The Next Major Update for Baldur's Gate 3 Adds Cross-play, 12 New Subclasses, and a Photo Mode

Developer Larian Studios seems to not have completely moved on from their successful RPG Baldur’s Gate 3 as they just announced the game’s eighth major game update that adds significant features to the game.

These features are cross-play, photo mode, and 12 new subclasses, simply giving more ways to customize your characters as each class in the game gets one new subclass, complete with new abilities and animations.

It’s a surprise announcement as they’ve expressed that they are moving on from Baldur’s Gate with no expansion planned for the game, but I guess support is a different thing as this upcoming patch, which is set to launch in 2025, is rather significant.

Here’s what to expect from each major feature coming from the update.

Cross-Play

Whether you’re joining PS5 players from your PC, or jumping into a game with Mac users from your Xbox, Baldur’s Gate 3 multiplayer will soon feature full cross-platform progression, including cross-play - just as the gaming gods intended.

Once the update is live you’ll be able to invite your friends to join your cross-play lobby directly, regardless of platform and find available multiplayer lobbies with friends on other systems using the Larian Network.

Subclasses

Patch 8 will introduce a new way to play your favourite class, adding one new subclass for each of the existing Bard, Barbarian, Cleric, Druid, Paladin, Fighter, Monk, Ranger, Rogue, Sorcerer, Warlock and Wizard classes in the game.

Expect new abilities, animations, VFX, summons and cantrips, and unique voiced dialogue lines for the Oathbreaker Knight with written reactivity for Oathbreakers, along with a touch of homebrewing on certain actions to enhance your role-playing experience.

Photo Mode

Finally, you can stop using pictures of fish you’ve caught on your dating profile and start snapping photos with your Hound of Ill Omen. Photo Mode is coming to Baldur’s Gate 3 in Patch 8!

Baldur’s Gate 3’s Photo Mode is a little like a photo booth that lets you set up pretty much any shot you’d like. This new feature introduces a whole slew of options to let you customise and edit your in-game photography, with various levels of freedom depending on whether you’re using it while adventuring, or during combat, dialogue, and cinematic scenes.

Players can expect to try out the new features as Larian plans to do a stress test on the patch, so expect a chance to try out the new content sometime in early January on both consoles and PC. The stress test is simply there to give the community a chance to help Larian fix major issues with the latest subclasses, if cross-play and Photo Mode is working as intended.

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