Is Baldur's Gate 3 open world?
With Baldur's Gate 3 right around the corner, many players will be wondering if it is an open world role-playing game, or if it features a series of zones with loading screens between them.
Baldur's Gate 3 has been in early access for nearly three years at the time of writing, but many players will only be jumping in for the first time for its August 3 release date. If you're looking to learn more about the game before you begin your Dungeons & Dragons adventure, check out our breakdown of whether Baldur's Gate 3 is open world.
- Our breakdown of the Baldur's Gate 3 races & subraces will help you learn who you want to play before the launch.
Is Baldur's Gate 3 open world?
Click to enlargeBaldur's Gate 3 is not open world, as in it doesn't just have one large openly explorable map (i.e. Skyrim) for the whole game.
Instead, it follows the 'open worlds' system where there are multiple large zones you can explore, allowing you to move between them with loading screens - much like Larian Studio's previous game, Divinity: Original Sin 2.
For example, you can travel down into the Underdark (a completely new area below ground) from the first zone in the game, but it's not a seamless transition.
- If you're looking to play the game with friends, check out if Baldur's Gate 3 supports crossplay and cross-progression.
As the game unfolds and you begin new acts, we expect more areas to become available. However, as only Act I is currently available in early access, we don't know exactly if you'll be able to freely travel between the new and old zones as new acts unfold.
That's all for our explanation of if Baldur's Gate 3 is open world, and now you know that the game doesn't have one seamless open world, but instead features multiple large zones you can move between with loading screens.
Check out more Baldur's Gate 3 guides on GGRecon.
