• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

[VGC] Baldur’s Gate 3 won’t come to Xbox before 2024, Larian suggests

Topher

Gold Member
Literally every one of their release dates is 100% about Starfield. They moved up their PC release a month to avoid it, which is just smart. They are launching on the exact same day as Starfield on PS5 to capitalize on Playstation demand for a WRPG, which again is just smart. They are publicly saying that their delay on Xbox is due to the S, but it also just happens to also make a ton of a sense since most people interested in WRPGs on Xbox will likely be busy for several months. It's 3 smart calls, and all 3 of them are 100% about Starfield.

First, we don't know anything is 100% about anything other than what is publicly stated. Nothing but theories and conjecture. Moving up a release date such an unheard of thing in this day. Moving it up an entire month? If they finish the game sooner than expected, why not? I can see some logic in moving it up to avoid direct competition with Starfield. I can also see them not wanting to needlessly sit on a finished product for a month as well.

But I don't buy this notion that Larian is publicly lying about why the Xbox version is being delayed. They are not bringing in Microsoft to assist for shits and giggles. That has nothing to do with Starfield.
 
Last edited:

jm89

Member
Since the Xbox delay is really just about Starfield, I guess Microsoft sent in those Xbox engineers for nothing.

The more you know.
Kind of a genius plan.
genius-shit-snoop-dogg.gif
 
Last edited:

avin

Member
Literally every one of their release dates is 100% about Starfield. They moved up their PC release a month to avoid it, which is just smart. They are launching on the exact same day as Starfield on PS5 to capitalize on Playstation demand for a WRPG, which again is just smart. They are publicly saying that their delay on Xbox is due to the S, but it also just happens to also make a ton of a sense since most people interested in WRPGs on Xbox will likely be busy for several months. It's 3 smart calls, and all 3 of them are 100% about Starfield.
Did BG3 release and run reasonably on comparable PCs to the XSS? It's actually the sort of thing DF should look at, I'd be interested.

And really, what you say is fine, except it's also plausible that XSS is a serious problem, and the limited memory and bandwidth is a real issue for BG3's split screen. So it's not 100% about Starfield. That would be a bridge too far for me.

avin
 
Last edited:

Punished Miku

Gold Member
First, we don't know anything is 100% about anything other than what is publicly stated. Nothing but theories and conjecture. Moving up a release date such an unheard of thing in this day. Moving it up an entire month? If they finish the game sooner than expected, why not? I can see some logic in moving it up to avoid direct competition with Starfield. I can also see them not wanting to needlessly sit on a finished product for a month as well.

But I don't buy this notion that Larian is publicly lying about why the Xbox version is being delayed. They are not bringing in Microsoft to assist for shits and giggles. That has nothing to do with Starfield.
I don't think they're lying. But it makes sense to launch it on Xbox later if they actually want to sell at their full potential. They can deprioritize those tech issues they have with S and take a few extra months to work it out. They actually don't even lose sales for this delay, but will likely gain sales by waiting. Whoever is managing that company is pretty savvy. Launching BG3 on Xbox on Sept 6th would be throwing their day one sales into the toilet. Launching it on Sept 6th on PS5 is a huge opportunity for them to absorb a big chunk of pent up Bethesda RPG demand. None of this has anything to do with console warring until you tried to make it that.
 
Literally every one of their release dates is 100% about Starfield. They moved up their PC release a month to avoid it, which is just smart. They are launching on the exact same day as Starfield on PS5 to capitalize on Playstation demand for a WRPG, which again is just smart. They are publicly saying that their delay on Xbox is due to the S, but it also just happens to also make a ton of a sense since most people interested in WRPGs on Xbox will likely be busy for several months. It's 3 smart calls, and all 3 of them are 100% about Starfield.

I think it's better to trust the developer words over yours to be honest. If they said it was issues with the S and Microsofts policies then that's why they delayed it.

There's no need to call them liars and shift the blame to something else

Once they confirm Starfield as a reason for the delay then that would be correct but not before.

Given the devs history I don't think they would lie to us about this. I definitely trust them and it really isn't a big deal in the end.
 

Topher

Gold Member
I don't think they're lying. But it makes sense to launch it on Xbox later if they actually want to sell at their full potential. They can deprioritize those tech issues they have with S and take a few extra months to work it out. They actually don't even lose sales for this delay, but will likely gain sales by waiting. Whoever is managing that company is pretty savvy. Launching BG3 on Xbox on Sept 6th would be throwing their day one sales into the toilet. Launching it on Sept 6th on PS5 is a huge opportunity for them to absorb a big chunk of pent up Bethesda RPG demand. None of this has anything to do with console warring until you tried to make it that.

I probably jumped the gun on the console warrior comments so I'll give you that. But this avoiding Starfield narrative is still Xbox spin even if it isn't outright warring.
 

twilo99

Member
How is that this studio is struggling and others are able to release their games on the s just fine? Is this type of hame more demanding than Starfield?
 

