WotC Baldur's Gate III Announced; Powered by D&D 5E

The developers of the Divinity: Original Sin series, Laria Studios, officially announced Baldur’s Gate III.

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The new game will use the D&D 5^th Edition rules as the backbone for their system and the storyline will be set directly after the events in the upcoming adventure Baldur’s Gate: Descent into Avernus. The game will be released on PC and the new Google Stadia video game streaming service. The announcement came with a teaser trailer below. More information is expected at the video game and electronics conference E3 next week.

The game isn't quite available for pre-order, but you can add it to your wishlist on Steam. The Steam listing also gives some idea of the features and gameplay options, as it lists Single Player, Multi-Player, Online Multiplayer, Local Multiplayer, Co-Op, Online Co-Op, Local Co-Op, Shared/Split Screen, and Cross-Platform Multiplayer.

The announcement follows a tease last week with an image of the stylized "III" which left the title of the game as part of the filename.

Warning: The trailer features some gruesome imagery which may not be suitable for all audiences and is definitely NSFW.

[video=youtube;OcP0WdH7rTs]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OcP0WdH7rTs[/video]​

 

[Umbran]

Well, I had to replace/upgrade my computer this year anyway....

 

[gyor]

Well, I had to replace/upgrade my computer this year anyway....

Not if you play it on Stadia, Google does any the main hardware work for you at there servers so you will not only be able to play on your current computer (depending on net connection speeds), but also on Smart Phones, Tablets, Laptops, Smart TVs, anything that can use Chrome Browser.

 

[gyor]

All these interviewers asking the same questions, yet none thinks to ask what sub/classes, and sub/races will be in it.

At least we know backgrounds will be in it.

 

[Umbran]

Not if you play it on Stadia, Google does any the main hardware work for you at there servers so you will not only be able to play on your current computer (depending on net connection speeds), but also on Smart Phones, Tablets, Laptops, Smart TVs, anything that can use Chrome Browser.

No, I have to - my personal machine is running Windows 7, and support for the OS is ending this year. They *do not* recommend just putting Windows 10 on my old hardware. So, upgrade it is.

 

[gyor]

https://youtu.be/LI4v6hC_rjM

Funny Dev video on how Larian got the rights to do BG3.

 

[DM Howard]

I'm optimistic, but I think they should have just called it something else.

 

[gyor]

Where there is a Mindflayer invasion, the Gith can't be far behind. Could this end up a three way, war between Mindflayers, Githyanki and Githzerai, and possibly Deurgars and Derro as well?

 

[Gradine]

Mmm... I don't think so. First of all, I seriously doubt the game will be turn-based, but rather real-time. That already makes it NOT like D&D, and invalidates a large portion of what is in the core books.

I wouldn't assume that; the original games were made to look like they were real-time, but under the hood they were primarily turn-based, at least as far as actions/attacks go. And Larian's Divinity: Original Sin games are legit turn-based, as in, it's Character B's turn, where do they move and what do they do? I'd argue that Larian being involved makes the game more likely to be turn-based than not.

 

[Urriak]

Speculation time! Don't take this too seriously, it's just fun.

The first BG games had I believe 7 races (human, half-elf, elf, dwarf, gnome, halfling, half-orc). I'd be very surprised if they aren't all in this one. I'd also expect tiefling to be in as well, because it's become as iconic or more for D&D in recent editions. Dragonborn I'm less certain about, but it would feel odd if they left out one of the core races from the PHB.

The only other races I could see added on day one would be Gith, simply because the main villains look like Mind Flayers. And even if Gith are in, I'd expect it to be something that either you earn by beating the game, or something you only get by pre-ordering or buying in store or some other gimmick to boost a purchase behavior.

If races beyond that get in, it would be in future updates and DLC. I'd guess they would start with Goliath, Genasi, and Aaracokra in a DLC/update, and then Aasimar, tabaxi and tortle.

Beyond that for Forgotten Realms you'd be dipping into pure monster races which makes it more improbable, but if it did happen in a "monster DLC" or something, I'd guess Goblins, Lizardfolk and Orcs being the most iconic from Volo's guide.

 

[Kobold Avenger]

I wouldn't be surprised if one of the recruitable party members is a Githzerai, but I don't think that would mean that Githzerai would necessarily be an option for the main character.