Baldur's Gate 3's highly anticipated Patch 7 has finally been released, and the response from the player community has been nothing short of extraordinary, especially in terms of the modding scene.
BG3 Modding Is “Pretty Big” Says CEO Swen Vincke
Baldur's Gate 3's Patch 7, which rolled out over the past few days, has sparked a massive surge in modding activity. Following its release on September 5, over one million mods were installed within the first 24 hours, as stated by Larian Studios' CEO Swen Vincke on Twitter (X). "Modding is pretty big - we had more than a million mods installed in less than 24 hours," Vincke proudly announced. Further amplifying the enthusiasm, ModDB and mod.io founder Scott Reismanis reported that the number of installs had soared past 3 million and was still on the rise. "Just ticked over 3m installs and accelerating," Reismanis commented in response to Vincke's post.
Patch 7 not only brought new content to the game but also introduced significant enhancements such as new evil endings, revamped split-screen gameplay, and the much-anticipated Larian Mod Manager. This integrated tool simplifies the process for players to browse, install, and manage community-created mods directly within the game.
For those interested in creating mods, the modding tools are available as a separate app on Steam. These tools empower modders to craft their own stories using Larian's in-house scripting language, Osiris. Mod authors have the capability to load custom scripts, perform basic debugging, and publish their mods directly from the toolkit.
BG3 Cross-Platform Modding in the Cards
The modding community has also seen the emergence of a powerful tool called the "BG3 Toolkit Unlocked," created by modder Siegfre and available on Nexus. This toolkit includes a full level editor and re-enables features in Larian's editor that were previously restricted, as reported by PC Gamer. Larian had been cautious about releasing all their development tools to the public, with Vincke explaining to PC Gamer, "We are a game development company, we're not a tools company." He noted that while players have significant creative freedom, not all tools used in the development process would be supported for general use.
Looking ahead, Larian Studios is actively working on implementing cross-platform modding, a feature that Vincke acknowledges is challenging. "It is not the easiest thing in the world because we have to make it work on consoles and on PC," he said. The initial focus will be on the PC version, with console support to follow later due to the necessary submission processes. This staggered approach allows time to address any issues that may arise.
Beyond the modding enhancements, Patch 7 has enriched the gameplay experience with a host of other improvements. Players can enjoy a more polished interface, new animations, additional dialogue options, and numerous bug fixes and performance optimizations. As Larian continues to update the game, more information on their plans for cross-platform modding is eagerly anticipated.
