PC and console cross-play is on the roadmap for Baldur's Gate 3
"It was always in the planning..."
Cross-play is apparently already on the development roadmap for Baldur's Gate 3. This means players on PlayStation 5 and PC - and at some point, Xbox - will all theoretically be able to play together online in the future.
Confirmation comes from Larian's director of publishing, Michael Douse, who told me the studio always intended to do cross-play but it was one thing too many to get working for launch. The PS5 version comes out today, remember; the PC version came out at the beginning of August; and the Xbox versions will arrive at some point this year.
"It was always in the planning," Douse told me, "but we knew it wouldn't be for launch. It's in the roadmap, and though we have an idea of when we'd like to get it ready for, we don't want to put a date on it until we're sure."
Encouragingly, though, it sounds like it's more a question of when rather than if.
Baldur's Gate 3 PS5 - Getting Started Tips + Tricks! Let's Play BG3 on PS5 with combat advice & more
The PS5 version of Baldur's Gate 3 already supports online multiplayer on PS5 and split-screen local co-op. And cross-saves, which in my experience, work very well. The same is true for BG3 on PC by the way - not everyone realises split-screen works there.
Split-screen performance on PS5 isn't ideal, though. In it, the game is forced into the 30ps Quality visual mode, which feels noticeably (and obviously) choppier than the 60fps Performance visual mode I like to play in. VG247 has put together a good video looking at PS5 performance, by the way.
Larian also highlighted, in a pre-launch note to PS5 reviewers, problems with performance in the game's climactic final act in the city of Baldur's Gate. It said it was working hard to fix it. Remember, the studio has had issues with this area on PC too.
Most PS5 players won't be in the city of Baldur's Gate yet, of course, but those importing saves from PC may well be.
Generally, though, my experience of playing Baldur's Gate 3 on PS5 has been very positive. I wasn't expecting to like the controls and altered user interface as much as I have, and it's led to me beginning to prefer the experience to PC - something I elaborate on in a piece published moments ago.