Topher

Gold Member
How is that this studio is struggling and others are able to release their games on the s just fine? Is this type of hame more demanding than Starfield?

It is about split screen coop. Something 343 struggled with and eventually abandoned with Halo Infinite.
 
Last edited:
It is spin. I think they are being entirely truthful about the difficulties in launching the game on XSS due to feature parity.
I don't think they are lying no. But is it possible they decided to reallocate resources away from the XBox version to focus on the PS5 version for release on Sept 6, and then shift resources to focus on the XBox version after Sept 6, so as to time their release on both platforms for maximum sales? I wouldn't blame them one bit if that is indeed what they have done.
 
Last edited:

Punished Miku

Gold Member
It is spin. I think they are being entirely truthful about the difficulties in launching the game on XSS due to feature parity.
You honestly think they want to launch on Sept 6th on Xbox, but just can't solely because of the Series S? Yes or no. Absolutely mind blowing if your answer is "yes," but the fact you skipped my question tells me it's "no."
 
You honestly think they want to launch on Sept 6th on Xbox, but just can't solely because of the Series S? Yes or no. Absolutely mind blowing if your answer is "yes," but the fact you skipped my question tells me it's "no."
We know you cant skip Series S. XBox would not allow you to release on Series X alone. So the answer is absolutely YES.
 

Topher

Gold Member
I don't think they are lying no. But is it possible the decided to reallocate resources away from the XBox version to focus on the PS5 version for release on Sept 6, and then shift resources to focus on the XBox version after Sept 6, so as to time their release on both platforms for maximum sales? I wouldn't blame them one bit if that is indeed what they have done.

We know that's not the case because Larian brought in Microsoft engineers to assist with the Xbox version. That was revealed back in June.

You honestly think they want to launch on Sept 6th on Xbox, but just can't solely because of the Series S? Yes or no. Absolutely mind blowing if your answer is "yes," but the fact you skipped my question tells me it's "no."

I have no idea if Larian was comfortable with launching on Xbox Sept 6th. Neither do you. What I do know is that Larian explained the issues they were having with the XSS version back in February of this year. Months before anyone knew of Starfield's release date or if Starfield was going to even launch this year. So this narrative that the XSS issue was contrived simply in order to avoid Starfield's Sept 6th release date is just bullshit.

 
We know that's not the case because Larian brought in Microsoft engineers to assist with the Xbox version. That was revealed back in June.
I think you are reading to much into that. That just means they are having problems with the XBox hardware that maybe only MSFT can resolve. It says nothing about how much resources they are pouring into resolving the issue.
 

Topher

Gold Member
I think you are reading to much into that. That just means they are having problems with the XBox hardware that maybe only MSFT can resolve. It says nothing about how much resources they are pouring into resolving the issue.

No, it means they are actively working on the issue. Microsoft can't solve this problem by themselves. They have to work with Larian engineers to solve this single specific problem.

Pretend the series S doesnt even exist. You think they still want to launch on Xbox on Sept 6th lol. Your gaslighting is off the charts dude. I'm done talking about it. I made my points clearly and none of it was console warring, spin or bullshit

If XSS didn't exist then I could certainly see Larian not releasing BG3 on the same day as Starfield. That's done all the time. But that simply isn't the case here which is why I don't get why it is even being brought up. I just showed you that the XSS problem predates the Starfield release date announcement by months. That's just a fact. Not wanting to engage in bullshit conjecture isn't gaslighting.
 
No, it means they are actively working on the issue. Microsoft can't solve this problem by themselves. They have to work with Larian engineers to solve this single specific problem.



If XSS didn't exist then I could certainly see Larian not releasing BG3 on the same day as Starfield. That's done all the time. But that simply isn't the case here which is why I don't get why it is even being brought up. I just showed you that the XSS problem predates the Starfield release date announcement by months. That's just a fact. Not wanting to engage in bullshit conjecture isn't gaslighting.
You realize that the choice isn't full resources and 0 resources, right. Their team is 400 people. If they had 20 people working on the PS5 port and 20 people working on the XBox port, they could have shifted 15 of them over from XBox to PS5 to prioritize the PS5 September release date, and then have those 15 plus 15 from the PS5 team come over to the XBox side after Sept 6, none of that would have prevented that smaller remaining team to work on specific issues with the Microsoft engineers.
No one denies that the XSS is a problem. Larian might have just creatively used the problem as means to maximize their sales.
 

Punished Miku

Gold Member
Absolutely mind blowing you think you know more than what the developers have stated
It doesn't blow your mind. This is why I get so tired of the gaslighting.

