The developers from Larian Studios have taken to Steam to reveal that currently unnamed Patch 3 is just around the corner for the cRPG Baldur’s Gate 3, currently in Early Access. The contents of the patch will affect the story. Unfortunately, that also means that it will introduce the first save incompatibility with the transition to the new version.
This is why the developers will introduce a secondary branch alongside the update, allowing players to continue enjoying the previous version of the game with their existing savegames. Note: Branching unfortunately won’t be available on Stadia for the moment. It’ll work like this on Steam:
The secondary branch will be the previous version, but the primary branch (default download) will be the latest version. To access the secondary branch, do the following:
- Right-click on the game in your Steam library
- Select properties
- Click the BETAS tab
- In the list under “Select the beta you would like to opt in to”, select patch2
- Close the properties menu
If you do the above steps, you are all set to continue your current playthrough.
If you are unsure whether you want to update to the new patch, we recommend disabling automatic updates now, so that you have the choice to manually update to the new patch or opt-in to the secondary branch once the patch arrives. To disable automatic updates follow the below steps:
- Right-click on the game in your Steam library
- Select properties
- Click the Updates tab
- Select “only update the game when I launch it” in the drop-down menu
Note: save files are not ‘deleted’ from your computer; they’ll remain in your folder, but you’ll only be able to load saves specific to their respective versions.
The team is aware that having to switch branches can be annoying but this is the reality of an Early Access title.
