Baldur’s Gate 3’s eagerly awaited Patch 8 out now on PS5 – but Larian says it shouldn’t be

UPDATE 8pm: Following the unintentional release of Baldur’s Gate 3‘s upcoming Patch 8 on PS5, Larian has provided additional details and a recommended fix for affected players.

In a post on the Baldur’s Gate 3 website, Larian offered more context for today’s error, explaining, “Our partners have confirmed that some regions mistakenly received the Patch 8 build as an update to their live game version, in preparation for the Patch 8 stress test.” The update, it said, was “only accessible for a few hours” and is no longer available.

For those that did receive today’s download, Larian warns this version is unsupported and won’t be updated until after the stress test, when Patch 8 is ready for its full release. It also notes affected players will likely experience compatibility issues with mods, and won’t be able to access multiplayer when attempting to join users on Patch 7. As such, it recommends reverting to Patch 7 by uninstalling and reinstalling Baldur’s Gate 3.

Unfortunately, the studio also confirms saves made with Patch 8 installed won’t be compatible with Patch 7, and it “cannot guarantee saves made in this version will remain compatible when Patch 8 is released.” As such, players will need to return to an earlier save if reverting to Patch 7.

Finally, the studio notes players that received today’s unintentionalupdate aren’t necessarily guaranteed access to the stress test. The test itself is due to begin this week, with invites going out to successful applicants in waves.

ORIGINAL STORY 6.45pm: Baldur’s Gate 3’s eagerly awaited Patch 8 is now live on PS5 – which has seemingly left developer Larian Studios a little perplexed, seeing as it definitely shouldn’t be.

Patch 8, officially Baldur’s Gate 3’s final content update, isn’t due to arrive until Larian has held its upcoming closed stress test. As such, Baldur’s Gate 3 players on PlayStation 5 were more than a little surprised to see the game update to version 1.800.00 earlier today – and it turns out the studio was equally caught offguard by this turn of events.

“No, the Patch 8 stress test hasn’t yet begun,” it confirmed in a quietly exasperated post on Bluesky. “Yes, PS5 players do currently have access to Patch 8. While we work with our partners to understand what’s going on, please note that any new saves made while on Patch 8 will not be compatible with Patch 7… How’s your Monday going?”.

Patch 8 might be Baldur’s Gate 3’s final major content update, but it’s still a big one, introducing 12 new sub-classes, cross-play, new camera features, and more. Given its scope, Larian previously explained it would be holding a pre-launch stress test in order to “help us catch things before they can become an issue once a patch has been released.”

As such, Patch 8’s premature launch on PlayStation 5 clearly isn’t an ideal situation, saddling players with a version of the game that isn’t yet ready for release, while putting the studio in a potentially tricky situation – seeing as reverting Baldur’s Gate 3 to an earlier version could leave PS5 players with non-functional saves. We’ve asked Larian for comment.

Despite today’s Patch 8 snafu, Baldur’s Gate 3’s stress test – which doesn’t yet have a start date – is still on the horizon, and registrations remain open. And for those players on other platforms who don’t yet have access, there’s always Withers “big naturals” to keep them amused.