Baldur's Gate 3 devs are working with Xbox team to get split-screen working on Series S

Baldur's Gate 3 is coming to Xbox Series X/S, but exactly when is up in the air.

Speaking with IGN, Larian Studios boss Swen Vincke explained the issue with a simultaneous release on all platforms, boils down to problems the team has experienced with Xbox.

Larian's goal was to release Baldur's Gate 3 on all three platforms simultaneously, but optimization issues with Xbox Series S, specifically have caused a delay.

As stated previously, the main issue has to do with split-screen co-op. Xbox Series S seems to have an issue with split-screen, which is apparently due to memory constraints. Split-screen is one of the major features of the game, and Microsoft insists on parity between Series S and Xbox Series X.

This means you can't have a gameplay feature present on one system and not the other, so ditching the feature on Series S and keeping it on Series X is not an option. And, it is not one that Larian would like to make.

"It's not that we planned [the Xbox delay], said Vincke. We planned to have a simultaneous release. But we've been working on this game for a long time. It's a really big game. The amount of things you can do in it is insane. I think people will be surprised when they see everything. There are constraints we have to overcome, so we just work on them. Some take more time.

“You're very free in what you do, more free than people expect. That means you can run into a really big city that's much more dense than people expect. You can do all kinds of craziness, so it requires a lot of optimization. On certain platforms we're just faster than on other platforms. It just takes us time. That's the reality of development."

Because of this, Lairan may need to make concessions with the Xbox version. Such compromises aren't ideal, according to Vincke, and the team is trying to be "limited" in what it has to compromise, so it is taking its time with the Xbox version of the game.

To that end, the team is receiving help from the Xbox Advanced Technology Group which has been welcome.

"We've certainly had support from Microsoft,” said Vincke. "We had support from the ATG group. They've been doing great. They've been helping a lot. Everybody wants this out on Xbox. It's not that we don't want it out on Xbox. It's just that, our problem — and this is us, Larian — is that we just made a very big game. And it's a very complicated game."

"We're also not a developer with an infinite amount of resources. We are constrained in the amount of time each platform version is tested. The more permutations you start adding to it on a platform, the more complicated that becomes. I wish I could tell you we can do magic and miracles. We can't.

"But I don't think we should withhold a version that is ready from the world if we're there. I don't think that's a good reason to stop it."

Vincke went on to say that if Larian were to wait until there's ultimate parity on all platforms, the wait on the game would be longer. That's why the studio is going to go ahead and release Baldur's Gate 3 on PC - three weeks early at that - and for PS5 in September before the Xbox Series X/S version is complete.

As for when it's ready for Xbox, is just a question of time, and Lairan is hoping it will arrive sometime this year, but Vincke could not guarantee it.