Here’s how and where to play Baldur’s Gate 3 (2024)

More than 20 years after the launch of Baldur’s Gate 2, we finally have a sequel in the form of Baldur’s Gate 3. Released on August 3, Baldur’s Gate 3 is a new role-playing game that has so far received pretty much widespread critical acclaim.

But if you’ve yet to take the plunge, you may be wondering what platforms Baldur’s Gate 3 is available on and what could be the best platforms to play Larian’s RPG on.

So to help you get started, we've run down the platforms you can play Baldur’s Gate 3 on today and when to expect the game on other devices.

Baldur's Gate 3 on PC

Probably the best Baldur’s Gate 3 experience can be had on a Windows gaming PC, be it one of our best gaming desktops or best gaming laptops.

Easily available on Steam, the system requirements are pretty reasonable for Baldur’s Gate 3, with the minimum system requirements only needing an Intel Core i5 4690 or AMD FX 8350 processor, 8GB of RAM, an Nvidia GeForce GTX 970 or AMD Radeon RX 480, 150GB of storage space is needed, which is perhaps the most demanding spec.

Given the flexibility of PCs and being able to play on compact external displays or sprawling widescreen monitors, as well as support for mouse and keyboard alongside controllers, the PC is arguably the best platform to play Baldur’s Gate on today.

Baldur's Gate 3 on Mac

It might not be immediately obvious, given the Baldur’s Gate series has long been Windows PC centric, but Baldur’s Gate 3 can run on macOS.

You will need macOS 10.15.6 and have a Mac that’s running a Core i7 processor clocked at 2.6GHz, as well as 8GB of RAM and a Radeon 460 graphics card. Unfortunately, at these minimum specs don’t expect to run Baldur’s Gate 3 much beyond the game’s low and medium settings.

There’s no word on whether Baldur’s Gate 3 will run on Macs and MacBooks with M-series chips. But as Larian’s last big RPG, Divinity: Original Sin 2, runs on Apple Silicon, we’re hoping support for Baldur’s Gate 3 will come to Apple devices with M-series chips.

Baldur's Gate 3 on PS5

While not available yet on PS5, Baldur’s Gate 3 will be coming to Sony’s games console on September 6, with a digital-only release coming three days earlier on September 3.

With full controller support, Larian’s RPG should play well on the PS5, hopefully making use of the DualSense controller’s advanced haptics to add a little more immersion. The only problem with a September console release is Baldur’s Gate 3 will arrive the same week as Starfield, another epic RPG only set in space rather than a fantasy world that could steal Baldur's Gate 3's thunder.

Baldur's Gate 3 on Steam Deck

Baldur’s Gate 3 is listed as “Verified'' for Steam Deck compatibility, so the game should theoretically run well on Valve’s handheld PC. However, observations from a variety of reviewers and testers have found that Baldur’s Gate 3 can have some problems loading on the Steam Deck.

This situation is likely to improve as the game matures, likely with patches and optimizations pushed out by Larian. And again, Divinity: Original Sin 2 runs well on the Steam Deck, so we hope to see the same for Baldur’s Gate 3 in time.

Baldur's Gate 3 on Asus ROG Ally

Being Windows 11-based the Asus ROG Ally does a good job at supporting Baldur’s Gate 3, not only running the game at a combination of low and medium settings with smooth frame rates but also offering full controller support; ROG Ally Life has a rundown on its recommended settings for the Ally.

From what we've heard, the Ally may be a better bet for playing Baldur’s Gate 3 than the Steam Deck, at least at the time of writing.

No Xbox Series X, Series S or Nintendo Switch support

Unfortunately for fans of other consoles, there’s no word on whether Baldur’s Gate 3 will be ported over the Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S and Nintendo Switch.

Unfortunately, Microsoft’s need for Xbox games to work on both the Series X and Series S means Baldur’s Gate 3 isn't coming to the latest Xbox consoles as Larian claims the technical limitation of the Series S means Baldur's Gate 3 can't meet the gameplay parity Microsoft requires between its Xbox machines. While Microsoft is reportedly working with Larian to get past this, for now if you want to play the RPG on console you’ll need to go the PlayStation route.

As for the Nintendo Switch, Baldur’s Gate 3 won’t run on the aged hardware. And Larian currently has no plans to port the game to the Switch. Perhaps the rumored Nintendo Switch 2 could offer the power needed to run Baldur’s Gate 3, but for now that console exists as speculation.

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