Baldur’s Gate 3 is the success story in gaming in 2023. This success is absolutely no coincidence. Larian Studios has made smart marketing decisions that are now continuing for the PS5.
No matter who I talk to in my gaming environment, Baldur’s Gate 3 is omnipresent.
In my entire Steam friends list, I see the role-playing game popping up multiple times every day. As soon as I enter our gaming editorial office, we exchange tips, guides, and stories that we have experienced while playing.
Currently, the rating of Baldur’s Gate 3 on Metacritic is 96, and everyone agrees: Larian Studios has created a damn good and immersive RPG here.
Our sister site GameStar finds in the detailed review: Baldur’s Gate 3 has everything we love, and too much of it
A good game alone is not enough to reach the masses and to celebrate such successes in player numbers as Baldur’s Gate 3 is currently doing. In a interview with PCGamer, studio head Swen Vincke even revealed that he was worried Baldur’s Gate 3 may have peaked in early access.
The marketing of Baldur’s Gate 3 for the PC release was at least as cleverly planned as the game itself – and now it continues with the PS5.
Baldur’s Gate 3 shares the console release with Starfield
What has been clever about the marketing so far?
- The smartest move was the advancement of the PC release. Baldur’s Gate 3 was released on August 3 and was originally supposed to be released 4 weeks later. In the same time window as Starfield. Here the studio took advantage of the otherwise quiet August to have the space to themselves.
- Hosting a livestream that showed sex with a druid in bear form to demonstrate the freedom the game offers. It just had to be a viral hit on social media – as luck would have it, there was also a temporary Tiktok ban for indecency on top of that.
All of this earned Baldur’s Gate 3 so much attention that there is simply no way to ignore the game, where interest was previously rather moderate.
At this point, I can reveal that Baldur’s Gate 3 did not achieve the greatest reach on MeinMMO in early access and was more of a niche title, which is why we treated the game rather negligently until then.
That changed abruptly on the big day of bear sex.
What is clever now for the console release?
- Baldur’s Gate 3 will be released for the PS5 on the same day as Starfield for Xbox Series and PC. Both games will be released on September 6.
Starfield has long been considered one of the contenders for one of the most important RPGs of 2023 and particularly made waves during the Summer Game Fest with a detailed gameplay presentation. After that, things got very quiet around the title.
Normally, you would advise against releasing your own game on the same day as such a prestigious title as Bethesda’s Starfield is published. Space is limited when it comes to the hype about a title and where the attention lies.
In this specific case, however, three things support the strategy that Larian Studios has chosen:
- Starfield is not coming to the PS5. Bethesda has been acquired by Microsoft and their own platform is being pushed here.
- Baldur’s Gate 3 will be released later for Xbox Series at an unspecified time, as the simultaneous optimization of the game for both the large X and small S versions will take even more time.
- With the quality of the game, Larian Studios can afford to present themselves confidently.
Ultimately, it’s a grand gesture of: Look here, dear PS5 players, we have a nice RPG for you while you’re left out with Starfield.
Overall, one has to give Larian Studios credit that they are currently proceeding maximally cleverly in their marketing. And no matter how good the marketing is, it doesn’t matter if the game ultimately isn’t good.
The success is well-deserved for the studio and we wish for a nice RPG. Or to put it with the highest compliment of the Germans:
There’s nothing to complain about.
