How long is Baldur’s Gate 3? The long-awaited return to the beloved Dungeons and Dragons videogame series set in the Forgotten Realms is finally here. As a fan of the series, you may wonder how long it will take to complete the campaign and how that compares to previous Baldur’s Gate games.
You can get a general idea of how long the game is from our Baldur’s Gate 3 review, but if you’re just looking for raw stats, it’s time to start planning now. Developer Larian Studios has revealed the Baldur’s Gate 3 length, and we’ve spent plenty of time in the RPG game to back up these statements. It looks like you’ll have to clear out your schedule if you want to have time to beat its campaign.
How long is Baldur’s Gate 3?
According to Larian’s Swen Vincke, a playthrough of Baldur’s Gate 3 will take between 75 and 100 hours to complete the core story. It took our reviewer, Paul Kelly, just over 24 hours to finish the first act.
And that’s just for players that focus on the core story. Much like previous Baldur’s Gate games, you can expect to comfortably double that number if you explore all the different backgrounds and companion stories, play as a character with the Dark Urge origin, complete every single quest, and uncover all of the lore. This news, which was first mentioned in an interview with IGN, shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise to veteran fans of the series. After all, its predecessor remains one of the most revered PC RPGs of all time and clocks in at an estimated 70 hours to beat the main objectives, with estimates running as high as 150 hours in total to achieve 100% completion.
“That’s not doing everything, that is just going to be a playthrough,” Vincke remarks of the 100-hour figure. “There will be people who will be way over that, the ones who want to do everything. They will probably hit 200 hours, I think.” That’s certainly quite the timesink; I’m already exhausted just thinking about it.
For those of you looking to explore multiplayer, Vincke expects Baldur’s Gate 3 will last you quite a while. “They’ll take a year, a year and a half,” he suggests, “We say that with Divinity Original Sin 2, and it will be no different here.” That comes down to finding times when everyone can play together. He explains something that I’m sure we’ve all run into: “They will make their regular sessions when they play, like DnD.”
That’s how long Baldur’s Gate 3 is. Better start booking that time off now! It’ll be worth it, though; the latest reveal of the increased Baldur’s Gate 3 level cap, to give players space to save “many rad high-level spells” on each of their Baldur’s Gate 3 classes, also showcases the Dragonborn and Half-Orc races that round out its roster. I’m already planning what my party might look like.
Be sure that you check out the Baldur’s Gate 3 system requirements so that you’re not fretting about upgrades when it arrives. We’ve also got the latest on Baldur’s Gate 3 Steam Deck compatibility – after all, what better way to squeeze in all those hours than by taking it wherever you go.
Additional contributions by Ken Allsop.