When it debuted on the Apple II in 1981, SirTech's Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord was the first game to recreate a pen-and-paper, Dungeons & Dragons-style role-playing game for home computers. As the first party-based RPG, it directly inspired enduring series such as Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, and Demon's Souls.

SirTech published seven Wizardry sequels over the next two decades. In the years since, the series' popularity has persisted in Japan, with a number of additional sequels and spin-off games released only in that market. As of 2024, the Wizardry franchise encompasses more than forty titles.

Michael Douse, the director of publishing at Larian Studios, has confirmed to Eurogamer that cross-play functionality is being worked on, although the team was not able to get it ready in time for release day code on PC (August 5) and PlayStation 5 (out today!): "It was always in the planning, but we knew it wouldn't be for launch. It's in the roadmap, and though we have an idea of when we'd like to get it ready for, we don't want to put a date on it until we're sure." Larian and the BG3 fan base are hoping to see players united in online multiplayer across PC and console platforms in the near future, with the Xbox version due to arrive at some point before the end of the year.

Technical and performance issues are present in the PlayStation 5 version—reviewers have noted that split-screen performance on Sony's console is choppy, with local multiplayer sessions forcing a 30 frames per second "Quality" visual mode. This perhaps provides a small insight into the problems encountered when developing split-screen mode for Xbox Series X and S platforms, with the latter proving to be the largest headache. Eurogamer's journalists were also privy to Larian highlighting: "in a pre-launch note to PS5 reviewers, problems with performance in the game's climactic final act in the city of Baldur's Gate. It said it was working hard to fix it. Remember, the studio has had issues with this area on PC too."

A seasoned wizard who infects her foes with the irresistible urge to dance. A high-level sorcerer who sows the seeds of chaos in battle with strategically placed portals. A bard that wields the psionic powers of a mindflayer (a.k.a illithid). Who will you become at the pinnacle of your power in Baldur's Gate 3? That's completely up to you. In Baldur's Gate 3, your late-game build can be as varied as you want it to be and can be changed at any time, giving you an opportunity to experiment with different spells and discover the class that complements your playstyle best.

Introducing illithid powers
In Baldur's Gate 3, you and your companions each carry the burden of a parasite that dwells within you, a tadpole placed deep inside your brain that poses a constant looming threat of illithid transformation. But as dangerous as these creatures may be, they are also a source of great power. For those who wish to experience their power, you need only to surrender to the tadpole within you and consume the parasites you find in jars and skulls throughout the Forgotten Realms.

As we enter the month of August, July still has a couple of new gaming titles to offer of which both obviously are launching on the same day. That said, August starts with a bang and brings a highly anticipated AAA title. The rest of this week's releases is as always a mix of games that will hopefully appeal to at least one of you, since the past polls suggest that the TPU readership is a picky crowd to please when it comes to games.

Baldur's Gate 3 / This week's AAA title / Thursday 3 August
Gather your party and return to the Forgotten Realms in a tale of fellowship and betrayal, sacrifice and survival, and the lure of absolute power. Mysterious abilities are awakening inside you, drawn from a mind flayer parasite planted in your brain. Resist, and turn darkness against itself. Or embrace corruption, and become ultimate evil. From the creators of Divinity: Original Sin 2 comes a next-generation RPG, set in the world of Dungeons & Dragons.

Baldur's Gate 3 is a big RPG. A great, big, uncompromising RPG! It shows in the numbers: more than 170 hours of cinematics and featuring three times more cinematic dialogue than all three The Lord of the Rings novels combined, a library of more than 600 spells and actions, and plenty more. Dungeons & Dragons is all about player freedom - the freedom to define your character, to explore vast territories with your allies, and decide the fate of the world. We've spent the last six years bringing the unlimited freedom D&D is known for into the realm of video games. We've written two-million words of dialogue across the thousands of characters that populate the world of Faerûn, with an exhilarating story and in-depth character creation that puts you at the helm of the adventure. The dice may define your luck, but you define the story.

