Baldur's Gate III is a role-playing video game developed and published by Larian Studios. It is the third main game in the Baldur's Gate series, which is based on the Dungeons & Dragons tabletop role-playing system.
A partial version of the game was released in early access format for macOS, Windows, and the Stadia streaming service, on 6 October 2020. The game remained in early access until its full release on Windows on 3 August 2023. macOS and PlayStation 5 versions are scheduled for 6 September 2023, and an Xbox Series X/S port is in development. The Stadia version was cancelled following Stadia's closure.
Gameplay
Baldur's Gate III is a role-playing video game that offers both a single-player and cooperative multiplayer element. Players can create one or more characters and form a party along with computer-generated characters to explore the game's story. Optionally, players will be able to take one of their characters and team up online with other players to form a party. Unlike previous games in the Baldur's Gate series, Baldur's Gate III has turn-based combat, similar to Larian's earlier games Divinity: Original Sin and Divinity: Original Sin II; but this time, it is based on the D&D 5th Edition rules.
Plot
In the year 1492 DR, over 120 years after the events of Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn and months after the events of Baldur's Gate: Descent into Avernus, the forces of darkness are rising again. The player character (named by the player) has been taken captive by the mind flayers, who have launched an invasion of Faerûn. They have implanted the protagonist, as well as a host of other creatures, with illithid tadpoles, parasites capable of enthralling and transforming them into other mind flayers; however, before the mind flayers can transform their victims, the nautiloid flying ship upon which they are all aboard comes under attack from githyanki warriors and their red dragons, and flees through multiple realms, including Avernus, the first of the Nine Hells. The protagonist is freed during the fighting and steers the damaged ship back to Faerûn, where it crashes. As the protagonist searches for a way to remove their parasites, they encounter other survivors of the wreck: the human wizard Gale, the half-elf cleric Shadowheart, the high elf vampire rogue Astarion, the human warlock Wyll, and the githyanki fighter Lae'zel.
