Modding for Baldur’s Gate 3 is now available for PC players, with the release of the long-awaited Patch 7 (likely the game’s last major update) after a closed alpha in June and an open beta in July, which gives players free reign to tinker with user-created weapons, armor, classes and subclasses, spells, dice skins, and pretty much anything you can imagine.
Mods are available through the official (powered by mod.io) in-game mod manager and external channels. “We don’t prohibit modding outside of our official pipeline,” Larian Studios said. However, the developer noted that officially approved mods are aimed at stability and cross-platform compatibility. “This ensures a smoother experience, but at the expense of script-focused modding, which can be done outside of our pipeline,” the studio said.
Larian announced earlier this summer that mod support for Baldur’s Gate 3 would come to PC first, with Mac and console support coming soon after, but in an update today, the developer revealed that players on consoles (PS5 and Xbox Series X/S) and macOS can expect patch 7 in October.
This will cause some short-term compatibility issues – if you want your game save files to work between PC and consoles, you’ll have to wait for patch 7 to be installed on PC. However, cross-platform save compatibility will be restored in October when the update is released to PlayStation, Xbox, and Apple devices.
Larian Studio
Larian says patch 7 for the console versions of Baldur’s Gate 3 will include an “additional curation process” to determine which mods will be available across platforms. “While not all PC mods will be available on consoles, we will publish guidelines to help you understand what content passes the necessary checks. This will allow us to continue to support our modding community, both in and outside of our official pipeline, without blocking creative mods that are not supported on PC,” the studio wrote.
Mod support isn’t just a fun bonus for gamers, it’s also a way for Larian to keep the game alive while diverting resources to new projects. According to Eurogamer, CEO Swen Vincke said in June that opening up to mods lets developers “say, ‘Okay, now it’s totally yours.'” Of course, the studio will continue to push updates to fix any critical bugs, but today’s arrival of Patch 7 could be the first step in wrapping up one of 2023’s best games.
If you want to roll up your sleeves and dive into modding for Baldur’s Gate 3, Larian has created a handy tutorial series covering modding guidelines, how to get started with modding, creating mods, and viewing other people’s work.
