Baldur’s Gate 3 has smashed records for game launches in 2023, with hundreds of thousands of players flocking to the adventure on its launch weekend. As previously reported, the game hit 800,000 concurrent players in its first few days on sale, quickly becoming one of Steam’s most-played games. Now, Larian Studios is celebrating this success with a number of eye-opening statistics.
Chief among the reveals is that Baldur’s Gate 3 players spent a combined 1,225 years of time in the game during its launch weekend, with every individual hour contributing to this impressive total. According to data cited by Larian, Baldur’s Gate 3 made up 28% of all player time on Steam on Sunday, 6 August 2023 (US time).
Shockingly, 368 players were able to fully complete the game within its launch weekend – and given the game can take up to 100 hours for completionists, that’s a very impressive number. Realistically, a full playthrough over the course of three days will likely mean certain story chapters and plots being missed – and they can be easily missed if you’re not careful – but it remains a notable feat.
Read: Baldur’s Gate 3 reportedly has 17,000 possible endings
Per other statistics revealed by Larian Studios, it appears most players are taking their time with the game, ensuring their experience is tailored to their tastes. Around 88 combined hours have been spent in the game’s character creator so far, and around 93% of players went for a custom character (Dark Urge charcter included) to experience the game.
For everyone who chose a prebuilt character, Gale was the most popular option, followed by Karlach and Astarion – although Larian notes Gale was also the ‘seventh highest cause of death’ in the game.
As a cheeky aside, Larian has also revealed the number of characters who were shoved into chasms, rather than beaten outright – and it appears players really love shoving people into chasms. Around 815,000 NPCs were shoved to their death during the Baldur’s Gate 3 launch weekend, which amounts to around one for every concurrent player. (GamesHub definitely contributed to this total.)
Read: Baldur’s Gate 3 Guide: Tips and Early Game Advice for Beginners
As part of its celebration, Larian has also revealed the race and class split for custom players. Per the breakdown, the Half-Elf was the most popular class, followed by Human, Elf, Dragonborn, Tiefling, and Drow. The Githyanki came up last. The most popular class choice was Paladin, followed by Sorcerer, Warlock, Rogue, and Bard. Cleric came up last in this category.
So far, players are veering on the side of ‘Good’ for in-game choices, with many players choosing diplomacy over assault in the Sacred Grove event. Many players are also taking the time to pet Scratch, the dog you meet in the early game, and around 2.4 million animals have been spoken to in the game.
While these statistics may change as Baldur’s Gate 3 players continue their journey, it’s a great look at progress so far, and what choices players are making. It also reveals an impressive engagement with the game, and just how successful Larian Studios has been, even in the early stages of Baldur’s Gate 3 exiting early access. We congratulate the development team on their achievements, and look forward to seeing how the statistics swing as more players complete their adventures.
