Baldur’s Gate 3, the highly anticipated role-playing video game and sequel in the Baldur’s Gate series, surprise launched on Xbox Series X|S consoles on December 8, 2022 during The Game Awards 2022 ceremony. However, many Xbox players have reported serious issues with saves being deleted and progress lost since starting the expansive fantasy game. Developer Larian Studios and Microsoft are investigating solutions.
Rocky Xbox Debut After Smooth PC Early Access
Baldur’s Gate 3 first became available in early access for PC in October 2020, where it has seen significant success and progress over three years of updates and additions in preparation for its full launch.
The game’s unexpected release on Xbox this month coincided with it receiving the Best Role-Playing award at The Game Awards. However, the initially smooth PC early access period has contrasted against a tumultuous console debut.
While the Xbox version is feature complete with the PC early access build, significant technical issues have hampered players. Most notably, many users across social media and forums have reported crashed saves and lost progress, especially around auto-saves, but manual saves as well to some extent.
Workarounds and Fixes Being Developed
Larian Studios and Microsoft have both acknowledged the save issues on Xbox and stated that they are investigating solutions. In the meantime, they have suggested some workarounds:
- Manually triggering saves instead of relying on auto-saves
- Storing saves locally on Xbox rather than the cloud
- Updating Xbox firmware/OS to latest version
However, these have had mixed success for players. The problem seems to originate with stability of the game itself when running on Xbox systems. Players have reported crashes tied to lost save files.
A patch and more robust fix is expected within the next 1-2 weeks according to Larian staff. But in the meantime, many players are having to decide whether to wait to play or risk their save files.
Larian CEO Rules Out Xbox Game Pass Version
With the rocky start for the Xbox release, many players had hoped Baldur’s Gate 3 would come to Xbox Game Pass to allow more accessible play. However, Larian Studios CEO Swen Vincke definitively denied this in an interview this week:
“There will never be a Game Pass version of Baldur’s Gate 3. We made a big game so I think there’s a fair price to be paid for that.”
Instead, Larian views Baldur’s Gate 3 as a premium game that warrants its $60 price tag even in early access. While a disappointment to budget-focused gamers, this does signal Larian’s confidence in the size and quality of the game.
What’s Next?
Looking ahead, Larian’s priority will be resolving the stability and save issues for Xbox players in the next patch. This will be crucial to establishing a strong player base on consoles alongside the existing PC audience.
Beyond that, Baldur’s Gate 3 has at least one more major content update planned for PC before it exits early access and sees a full 1.0 launch in the next year or so. That update will likely make its way to Xbox soon after. And the game is only available on Xbox Series X|S presently, but PS5 and possibly PS4 versions are expected later on as well.
So while the Xbox version is off to a rocky start, the future remains bright for Baldur’s Gate 3 across platforms. But nailing the technical issues on consoles may be Larian Studios’ biggest challenge right now as the sprawling RPG continues evolving towards completion.
Player Reaction Table
| Response | Sample Quote |
|---|---|
| Anger and frustration | “I spent 90 hours playing this on console, and now all my saves are gone. This is ridiculous and unacceptable!” |
| Disappointment | “I took time off work to dive into this game, but with the save bugs I guess I’ll have to wait until it’s more stable” |
| Willingness to wait | “It’s a bummer there are issues, but I know Larian has a good track record on PC. I can be patient for the fixes.” |
| Understanding | “Games as huge as this often have rocky launches. As long as they address it quickly, I’m willing to wait it out.” |
Timeline of Events
- October 2020: Baldur’s Gate 3 early access launched on PC
- December 2022: Surprise Xbox launch at The Game Awards
- December 8th-15th: Numerous players report crashes and save issues
- December 16th: Larian and Microsoft acknowledge issues, promise fixes
- Early 2023: Expected patch and solutions for save problems
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