Baldur’s Gate 3: Do Early Access Saves Work With The Full Game?

Baldur’s Gate 3 is finally on the horizon, and people can play the opening act of the story right now through Steam Early Access, but will you be able to continue that story into the launch version of the game? The final patch for Baldur’s Gate 3 Early Access allows you to play through Act 1 with an experience level cap of 5, while the final version of the game will feature three acts with a level cap of 12.

The Early Access version of Baldur’s Gate 3 offers a sample of what the game looks like, but it’s also missing a significant chunk of content. Baldur’s Gate 3 will have many classes and races at launch, some of which aren’t available in Early Access, including the Dragonborn, Half-Orc, and Monk. This is to say nothing of the many subclasses that will be coming to the game, with the Cleric and Wizard set to increase their character options at launch greatly.

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Will Baldur’s Gate 3 Early Access Saves Carry Over To The Full Game?

You can start a game of Baldur’s Gate 3 now, but it ends in Act 1. Larian Studios has confirmed that Baldur’s Gate 3 saves from the Early Access period will not transfer over to the main game. This means that when Baldur’s Gate 3 finally launches, you will have to start over from the beginning, so say hi to the Mind Flayer ship for us.

The lack of save transfers has been a constant presence throughout the Early Access period. Every time a new major patch was released for Baldur’s Gate 3, the player had to start over if they wanted to experience the new content. This ensured numerous builds were available for the game, with different types of content, such as the party members being a lot more disagreeable in the early versions of Baldur’s Gate 3 before becoming more reasonable in later patches, following fan feedback.

Those who dread going through the Mind Flayer ship and Act 1 again should at least take comfort from the fact that Larian Studios has promised more content will be added to the early sections of the game, so it’s not going to be a wholly familiar experience. It will also be a lot more engaging to play through Act 1 with a character you know will be with you until the end of the game, so there are finally stakes for your decisions.

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Baldur’s Gate 3 has the same problem as Baldur’s Gate 2, as it has a lengthy opening section with minimal choices that cannot be skipped. Once Baldur’s Gate 3 finally hits Ver 1.0., fans can at least grit their teeth and plow their way through the Mind Flayer ship one more time and dream of hitting the surface of the Forgotten Realms for what will hopefully be the final time… until you replay the game.