D&D: Larian Studios Shows Off ‘Baldur’s Gate 3’s Incredible Xbox Series S Optimization
Larian Studios is pulling out the big guns to optimize Baldur’s Gate 3 for the Xbox Series S version of Baldur’s Gate 3.
Baldur’s Gate 3 is a hefty, chonky beast of a game. Both in terms of the size it takes up and what it takes to get it looking good. However, console players need not worry about getting the short end of the stick when it comes to their ports, as Larian CEO Swen Vincke showed off a hefty feat of engineering to get the game’s memory loads under control.
And while Vincke’s post was intended to show off the performance optimization for the Xbox Series S port of Baldur’s Gate 3 in particular, this kind of rising tide lifts all boats. Metaphorically speaking, that is.
Baldur’s Gate 3 – Xbox Optimization
The graphs in Vincke’s tweet show off an impressive dive in VRAM and RAM usage throughout September through November. As you can see, the peak RAM usage dropped from 5.2 gigs to 4.7.
And VRAM dropped from 3.5 to 2.3 GB.
While Vincke didn’t go into details of what the team did to accomplish these drops, the outlook is good for the future of the game. Because even on PC versions of the game, users are reporting performance issues in Act 3, the optimization efforts to bring the game to Xbox (which aren’t finished yet) are likely bearing fruit for everyone.
Larian has been constantly tweaking and improving performance since its release. The latest patch, patch 4, specifically improved the game’s overall performance in crowded areas and later acts. The fact that Larian is already making such significant strides bodes extremely well for the Series S port.
Though sadly, at this time, there’s still no two-player split-screen co-op planned for the Series S, a fact which earned the game no small amount of criticism among Xbox players. But, judging by what the team at Larian has managed to accomplish, there’s reason to hope that even Xbox players can get in on that couch co-op action.
Baldurs Gate 3 doesn’t have an official Xbox release date, but at the rate, things are going, before the end of the year doesn’t seem too unlikely! Gather your party, and prepare to venture forth.
