There’s no doubt Baldur’s Gate 3 is going to be absolutely massive, but Larian has finally confirmed just how big the download file will be – and you won’t be able to preload any of it.
In a Community Update posted to Steam today, the developers behind the RPG shared further details, Twitch Drops, features, and answered a bunch of launch day questions. One major detail was confirmation that the full release of Baldur’s Gate 3 is approximately 122GB (similar in size to Red Dead Redemption 2 on launch), but also came with the unfortunate news that downloading this absolute monster of a game can’t be done in advance.
“Baldur’s Gate 3 will launch on August 3rd at 5pm GENT time, or your non-Belgian timezone equivalent…There will be no pre-loading of the game before then,” the post said. “The full release of the game weighs in at approximately 122 GB. Please note that your Early Access save games will not be compatible at launch; however, so much has changed that it’s really worth it to start afresh.”
Editor’s note: Yes, GENT is a timezone. GENT is the timezone that encompasses the Belgian city of Ghent and the surrounding province of East Flanders. — David
The possibility of preloading Baldur’s Gate 3 was floated during an interview only last week between Larian boss Swen Vincke and itmeJP, where Vincke mentioned that he wasn’t sure how preloading might look (or if it would be possible). “I imagine that they’re going to do something, but I actually don’t know,” Vincke said. “It’s very large, so it would be cool. Obviously, the game has changed tremendously versus early access, versus what’s out there now … so we will see.”
While Steam does allow for preloading of games that have yet to be released, due to Baldur’s Gate 3 having been in early access since October 2020, it’s not able to support this functionality. Preloading allows those with less than amazing internet connections or download speeds (hello, Australians) to get a bit of a headstart on chipping away at massive file-size downloads, but it looks like we’ll all have to wait until the 3rd (or 4th, depending on your timezone) to start the install.
Given Baldur’s Gate 3 has been said to have over 17,000 possible endings according to a Larian dev, it’s no surprise just how massive the file is. Despite the news, fans in the comment section of the Steam post don’t seem to be focused on it; maybe they’re all too busy gearing up their Larian-approved doctor’s/Cleric’s note to get launch day off work to notice.
For Aussies, we’ll be able to click that sweet, sweet install button from 1 AM AEST on 4 August, so set your alarms or get the caffeine ready, adventurers.
Leave a Reply