Larian isn't done with Baldur's Gate 3 yet: 'We still have a few things up our sleeve' after Patch 7 goes live

GamesRPGBaldur’s Gate 3Larian isn’t done with Baldur’s Gate 3 yet: ‘We still have a few things up our sleeve’ after Patch 7 goes liveWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.

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(Image credit: Larian Studios / Magnetuning on YouTube.)

An image of Astarion watching the player sleep, while wearing a grinch-like smile that hides his top lip.

The next big update to Baldur’s Gate 3, officially known as Patch 7, is coming in September, and ahead of that Larian has dropped anin-depth updateon what the patch will include. The studio is also now taking applications for a closed beta test for the patch, which is set to go live—the beta test, that is, not the patch—on July 22.

Some of what’s coming in the patch is already known: Better endings forevil playthroughs(careful not to step in any) and, more importantly, full-fledgedmod support. Today’s update goes deeper on the whole thing, and of course there are spoilers. One coming change that is not a spoiler is the addition of a “dynamic split screen” mode that will give co-op players the ability to merge their screens into one when their characters are close enough. It looks pretty cool:

(Image credit: Larian Studios)

Baldur’s Gate 3 dynamic split screen mode demonstration

Individual NPCs are being tweaked and improved in various ways, party banter is being expanded to include characters assigned to different players in multiplayer parties, some Dark Urge bugs will be fixed, andHonor Modeis getting various “improvements,” which is to say it’s being made even more difficult: More creatures in the game are being givenLegendary Actions, and Dror Ragzlin has a new spell called Arachnid Compulsion that promises to make life even more unpleasant for folks who aren’t big fans of spiders.

As usual, better smooches are on the list too: “We’ve made improvements to the facial animations of your character during some kissing cinematics, including with the ascended Astarion.”

(Image credit: Larian Studiso)

Baldur’s Gate 3 animation - Astarion smooching

Larian really doesknow its audience.

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(Image credit: Larian Studios)

Baldur’s Gate 3 Slightly Better Dyeing mod screen with a picture of Boo

“With all these bug fixes, updates to gameplay, and new features, we want to make sure we haven’t broken anything or introduced something that will make your computer explode,” Larian wrote in the update. To that end, it wants to test the patch “at scale,” and so it’s now opened applications to the upcoming closed beta test.

To get in, head around to theSteam pageand mash the “request access” button; access will be granted to “randomly selected registered players.” There’s no mention of how many testers it’s after in this update, but Larian has previously said the closed beta will be limited to roughly 1,000 players.

Also important is that Patch 7 will not be the final update for Baldur’s Gate 3. “We still have a few things up our sleeve—including many community-requested features like crossplay and a photo mode to capture and share your unforgettable moments,” Larian wrote. “And we’re working on a host of other enhancements, from gameplay tweaks and quality-of-life improvements to bug fixes and performance optimizations.”

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