Larian Studios has announced that Baldur's Gate 3 (BG3) will finally add official mod support in September as part of the game’s upcoming major update.
Larian Kicks Off Alpha Closed Testing for BG3 Modding Support
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Mod Support Rolls Out First for PC
BG3 gears up for its next major update, Patch 7, in September, with dev Larian Studios announcing that the game is adding official mod support once the changes roll out for players by then. Starting today, BG3 mod support tools are being tested in a closed alpha, with a closed beta coming in July. Larian confirmed that 1000 players will be added, as part of the closed beta.
Lucky players who are able to get in the closed beta will be able to test the mods created during the alpha testing phase. Registrations will start next month and will be capped at 1,000 players. However, this is only limited to PC, and moreover, Larian said that modding support will be released first on PC and will become available shortly after for other platforms.
"We expect to roll out the support to the wider community and various platforms shortly after – including for Mac players, as well as PlayStation and Xbox consoles," Larian said in its announcement on Steam today.
Current Limitations for Platforms
PC players will have access to the BG3 Toolkit to create their own mods, and an internal curation process will determine which of these mods become available for those on console. Meanwhile, console players will only be able to browse, install, and use player-created mods, as the official modding tools themselves will not be available yet.
"We are currently rolling out invites for the Baldur’s Gate 3 Toolkit on Steam to popular mod authors so they can explore the new modding environment, view the tools, and get familiar with the process of converting their mods and uploading them to the platform, or even try creating new ones," Larian said. "At this early stage, participating mod authors will be able to provide us with direct feedback as we continue our internal development and testing."
On PC, general stability and necessary checks will be carried out before a mod becomes available in the game’s browser. On console, an additional curation process confirms which of these PC mods become available for cross-platform support.
While not all PC mods will become available for console, Larian said it will be sure to publish guidelines to help players understand what kind of content will pass necessary checks, "without blocking any unsupported creative mods on PC," so that the modding community can continue to be supported. Larian added, "While some NSFW mods and certain script-heavy modifications may not be supported through the official pipeline, modding outside of our pipeline will still be an option."
For cross-platform support, direct level editing and changes to core game elements (like story, cinematics, dialogues, quests, and local gameplay adjustments) cannot be carried out and done due to technical constraints and platform-specific guidelines.
Apart from the official mod support, Patch 7 will add more dark endings to the game for players' most sinister playthroughs.
Source:
Larian on Steam: Community Update #27 Official Modding Support
