Baldur's Gate 3 will launch as a Steam early access title

Hasbro has announced that Baldur's Gate 3 will launch on Steam as an early access title later this year.

The news came from an investor event at the New York Toy Fair with a Hasbro presentation also explaining that there are currently 7 Dungeons & Dragons-based RPGs in development. These include Baldur's Gate 3 as well as Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance for consoles. No other information was revealed regarding titles but the plan - it seems - is that there will be one new Dungeons & Dragons game every year until 2025. Hasbro is the parent company of Wizards of the Coast. 

When it comes to Baldur's Gate 3, it might seem a little unusual to see an RPG launch in early access. It's not that common a thing at all, although developers, Larian Studios, has done this in the past. Most notably, Divinity: Original Sin 2 was available via early access in September 2016 with its full release not coming until a year later. At first, Divinity: Original Sin 2 only offered the prologue, first chapter, and part of the second act, with the rest following for the full launch. 

We assume something similar will happen with Baldur's Gate 3, although no concrete details have been offered at this time. 

It's been 17 years since the original Baldur's Gate 3 project was cancelled so it's safe to say that many (including me) are very excited about the return of such a fantastic franchise. 

For now, while not many details are available, Larian Studios is set to exhibit footage of the game at PAX East on February 27th, with a presentation that should explain a little more about what to expect with the story, as well as how it'll play. There's a Q&A session too which will hopefully offer up some more insight. 

Of course, Baldur's Gate 3 isn't the only exciting news to come out of Wizards of the Coast recently. The company has also recently opened a new studio in the guise of Archetype Entertainment, and comprising of many key members of Bioware Austin. Expectations here are suitably high too, and for good reason. 

Fingers crossed there are many good reason for RPG fans to be excited over the coming months and years.