Even upon release, Baldur’s Gate 3 had already gone through a remarkably impressive cycle of iteration and improvement thanks to its stint in Early Access. Post-release, however, the developer Larian Studios has continued releasing major patches and updates, adding a full-fledged epilogue, among many other things.
This road hasn’t run its course just yet, either. Larian Studios still has some plans in mind for Baldur’s Gate 3, even if we disregard the game’s massive potential for DLCs and expansion packs. While there’s no official date yet, it seems Larian has plans for a Patch 7 on the horizon.
When is BG3 Patch 7?
While we’ve always figured a BG3 Patch 7 was unofficially official — does that make sense? — a recent Discord update from the moderator team explained Larian’s “next big patch […] is still several months away.” Sure, that could always mean an update not following the studio’s typical strategy and naming scheme, but we’re speculating a Patch 7 release for some time closer to or in summer.
For reference, the timeline insight comes from an explainer on official modding support for BG3. According to the Larian Studios Senior Community Strategist via Discord, the team hopes to “introduce the initial stages of modding support” with the patch.
Regardless, Larian is just coming off the heels of its Patch 6 release, and the time between major updates is going a little longer as we drift further from launch. For now, we’re holding off on any narrower speculation until the studio has a little breathing room and speaks more to its future BG3 plans.
BG3 Patch 6 Notes – Larian’s biggest changes
Finally, as of Thursday, February 15, Baldur’s Gate 3 Patch 6 is now available. As promised, Larian delivered an update full of new kissing animations. The smooching buff is real. The official notes highlight a wealth of new improvements, both big and small, but if you don’t have time for an in-the-weeds breakdown, some of those changes include:
- Additional kiss animations for each romance, varying by personality
- New idle camp animations
- Legendary Actions for Honour Mode bosses
- Cutscenes now prioritize your avatar as the main speaker
- Dismiss character in the party while speaking to who you want to replace them with
- New lines for Shadowheart at camp
- Reworked reflection scenes after ending scenes and between the Epilogue
- Fixes for Shield Bash and Rebuke of the Mighty passives
- Improved Long Rest camp supply selection
- Hungover condition for long rest if only resting with alcoholic camp supplies
- Bug fixes, along with follow-up Hotfix #18
BG3’s post-launch support and update history
Circling back to the topic of content updates for Baldur’s Gate 3, Larian Studios has been eager to keep the improvement train going even after BG3 was released from Steam Early Access. Notably, the game has received six major patches after it officially launched in early August 2023:
- August 3, 2023: Baldur’s Gate 3 1.0 release
- August 25, 2023: Patch #1
- August 31, 2023: Patch #2
- September 22, 2023: Patch #3
- November 2, 2023: Patch #4
- November 30, 2023: Patch #5
- February 16, 2024: Patch #6
- 2024 – Patch #7
The size and scope of these updates have varied wildly from the get-go. Further, there’s no fast and loose release pattern one could rely on to set expectations for future updates. For example, just over a week passed between Patches 1 and 2, with the former focusing mainly on delivering a massive round of bugfixing. In comparison, Patch 3 released a full month after 2, delivering genuinely interesting new features and content additions.
Regardless, one could argue that Patches 1 and 2 are exceptions to the rule of Larian releasing roughly one major patch every month or so. The release of Patch 6 coming in months after Patch 5, too, might be considered a bit of an exception, as Larian’s team is bound to have taken a holiday break following the successful release of the game.
Ultimately, we at least know the new update with Patch 7 is on the way in 2024 after Larian confirmed the next big drop via Discord. However, that doesn’t mean our job is done here just yet. Until the developer says it’s done with BG3, we’ll keep updating this page as we watch for more. So, Patch 7 when, Larian — the people want more Halsin kisses.
Published: Feb 22, 2024 01:47 pm