Due to issues achieving feature parity on the Xbox Series X and S consoles, it certainly looked like Baldur's Gate 3 may skip Xbox entirely. Fortunately, the biggest RPG release of the year is indeed on the way, after Microsoft granted Larian special terms to drop split-screen co-op on the Xbox Series S. Now, it looks like the Xbox release is just around the corner.

Baldur's Gate 3 quickly became one of the biggest games of the year following its launch out of early access. The game has been a top-seller on Steam and has also been very popular on the PS5. Soon, Xbox owners will get to join in on the fun, as Larian founder, Swen Vincke, has provided a development update, confirming that the Xbox version is being playtested and is on schedule to release this year.

Unfortunately, there is no exact release date just yet, but Vincke did say that Larian will announce the date once they are sure the Xbox version is ready to roll out. Given the company's special agreement with Microsoft to drop local co-op on the Series S version, the game may also get priority once it is submitted to certification in order to get the game out quicker. Given how much of a critical and commercial hit Baldur's Gate 3 has been over the last few months, we expect that Microsoft is eager to get the game available on their platform.

Still, game testing takes time and each platform is a little bit different and can present different issues. With that in mind, it could take a while to fully test the game and get it ready. I would expect a release date in December at this point, if not early 2024.

KitGuru Says: Given the power disparity between the Xbox Series S and Series X/PS5 consoles, I think we may see more situations where feature parity is dropped to allow for ambitious game releases.

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