Originally due to launch on August 31 (PC version is unaffected by this delay), we've decided to release Baldur's Gate 3 for PS5 on September 6. This brief delay allows us more time to achieve our ambition of 60 frames per second, thanks to the power of PlayStation 5. For those of you who purchased our gigantic Collector's Edition (limited stock still available), don't worry, we've got your back. We'll be emailing you codes so you can jump in on September 3, at the start of the September 3 72-hour Early Access period that comes with the Deluxe Edition. We've talked about how Baldur's Gate 3 is an ambitious game, so let's take a look at some of the features you can expect when it launches on September 6, or for those of you with the Deluxe Edition, September 3. The PC version is launching earlier than expected—its release date is now set for August 3.

AMD today released the latest version of its Radeon Software Adrenalin drivers. Version 21.6.1 beta introduce support for the upcoming FidelityFX Super Resolution (FSR) feature, AMD's answer to the NVIDIA DLSS. We also postedour in-depth review of FSR today. The driver release notes don't mention which exact titles support it at launch, so we'll probably have to wait until a formal launch of the feature. In addition, the drivers also introduce support for the Radeon RX 6800M mobile graphics, and optimization for "Dungeons & Dragons: Dark Alliance."

Among the bugs fixed with this release are one which causes FreeSync to lock up during task-switching, an application crash with "Anno 1800" in DirectX 12 mode; AMD Cleanup Utility accidentally mopping up non-graphics AMD drivers (such as chipset, storage, etc.); lower than expected performance with "Destiny 2" on some products; and enabling raytracing in "Ring of Elysium" causing an application crash. Grab the drivers from the link below.

DOWNLOAD: AMD Radeon Software Adrenalin 21.6.1 beta
READ: Our review of AMD FidelityFX Super Resolution

Larian Studios-developed Baldur's Gate 3, the next installment in the long-running and critically-acclaimed series, will be available in Early Access form starting September 30th. The distribution will be made via Steam, and Larian says that gamers are in for a treat. Baldur's Gate 3 will have a much deeper initial Early Access plethora of features than their previous game, Divinity Original Sin 2. Some numbers comparing both releases, for clarity, are as follows: Baldur's Gate 3 Early Access will feature a total of 80 combat scenarios (22 in D:OSII); some 45,980 lines of dialog (17,600 in D:OSII); a total of 596 interactable characters (142 in D:OSII); and 146 available spells and actions (69 in D:OSII).

The relative length of the available content remains about the same (Larian estimates 20-30 hours of playtime in Baldur's Gate 3 Early Access content, the same as in D:OSII), but Larian says that Baldurs' Gate 3 is infinitely more replayable, with unprecedented player agency. System requirements aren't too high either, at least for an Early Access version of the game; however, Larian is quick to point out that these requirements will only go down - not up - as optimizations are achieved within the games' development. It seems that the engine feature set is already fixed, and that the studio isn't looking to upgrade it until the games' release. Look after the break for the Minimum and Recommended hardware configurations for this latest romp through the world of Dungeons & Dragons.

Baldur's gate 3, the sequel to one of gaming's iconic franchises, has just been announced. The game is being developed by Larian Studios, developers of the extremely-well received Divinity series, and will carry on with the lore of the series. The RPG game promises high-stakes decisions and forking branch decisions, where player's agency in the world is reflected and potentiated by writing and mechanics.

larian Studios have flung themselves deep into this sort of game before, since Divinity II: Original Sin was extrmeely well received in the world of RPGs. However, the studio has to carry over an expectation of excellence for the saga, and they consider this to be their most ambitious project ever. Baldur's Gate has has a troubling few years on its belt, with ideas and planned sequels livening up before crashing down before or after development started. The game has already been in production for two years, and now Larian Studios have announced they have their full studio grunt toiling to bring their Baldur's Gate vision to fruition. It's being developed for a single-player experience, but can also be experienced - with no reduction in quality of immersion - cooperatively. Look after the break for the announcement trailer, towards the Forgotten Realms that aren't, after all.