Baldur’s Gate 3 developer says that “compromises” may have to be made for its Xbox release

Larian Studios has confirmed that an Xbox port of Baldur’s Gate 3 is still in the works but that it may need to make "compromises" to make a final release happen.

The details:

• Swen Vincke, Larian's founder and creative director, was asked in an interview with IGN why the PC and PlayStation 5 versions of Baldur's Gate 3 had release dates set for later this year, but the Xbox Series X/S version was nowhere to be found. Vincke explained that the lack of a port is due to Microsoft's policy of requiring all developers to provide the same gameplay features for both Series X and S owners, despite the latter's less powerful specs. Microsoft allows for some performance downgrades, such as lower resolution, frame rates, and even level of detail; however, game modes and other general gameplay additions cannot be removed for performance reasons.
• Larian confirmed in February that the split-screen co-op mode on the Series S was experiencing performance issues when compared to the more powerful Series X. Although the developer could remove the mode entirely, it stated that it was hesitant to do as it would mean that the Xbox port would have fewer features than the PS5 port, and it cannot remove it from the Series S specifically due to the policy in place. According to Vincke, the co-op mode is more "free" and "dense" than players "might expect," with a significant amount of optimization required for everything to work properly.
• Vincke went on to say that "compromises" may be required to make the Xbox version of the game a reality, though he did not elaborate on what those may be. He did, however, state that Microsoft was assisting with the situation by providing support and enlisting the help of its Advanced Technology Group (ATG). "We've certainly had support from Microsoft," Vincke said. "We had support from the ATG group. They’ve been doing great. They’ve been helping a lot.”

More Microsoft news:

• Sony and Activision appear to agree on one point, with both Jim Ryan and Bobby Kotick disliking Xbox's Game Pass subscription model. During the ongoing FTC v. Microsoft trial, Kotick was asked about gaming subscription services, to which he replied that he isn't a fan but is willing to "agree to disagree" about Activision Blizzard releases on the service.
• Starfield's physical release will include a game disc rather than a digital download code, contrary to a previous statement from Bethesda's official support team. The studio's customer support Twitter account incorrectly stated that no physical version would include a disc when only the Constellation Edition of the game will include a game code engraved on a collectable item.