As Baldur’s Gate 3 prepares to celebrate its first anniversary, it’s become increasingly obvious the Dungeons & Dragons-inspired RPG has already carved out a place among the very elite of modern (and classic) gaming.
Baldur’s Gate 3 took the gaming world by storm once Larian Studios finally brought its roleplaying masterpiece out of early access, with the long-awaited sequel instantly smashing records before marching on to claim a dragon’s horde of gongs and trophies in awards season—and all that hype has barely waned 12 months later.
While general discourse has moved on to Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree and Marvel Rivals in recent months, BG3 hasn’t lost a step; on the eve of its first birthday, Larian’s blockbuster title is still raking in as many as 100,000 players at any given time. At the time of writing, 65,000 gamers were loaded into Faerûn, according to Steam’s playing charts, and that had peaked at 112,454 earlier today.
Even more impressive, that six-digit haul is only for those who’ve paid for the RPG on Valve’s storefront. Baldur’s Gate’s sequel is also on PlayStation 5 as well as several Xbox consoles—neither of those companies share playing metrics.
To have well over 100,000 players pouring into a game world every day puts any title firmly within the biggest in the scene, with BG3 rubbing shoulders with ever-present stalwarts like Dota 2, Counter-Strike 2, Path of Exile, and Apex Legends. Baldur’s Gate 3 (tracking in tenth), Grand Theft Auto V (ninth), and Elden Ring (sixth) are the only three paid titles to appear in the top rankings, with FromSoftware’s famed Soulslike in particular helped on by its well-reviewed DLC release a month ago.
Some recent games do come close, like Helldivers 2 with its 20,000 concurrents and the resurrected Cyberpunk 2077 and its 19,000, but for BG3 to still be locking horns with the world’s biggest live-service games is as impressive as it gets in the modern market, especially now a full year after its early hype.
A year seems nothing to BG3’s long-playing loyalists too, with players this week declaring the game will last “another ten, at least” thanks to mods. Others agreed it’s still as “satisfying, rewarding, immersive” as it was back on day one.
That’s a big reason for its success—the world just seems to keep unfolding with each new playthrough and every journey. Larian has built a video game that plays like Dungeons & Dragons; itself now 50 years old and constantly building from strength to strength under Wizards of the Coast’s watchful eye.
I’m biased as a long-time D&D veteran and an original Baldur’s Gate 1 and 2 fan, of course, but when it comes to games I may never get bored of playing, BG3 takes the whole cake and then licks the plate clean.
Between the near-universal acclaim the Larian RPG collected when it was released, how far into the general public it stretched with its rich narrative, incredible characters, and hilarious bear sex, and now just how dominant its staying power has been, and it’s very easy to say Baldur’s Gate 3 has already put itself in gaming’s pantheon; a rare feat for a game still considered in its infancy.
Now all we need is a level editor and we’re set forever.
