Larian Studios’ massive CRPG Baldur’s Gate 3 is more than an advanced bear-banging simulator, it’s also a brilliant co-op experience. However, the currently in-development Baldur’s Gate Xbox port is having issues getting its split-screen co-op feature working.
As we reported previously, Xbox Series S performance issues are stopping Larian from releasing its game on Xbox platforms. Due to Xbox parity restrictions, split-screen must be available on both Series S and Series X consoles.
In a recent interview with Eurogamer, Larian once-again touched on the Baldur’s Gate 3 Xbox port. The developer explained that it is adamant on releasing the game on Xbox consoles with its co-op mode fully intact. If the feature can’t be included, the game may not launch on Xbox.
Swen Vincke, the founder of Larian Studios, revealed that the developer is still working hard on getting co-op running properly on Xbox Series S, and that is essential for bringing the game to Microsoft’s console.
“If you talk about feature parities, split-screen is a must for us," Vincke said. “We don't want to release it without split-screen, so we wouldn't want to do that."
Currently, Larian is working in collaboration with Microsoft’s internal Xbox team to heavily optimise co-op gameplay on Xbox Series S. While the feature seemingly works great on Series X hardware, the lower specs of Microsoft’s cheaper machine are causing issues.
At the time of writing, Microsoft has not backed down from feature parity across the two machines. While there can be sweeping visual differences between the two machines, all gameplay elements must be fully present across both SKUs.
Performance on consoles, even in unoptimised builds, has been reported as being unsteady. While the game targets 60fps on PlayStation 5, outlets are reporting that it spends a lot of time around 40fps. Considering how deep the game’s simulations and physics are, this isn’t too surprising.
Baldur’s Gate 3 is launching on PC on August 1st, an earlier release date than planned to avoid Starfield hype. The game will launch on PlayStation 5 on September September 6th. Xbox gamers do not currently have a release window.