Stadia says Baldur's Gate 3 will be out this year

At first glance, the latest Stadia Community Blog update isn't the most exciting bit of news you're likely to see this week. It lists five more games coming to the service at some point during the spring and summer, none of which strike me as likely world-beaters: Lost Worlds: Beyond the Page, Stacks on Stack (on Stacks), and Spitlings—all "First on Stadia" releases—plus the Serious Sam Collection (my pick of the bunch) and Panzer Dragoon.

Once you get down into the text, though, it gets more interesting. "You’re already looking forward to Doom Eternal, Get Packed, Orcs Must Die! 3, Baldur’s Gate 3 and many more games coming to Stadia this year," it says. "Now, get set to explore the inner workings of a child’s memories, or leap into arcade chaos with your friends with a trio of titles making their debut on Stadia this spring and summer... before they land anywhere else. First on Stadia."

The relevant bit in there, which you may have caught, is "Baldur's Gate 3 … coming to Stadia this year." Up to this point, Baldur's Gate 3 hasn't been given any sort of release date: Steam lists it as TBA, and our own speculation is that it's still quite a way off. It was only announced in June 2019 and, all due respect to Divinity: Original Sin 2, is Larian's most high-profile project yet, and not something to be rushed. But there it is.

Is it accurate? Larian told PCGamesN, "We haven’t announced a release period, and were included in that lineup email in error," and when I inquired, hoping that I might connect with someone less committed to maintaining PR discipline, I received the identical statement. Fair enough as far as it goes, but "included in error" doesn't necessarily mean that it's inaccurate, just that it's not supposed to be there. And Larian has very conspicuously not said that it's not coming this year, which means that it might. Unless it doesn't.

But it might! In case you'd forgotten (as I had), Larian teased in January that "something's brewing" in Baldur's Gate 3, which will be revealed on February 27—just under two weeks away. Perhaps we'll learn more then.