Baldur’s Gate 3 will arrive on Xbox this year, without split-screen co-op on Series S

The success of Baldur’s Gate 3 has made it so that Phil Spencer took action on the matter. After its controversial delay due to the optimization of the split-screen cooperative on Xbox Series S, the heads of both the Xbox division and Larian Studios met to confirm that the game will arrive on Xbox consoles before the end of 2023 with some functions added... and others discarded entirely.

Baldur’s Gate 3 is coming to Xbox in 2023

Swen Vincke, executive director of Larian Studios, has shared that during the meeting with Phil Spencer, they found “a solution” that allows the Xbox Series X|S community to enjoy Baldur’s Gate 3 in 2023. The situation remains as follows: All improvements dedicated to this version will remain present, including split-screen co-op on Xbox Series X. However, Xbox Series S will not have that feature. Vincke has not mentioned if the measure is total or if they will continue working in parallel to add it soon.

In addition to what has been said, both consoles will have cross-save functions with Steam. This way you can play today if you want on PC through the Valve client and then jump to your Xbox Series X|S from the point where you left off. It’s a workaround while you wait for it to debut, but the game does not yet have a definitive release date.

The controversy started from the day Larian confirmed the PS5 version. It happened during the State of Play on February 23. Shortly after, it was Vincke himself who announced that the Xbox version was not yet ready to be announced, and he attributed it to the fact that they had run into some “technical issues” directed to a specific place: the cooperative split screen mode. Finally, the sacrifices that Vincke mentioned throughout these last months have been made. Meanwhile, the PS5 version is scheduled to launch on September 6, while the PC version is already available.