Home Gaming Here’s why Baldur’s Gate 3 costs $60 in Early Access

Here’s why Baldur’s Gate 3 costs $60 in Early Access

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In a few weeks, Baldur’s Gate 3 arrives after an agonising two-decade long wait. I know this because Brad won’t shut up about it and I’m pondering introducing him to the industrial cow-blender used by McDonald’s to save me from another chat about dungeons and/or dragons. Let’s see you gain the initiative on that, pal!

Anyway, Baldur’s Gate 3 will hit the gaming scene in an early access form, that developer Larian Games says will be chunkier than a carton of milk that was opened three weeks ago. There’s also going to be something else that’s hefty when it launches: The price. Steam’s selection of early access games normally lands at a lower price, to entice gamers to invest early in a project before it increases in scope and value.

It’s usually a fair cop: Fans get their paws on a game early, studios gain funds to keep on developing the project and valuable insight from their most ardent of supporters. So what’s the deal with Baldur’s Gate 3 then, which be asking full price for just the first act? According to Larian director of publishing Michael Douse, Baldur’s Gate 3 in early access is more akin to a playable pre-order, with hungry fans still getting the full experience eventually and additional value from being able to interact with the development build.

“We have transparent, consistent, intelligent conversations with our players,” Douse added.

I think [they] feel listened to when our games are great value, with a huge amount of content, and we often come up with surprises that are more tangible. We don’t have such plans for this yet (indeed during DOS2 at this stage we didn’t either), but we did the Gift Bag DLCs, Definitive Edition update, etc. Huge investments, released for free. No promises on mirroring that, but I raise it to make the point that there are many other ways to cater to the audience outside of simply discounting at launch.

Douse also mentioned that players shouldn’t feel pressured to grab Baldur’s Gate 3 when it hits early access on September 30, as it’s not exactly going to run away between now and ten years from now. Unless someone casts the incantation of cheesing it, on the game.

Last Updated: September 7, 2020

5 Comments

  1. More like Baldur’s Hate

    Reply

    • For the Emperor!

      September 7, 2020 at 10:18

      What was Baldur’s Fate?

      Reply

      • Tbone187

        September 8, 2020 at 08:40

        I think they complaining about Baldur’s state 🙂

        Reply

        • For the Emperor!

          September 8, 2020 at 09:40

          I hope it is worth the Baldur’s wait 🙂

          Reply

  2. Tbone187

    September 8, 2020 at 08:40

    Game looks bloody good indeed!

    Reply

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