Summary

  • Baldur's Gate 3 is being adjusted for its Japanese release to comply with strict censorship guidelines, including the removal of explicit content and potential censorship of certain scenes.
  • Larian Studios, the developer of Baldur's Gate 3, is planning substantial post-launch additions to the game.
  • While Larian has not revealed specific details about content updates or a Definitive Edition, there is potential for new content and endings for characters following the success of Baldur's Gate 3.

Baldur's Gate 3 doesn't shy away from its explicit content, and as a result, a fair few of its scenes will have to be censored as it prepares for its launch in Japan on December 21. When Baldur's Gate 3 released a month early to dodge the popularity of Starfield, few could have anticipated that it would become such a record-breaking and standard-setting title. Given the legendary reputation of the first two games, Larian's sequel had much to live up to, and the widespread opinion seems to be that Baldur's Gate 3 easily met (and perhaps even surpassed) those expectations.

As Baldur's Gate 3 prepares for its Xbox launch, it is also working towards ensuring a smooth release for the Japanese audience. Given the strict guidelines that Japan has on the type of explicit content that can be depicted in media, Larian has had to adjust its title to make it past censorship. The obvious culprit have been the sex scenes in Baldur's Gate 3, as players can have romantic encounters with their companions over the course of the story, though more than just nudity seems to be on the chopping block.

As reported by IGN, Spike Chunsoft – the publisher for Baldur's Gate 3 in Japan – said that the Japanese version of the game won't allow players to turn on the explicit content option in the settings screen. While this may take care of the title's general approach to nudity, it would appear that a few scenes across Baldur's Gate 3 will also be censored, such as the inability to torture NPCs in the Goblin Camp during Act 1.

baldur's gate 3 dark urge censored japan

Though Larian is consistently providing post-launch support for Baldur's Gate 3, the developers are setting the stage for more substantial additions than just bug fixes and balance tweaks. A new achievement strongly hints that Baldur's Gate 3 is getting a difficulty mode harder than Tactician, which is bound to be exciting for experienced players who want to pit their broken builds against the most challenging content in the game.

In terms of content updates or a Definitive Edition, Larian has remained tight-lipped. The cut content for Baldur's Gate 3 seemingly includes the entirety of the Upper City. On the flip side, companions such as Karlach could even be provided new endings in a hypothetical content update. The potential for the setting and its characters is ripe following the success of Baldur's Gate 3, and Larian should strike while the iron is hot, as fans aren't quite ready to move on just yet.

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Baldur's Gate 3 Tag Page Cover Art
9 /10

Baldur's Gate 3
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RPG
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Systems
PlayStation-1 Xbox-1 PC-1
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Top Critic Avg: 96 /100 Critics Rec: 97%
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Released
August 3, 2023
ESRB
M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Partial Nudity, Sexual Content, Strong Language, Violence
Developer(s)
Larian Studios
Publisher(s)
Larian Studios
Engine
Divinity 4.0
Multiplayer
Online Co-Op, Local Co-Op
Cross-Platform Play
Full cross-platform play.
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WHERE TO PLAY

DIGITAL
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Franchise
Baldur's Gate
Genre(s)
RPG