It would be shockingly poor contracting if WotC were still held to an exclusive contract with Google to release on platform that no longer exists.
Yeah, I think #2 is likely the case. It isn't trivial to design for a new platform. I am not optimistic that I'll be able to get BGIII for Playstation, Xbox, or Switch at the same time or even soon after it released for the PC. I already have the early release for PC, but I would buy it again if available on a console.
I mean, three points:
1) Hasbro/WotC have been guilty of some of the most shockingly poor exclusive contracts in videogame history. The saga with the D&D licence in the like 2000-2011 or so is so long and convoluted I can no longer remember it off the top of my head, but Hasbro essentially sold off the licence to make D&D video games
in perpetuity to Interplay for some shockingly tiny sum, who sold it on to Atari, which eventually resulted in a court battle, which thankfully Hasbro/WotC one, seemingly on the grounds that Atari were not actually making any D&D videogames. But the whole thing was demented and 100% on Hasbro/WotC for selling the licence off essentially in perpetuity.
(Perhaps someone has a set of articles on this debacle? If not it might be a good topic for ENworld to cover.)
2) It's unlikely the exclusivity contract (if there was one) was between
WotC and Stadia. I don't know why it would be that way. I've never heard of a contract like that in videogames.
The licence would be between WotC and Larian, and the more likely scenarios are:
2a) No specific platforms were specified (or possibly PC "and others").
2b) Specific platforms were specified, and they were PC and Stadia (PS5/Xbox Series X/S weren't announced when development started on BG3, indeed I'm not sure their specs were pinned down).
If it's 2b I think it's even more likely console versions will be delayed to a later "Enhanced Edition".
3) They didn't develop for PS4 or Xbox One because neither machine is powerful enough, so there's no chance of a Switch version unless they take an approach like Control, where the Switch version is essentially just a front-end for a stream of the game (like Stadia or GeForce Now). That approach has not proved very popular. It runs okay on a Steam Deck at least, though you better be plugged in.