Developers from Larian Studios have shared new details about the eighth major patch for their fantasy role-playing game Baldur’s Gate 3 and its upcoming closed testing.
Image source: Larian Studios
Let us remind you that stress testing of the future Baldur’s Gate 3 update was initially announced for the beginning of January, but now the developers “hope” to launch tests closer to the end of the month.
As in the second half of December, the team is still “making final changes” to the test build and working closely with partners so that participants can try out cross-platform multiplayer.
The tests will allow registered PC, PS5, Xbox Series X and S users (you can sign up for volunteers on the Larian website) to evaluate cross-play by creating your own lobby, joining someone else’s, or inviting friends through the Larian Network.
Crossplay will appear on Mac with the full release of the feature, but Mac users will not be able to participate in the test
Besides crossplay, the other two main features of the eighth major patch for Baldur’s Gate 3 will be the long-promised photo mode and one new subclass for all 12 character classes in the game.
Larian also published a partial list of fixes and improvements that will appear in Baldur’s Gate 3 with the eighth patch:
- Increased performance in the Adamantine Forge quest;
- Ceris will no longer get into fights with Mintara throughout the region;
- The developers also “reminded” Mintara that knockout does not mean death – the dark elf is more likely to start appearing in the Lunar Towers;
- Loading will no longer get stuck at 0% when trying to join a multiplayer session that uses mods;
- The player character will no longer think that Shadowheart is dead when she is not when talking to Viconia;
- Halsin will begin to appear in the camp throughout the second act after his rescue, even if the player misses the tiefling celebration;
- Fixed an issue with a saved game where users did not receive the required number of dark gems for the Ball Challenge;
- The warning about third-party mods was removed from the mod manager, replacing it with a more clear message;
- The mod check window in the manager will now pop up regardless of where the request to connect to a multiplayer game comes from.
According to the studio, development is progressing smoothly and release is expected in 2025. The eighth patch will be the last major update for Baldur’s Gate 3, as Larian is already “fully focused” on the new game.