I’ve seen many Xbox-based leaks over the years, accidental reveals and announcements about their own games or third party ones, and here’s another one to add to the list.
Some Xbox Game Pass subscribers are being sent push notifications about Baldur’s Gate 1 and 2 being added to Game Pass (via TrueAchievements). No, not Baldur’s Gate 3. Larian has specifically said Baldur’s Gate 3 “isn’t going to be on Game Pass,” and that does not appear to be changing.
But the notification is real, even if the games have not actually been officially announced or released yet. It says:
“Rediscover 2 RPG Classics – Customize your hero, recruit brave allies, and explore mystical realms in your search for adventure, profit…and the truth. Play Baldur’s Gate 1 and 2 with Game Pass.”
This appears to actually be the second time we’ve seen a notification about these games, as there was another incident back in August, and clearly they still haven’t been added. But with the release of Baldur’s Gate 3 on Xbox finally, it may now be that time.
However, fans who love Baldur’s Gate 3 may not feel the same way about 1 and 2, released in 1998 and 2000 respectively, over 20 years ago. There was an enhanced version of Baldur’s Gate released in 2013. It’s unclear if there could be any further upgrades for the Game Pass version.
These are simply not going to play the same way as the current Baldur’s Gate games with a different D&D ruleset they were built on, nor are you going to have hundreds of hours of conversations with fleshed out party members. Obviously Baldur’s Gate did attract a large fanbase at release, hence where we are today, but you just have to know it’s going to be wildly different than 2023’s GOTY winner.
We do not know yet if these games are coming to both Xbox itself and PC Game Pass, or just PC where the series is more at home. And of course we do not know when these games may be coming, as this could be hours before a real announcement, or months, given the August notification. But it does appear to be happening at some point given the recent relationship between Microsoft and Larian. But again, no Baldur’s Gate 3 on Game Pass, so don’t wait for it. Here’s the full quote about that from Larian founder Swen Vincke, speaking to IGN:
“Oh, we always said from the get-go, it wasn’t going to be on Game Pass, it’s not going to be on Game Pass…We made a big game, so I think there’s a fair price to be paid for that, and I think that that is okay. We don’t charge you any micro-transactions on top of it, so you get what you pay for. Upfront it’s a big meaty game. So I think that should be able to exist as it is. This is what allows us to continue making other games.”
I think most people would agree with Baldur’s Gate 3’s value, especially as the game is nearing 300,000 concurrent players on Steam right now, even ignoring console players. As for the first two games, and what people think of them all these years later, we’ll see.
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