Baldur’s Gate 3 Early Access launch delayed past August

A tweet from Larian Studios delivered some disappointing news today. Fans excited for this month’s Baldur’s Gate 3 Early Access release will now have to wait a little longer. Despite the endless project delays announced this year, this one probably still caught fans off guard. Just back in June, the studio’s CEO Swen Vincke announced with a general degree of confidence that the game was on track. It seems things took a turn for the worse since then.

Good news and bad news. BG3 won’t hit August, but it’s just around the corner. We’ll be announcing the release date, as well as big news on the Panel From Hell alongside @geoffkeighley, @LarAtLarian and the Larian crew. Tune in Aug 18th. https://t.co/S1RlVpJ8yw pic.twitter.com/NCkrnHHpH0

— Larian Studios (@larianstudios) August 4, 2020

However, the tweet did mention that the game is still “right around the corner.” This implies that the August 18 “Panel from Hell” should bear some good news about the new Baldur’s Gate 3 release date. Anyone interested in seeing the Q&A and discussions hosted by Geoff Keighley can tune in at 1:00 PM ET. Larian promises additional development updates, special guests, and a few surprises of course.

A legacy of generations

While another month or so of delay may not be a big deal to everyone, it may hit old school Baldur’s Gate fans particularly hard. Afterall, they’ve waited nearly 20 years now for a proper generational sequel. Furthermore, global circumstances have made life crawl to an incredibly slow pace for some. What better way to spend the time than with the return of an absolutely classic RPG franchise?

Baldur’s Gate has all of the right ingredients for a proper fantasy RPG. Turn-based strategy, monsters and demons, deep lore, and plenty of grand adventure. The series took the the genre by storm back in its heyday and established BioWare as one of the most competent studios in the industry. There’s certainly a lot of pressure on Larian Studios to ensure the next sequel lives up to the franchise’s legacy.

While we wait on the August 18 panel, at least we can watch the gameplay previews and replay some of the classics. The Baldur’s Gate 3 Early Access release may even pack in a few more features like quality of life tweaks, given the extra time.