You aren't stupid. You are well aware that game companies don't put out public statements containing every piece of private info in their decision making processes. You know that to ever arrive at anything even close to the complete picture, you have to either wait for Schreier to leak some info and see if he has credible sources, or try and do your best to read between the lines. You know this is the case with literally all news from any corporation in any industry, any government, literally anything. So why are you trying to convince me this is mindblowing that I would try to make intelligent guesses at how they are arriving at their decision? You can't possibly think it is mindblowing. That, is what gaslighting is. You want me to think it's mindblowing, when you can't possibly think it's mindblowing. It's lying, and it's super god damn obvious.

It's really very easy. What is the best possible day to launch on PS5? Sept 6th. What is literally the worst possible day to launch on XBox? Sept 6th. They can't publicly announce that they want to invest less dev resources into Xbox and give it to consumers late to maximize how much money they get. They have to come up with a way to say they are working hard on the issue and will get it to consumers as soon as they can. And the tech issues can be true, but they decided to not have this sorted prior to release. They knew Starfield was an opportunity for them to launch strong on PS5 and capture a new unfulfilled demand. EA said the same thing when asked about Call of Duty potentially going exclusive. They said it was a huge opportunity for them and they're in favor of it.

All this is basic common sense.
 
It's really very easy. What is the best possible day to launch on PS5? Sept 6th. What is literally the worst possible day to launch on XBox? Sept 6th

If you’re a third party dev you want total mindshare and simultaneous release

Starfield should not have any bearing on that. Assuming they are delaying due to Starfield is pure speculation that goes against what the devs have stated
 

DeepEnigma

Gold Member
This is why I get so tired of the gaslighting.
What is the best possible day to launch on PS5? Sept 6th. What is literally the worst possible day to launch on XBox? Sept 6th. They can't publicly announce that they want to invest less dev resources into Xbox and give it to consumers late to maximize how much money they get. They have to come up with a way to say they are working hard on the issue and will get it to consumers as soon as they can.
Ponder Denzel Washington GIF by Entertainment Tonight

Burnie Burns Conspiracy GIF by Rooster Teeth
 

DeepEnigma

Gold Member
It's barely even a conspiracy when it's so plainly obvious. It's not like it's a bad day to launch on Xbox on Sept. 6th. It's literally the worst possible day to launch on Xbox. You'd have to be a moron to not see that. But yeah, gifs!
Yeah, gifs. It's moronic to even entertain such fanatical bullshit.
 

Topher

Gold Member
You realize that the choice isn't full resources and 0 resources, right. Their team is 400 people. If they had 20 people working on the PS5 port and 20 people working on the XBox port, they could have shifted 15 of them over from XBox to PS5 to prioritize the PS5 September release date, and then have those 15 plus 15 from the PS5 team come over to the XBox side after Sept 6, none of that would have prevented that smaller remaining team to work on specific issues with the Microsoft engineers.

Or they could have more people working on the XSS problem because it is the only platform that has such an issue. I have no idea. Neither do you.

No one denies that the XSS is a problem. Larian might have just creatively used the problem as means to maximize their sales.

Or they are just trying to get the Xbox version done as soon as they can.
 

Humdinger

Member
It's only top down in combat from what I have seen. In exploration you can shift the camera behind the controlled character.

Ah. That's a helpful clarification, thank you.

Give it a try.

I used to feel the same way, never gave the original Fallouts the time of day, but after CP2077 I was still looking for something to scratch that itch and tried Ascent...

One of my favorite games ever and it's iso.

Thanks, I am continuing to keep an eye on it. The impressions seem very positive so far. Apart from the isometric issue (which may not be as big an issue as I thought), I am not a D&D player, so I'm a bit intimidated by all of the complexities of the game. I know the intended audience loves that complexity, so I'm not criticizing the dev's choice, but it does seem as if they aren't cutting us console newbs much slack. Still, a meaty old-fashioned WRPG doesn't come along very often, so my mind is open.
 

Punished Miku

Gold Member
You are not a victim. You are pushing FUD, fantard FUD.
I didn't say I'm a victim anywhere. I just thought maybe you could use some words to actually explain what you're talking about.

I'm arguing they decided on purpose to delay it on Xbox, and decided to focus on the other platforms rather than investing enough resources to get the game running on the S. Does this somehow make Xbox look better? No. It shows they're the least important market for this game and they are investing the least amount of resources into it. How is this spin?
 
Last edited:

Shrap

Member
Literally every one of their release dates is 100% about Starfield. They moved up their PC release a month to avoid it, which is just smart. They are launching on the exact same day as Starfield on PS5 to capitalize on Playstation demand for a WRPG, which again is just smart. They are publicly saying that their delay on Xbox is due to the S, but it also just happens to also make a ton of a sense since most people interested in WRPGs on Xbox will likely be busy for several months. It's 3 smart calls, and all 3 of them are 100% about Starfield.
The Xbox lack of release date is 100% not about Starfield and 100% about the Series S problems. It would've released the same day as PC or had an actual release date if it was about Starfield.
 
Last edited:
Top Bottom