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Baldur's Gate 3 was released on PS5 back on 6th September. Still, issues regarding performance and parity have prevented the game's release on Xbox platforms, primarily due to split-screen co-op struggling on the less powerful Series S, and our friends over at Pure Xbox have been keeping tabs on the situation. However, a recent technical breakthrough in optimization efforts could benefit players on all platforms, which we think is something all players can get behind.
Founder and CEO Swen Vincke posted screenshots to Twitter, showcasing how Larian Studios' engineering efforts have progressed. While the exact methods were not disclosed, RAM and VRAM usage has been curtailed significantly, which he is confident will benefit all players in time. Baldur's Gate 3 still drops frames during intense combat encounters and dense urban areas on PC and PS5, which the studio has continued to improve throughout numerous patches.
Due to Microsoft's promise of parity between its two consoles, Baldur's Gate 3 not running on Series S meant the epic RPG couldn't be released on Series X. This turned out to be a massive deal, the straw that broke the camel's back, as due to BG3's monumental success everywhere else, not releasing the game on Xbox at all was never going to be an option.
We aren't sure what fiendish powers the developers forged a pact with, but it's been a pretty good year for the scrappy independent Belgian studio. With The Game Awards around the corner, we imagine the developers will take home several statues, potentially even the big one. Cast your own votes in the comments section below.
[source twitter.com]
Comments 18
I’ve said it before — whenever anyone complains about cross-gen games holding back developers from really taking advantage of the current-gen hardware — a game being designed for lower-spec hardware will run better than ones that are only current-gen. It makes (good) developers get creative with optimization, resulting in smoother gameplay on the newest consoles. This being a great example of that.
For an example of the opposite of this effect, just look at Gotham Knights. As soon as I heard that they were dropping last-gen versions of it, I knew it meant that they were having trouble optimizing the game. Sure enough, the game was only 30fps on PS5, and it had a hard time even hitting that framerate.
Maybe I’m the only one, but I’d rather have a game that runs smoothly, versus one that looks amazing but runs like a slideshow.
It already did benefit PS5 because of Series S, cos it made BG3 a timed exclusive
@AdamNovice And how is that good for you, a player?
@species The same way it benefits xbox players to have all Bethesda and Activision except COD games exclusive from now on.
The same way other devs like the team behind Warframe found an optimisation by porting to Switch, plus stuff like the Ori team developing new optimising techniques because of it.
Sometimes having a ceiling breeds innovation that benefits everyone.
@Sil_Am This.
@AdamNovice @Sil_Am And what way is that? Please explain.
Never understood “console wars”, when will you realize that any exclusivity is only good for the suits on top of the food chain and you as a player are always worse off.
By following this blind brand loyalty youre against yourself.
@species mate I put a wink emoji on my original comment. It isn't that serious.
It's so funny that Microsoft is the reason BG3 is being an answer to Starfield for PS5. And much bigger one at that.
@species
Actually, true exclusivity is good for the player; it means the game is optimised for their platform, plus development time reduces significantly.
In terms of timed exclusives, it doesn’t directly benefit the player, although it could be argued that anything which allows Sony to compete with the financial juggernaut of MS ultimately keeps them in the game and competition high, thus benefiting the player in the end.
@species
'By following this blind brand loyalty you're against yourself.'
Please remind yourself of this when M$ hoover everything up and leave you with no choice whatsoever.
So called 'console wars' drive healthy competition.
And that is good for players.
@thefourfoldroot1 I agree with the second part 100%, MS is a huge problem.
Altho the argument of optimalisation surely only applies to the first party titles, definetly not baldurs gate in this instance, a game that was developed for PC first and foremost.
@PSme That would indeed be horrible. Lets hope it doesnt come to it. As for now, while MS can buy big companies left and right, they cant develop a hardware worth a damn since Xbox360.
Looking at the sale of hardware, one could say the market is well in Sonys favor right now.
@species
This is why I said “true exclusive” and separated that from timed exclusives. True exclusive games can also be optimised for one platform even if third party made (technically so can timed exclusives if no thought is put into the later port during the design phase, but I doubt that’s often the case).
Ms made some really bad choices with series x & s
@Scottyy well on top of that they didn’t have kind words for the games in their leaked e-mails…basically calling it a B tier game: they really don’t seem to understand gaming 😅
@Nei
They underestimate it for sure. Just like all the players who didn't try it in EA period.
@Scottyy Starfield is not even the best Bethesda Game this year. Hi-Fi Rush has more Game award nominations. 😂
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