest from the app.
If you haven’t yet registered, feel free to express your interest by clicking on the banner below!
While some of you will get hands-on experience with Patch 8 today, here’s a sneak peek at some features expected in the finalized Patch 8 release!
- Photo mode
- 12 new subclasses
- Cross-play capabilities
- Xbox Series S split screen
- Success in a Perception check now marks the discovered item on the minimap and lists it in the combat log.
- Resolved an issue where some allies’ special abilities weren’t properly granted post-dialogue at High Hall.
- Unlocked container scrolls and potions in your party inventory are now usable during dialogue rolls.
- Friendly and neutral NPCs will no longer become hostile for walking into combat-made surfaces outside combat that trigger passives (like Thunderbolt Strike).
- Fixed reset of Freecast upon condition applications.
- Fixed pathfinding inefficiencies on ladders when other companions are using them.
- Fixed a moving platform issue within the Gauntlet of Shar to avoid falling incidents.
- Fixed neutral NPCs generating combat engagement for unclear reasons.
- Cerys no longer engages in battles with Minthara from afar. Eager beavers no more.
- Fixed multiplayer sessions with mods causing endless loading screens.
- The Mod Verification window now properly triggers, independent of the connection source for multiplayer games.
- Replaced a third-party mod alert with clearer communication.
- Rectified missing ruleset selector on the ‘Alter Custom Mode’ screen in the multiplayer lobby.
- Enhanced server performance at the Adamantine Forge.
- Corrected the ability to inform Astarion of Gandrel’s search, even without Gandrel revealing his target.
- Resolved a savegame issue causing an incorrect Umbral Gems count for the Gauntlet of Shar.
- Minthara now comments on the Emperor’s unveiling.
- Reminded Minthara that ‘knocked out’ does not equate to ‘dead’, ensuring her presence at Moonrise Towers.
- Teleportation away from Moonrise with Minthara requires instructing her to remain behind.
- Minthara is now more communicative if asked to wait in the torture chamber.
- Minthara no longer gets stuck supervising Thaniel in Act II.
- Fixed dialog where you could reference Art Cullagh’s life even if he had died.
- Your character no longer assumes Shadowheart’s demise when it isn’t the case, during conversation with Viconia.
- Romantic partners of Gale will now receive a fitting letter when he sacrifices himself in the game’s final moments to defeat the Netherbrain.
- Fixed a dialogue issue preventing Avatar Gale from discussing the orb with Lae’zel after consuming a magical item.
- Discovered and active traders, who are neither hostile nor deceased, are now marked on the world map, regardless of their distance.
- Shadowheart no longer frequently changes her hair color during certain intimate sequences.
- Enhanced and refined cinematic animations for varying character height during kissing scenes in the game’s evil ending.
- Fixed a duplicate dialogue option and corrected a version of another dialogue in Minthara’s primary party interactions.
Patch 8 addresses numerous issues including various crashes, combat bugs, scripting errors, and more. Full patch notes will be available once Patch 8 is live!
Our internal playtesting has been ongoing for weeks, and thanks to the new photo mode in Patch 8, our team has discovered unique ways to highlight intriguing issues.
While we don’t expect you to showcase every unexpected bug, your reports from the Patch 8 stress test are valuable. Please use the bug reporting form, noting “Patch 8” in the Game Version field!
As the Patch 8 stress test is a work-in-progress build, we acknowledge certain known issues affecting the new features. Find the details below!
While we hope for minimal impact on supported mods with Patch 8, this stress test aids in understanding mod interactions and identifying pre-release issues.
- Users of ImpUI may find radial descriptions absent, and some menu options not functioning correctly. We advise creating a new save or using an existing one without ImpUI or mods relying on it for the stress test.
- Photo Mode exhibits visual corruption when using Vulkan.
- Some lines in the cross-play settings aren’t fully localized.
- Multiplayer lobby participants may lose movement input after acquiring an item.
- Some keyboard shortcuts and controller buttons may become unresponsive after trading with vendors.
Keep an eye out for updates as we continue to tackle these issues throughout the Patch 8 stress test!
We want to hear about your Patch 8 experience, so we’ve made a short form for you to share feedback. If you’re part of the stress test, find the link in your access email!
We’ll touch base with you again soon.