Baldur’s Gate 3 is coming to Xbox this year, but Series S split screen has been removed
by Danny Craig
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Larian Studios
Larian Studios has provided an update on the status of Baldur's Gate 3's Xbox port, revealing that it has found a solution to its issue with the implementation of its split screen mode, which has been removed from the Series S version.
The details:
- Swen Vincke, the founder and CEO of Larian, announced on Twitter that after meeting with Xbox head Phil Spencer, the studio has finally found a way to bring the game to Xbox players, though the split screen mode has been removed for those playing on the Series S. “Super happy to confirm that after meeting Phil Spencer yesterday, we’ve found a solution that allows us to bring Baldur’s Gate 3 to Xbox players this year still, something we’ve been working towards for quite some time,” Vincke said. “All improvements will be there, with split-screen co-op on Series X. Series S will not feature split-screen co-op, but will also include cross-save progression between Steam and Xbox Series.”
- The inclusion of split-screen co-op was the primary reason for the game's delay on Xbox, with Microsoft reportedly requiring all titles to be the same between the Series X and weaker Series S. Larian attempted to get the mode to work on less powerful hardware, but it did not meet the standard deemed suitable for release.
- Baldur's Gate 3 has been a huge success among players and critics since its recent Steam release, and its PlayStation port will be available in September. The Xbox version was expected to arrive in 2024 at the earliest due to technical issues, but now that a solution has been found, it is expected to arrive by the end of 2023.
More gaming news:
- Xbox head Phil Spencer stated that he would "love to find solutions" to the possibility of hundreds of Xbox 360-era titles being lost to time when the Xbox 360 storefront closes in July 2024. Currently, approximately 220 titles will be rendered unplayable following the closure as they have not been ported to other platforms.
- A Grand Theft Auto V mod that allowed players to speak with NPCs using AI technology has reportedly been taken down by Take-Two Interactive, despite the mod being free and open source. The mod's author has claimed that their showcase video has also been hit with a copyright claim from the publisher.
