Baldur’s Gate 3 length

How long does it take to beat Baldur’s Gate 3? Larian Studios has rolled out the red carpet for BG3, being its biggest and most ambitious game yet. With that though comes the worry of length and whether you’ll have time to complete it with all the great games coming out. Here’s everything you need to know about the Baldur’s Gate 3 length so you know if you’ve got the time.

Like many of the best RPG games out there, Baldur’s Gate 3 is a massive and rich experience, though it will take you quite some time to beat. If you’re looking to speed things up, having the best Baldur’s Gate 3 party composition and best Baldur’s Gate 3 class in our tier list will go a long way.

The Baldur’s Gate 3 length is between 75 and 100 hours for an average playthrough, whereas a completionist playthrough could take upwards of 200 hours long for a single run. This playtime was officially confirmed by Larian Studios’ director Swen Vincke.

This figure comes from an IGN interview with Vincke, who stated that “on average we’re seeing people who are going through take about 75 to 100 hours.” Although, Vincke says that he expects those partaking in multiplayer to extend the shelf life of Baldur’s Gate 3 massively, perhaps to even “a year, a year-and-a-half” as “they will make their regular sessions where they play, like D&D.”

Baldur’s Gate 3 is massive, with not only heaps of quests, dialogue, and areas to explore, but also a staggering 12 Baldur’s Gate 3 classes. Given how varied each class is, how they play into different party compositions with companions, and the deep character customization, there’s plenty of room for repeat playthroughs. If you want to explore all the backgrounds, companions, and classes, then you could replay the game upwards of 12 times, making the length closer to 1,000 hours if you so desire. You can even roleplay as your favorite DnD classes and DnD races if you play the tabletop game. If that’s your plan, check out the best DnD builds that you can recreate in Larian’s rendition of the universe.

In fact, Larian Studios has confirmed that there are 174 hours of cinematics in Baldur’s Gate 3, reflecting all the possible narrative choices and quests in the game, with more than 2,000 characters to meet and interact with. This makes it longer than all three Lord of the Rings novels combined, or twice the length of every Game of Thrones season combined.

However, if you’re looking for a more manageable way to play, then the Chapters system helps. The BG3 narrative is split into chapters, much like Divinity Original Sin 2, which provide natural points to take a break. Vincke even acknowledges this, stating “There will be moments where you can say, ‘you know what? I’ll stop here and try something else,’ and then I’ll pick it up again”. So, if you’re worried that Baldur’s Gate 3 is too big, then you can always take a break when transitioning into the next chapter.

Nevertheless, Baldur’s Gate 3 is a very long game thanks to, not only how much content is on offer, but also how deep its systems are with several classes, subclasses, companions, and more. Plus, by nature of it being a turn-based game, combat encounters typically take more time to complete than in action-RPGs like Skyrim or The Witcher 3.

Factors that can affect your Baldur’s Gate 3 playtime

There are several factors that can affect the Baldur’s Gate 3 length and how long it takes to beat it:

Solo play versus co-op – While playing solo could be more challenging, it can be hard to organize a time for up to three other players to get together for such a lengthy RPG. If you’re playing with others, you’ll need to set aside time when you’re all available to play.
Combat – BG3 is a turn-based game, so depending on how comfortable you are with classic RPG combat, then it could take you much longer to beat. This is particularly true if you die and have to retry encounters like boss fights.
Builds – With the tactical and challenging combat, you’ll need the best Baldur’s Gate 3 build for your class, making use of the best Baldur’s Gate 3 spells, races, classes, and more. This will make you more effective in combat, which can dramatically reduce the playtime.
Party composition – If you’ve got a weak party composition that struggles to survive or deal damage, then combat will take you even longer. Check out the Baldur’s Gate 3 party size and Baldur’s Gate 3 best companions to learn more.
Side content – There’s lots of side content in BG3, such as side ‘quests’ and exploration, which are not necessary to completing the main narrative. Depending on how much you dedicate to the side activities, you could spend even more time in this world.
Difficulty – There are three Baldur’s Gate 3 difficulty settings that will have a significant impact on the length of the game, with Tactician being an extreme challenge even for veterans.

So, Baldur’s Gate 3 will undoubtedly take you lots of time to beat, though there are ways to quicken the process and opportunities to stay immersed in the rich world of BG3 for even longer. This mostly comes down to your own playstyle, depending on whether you want to complete all the side content, replay the game as another class, or to experience the other narrative choices and outcomes. Obviously, while playing with others can make certain tasks more efficient, it’s not easy to schedule sessions for such a lengthy game, especially if you’re favoring Baldur’s Gate 3 split-screen co-op.

That covers the Baldur’s Gate 3 length and how long to beat the game. With so many choices to make, classes to play, and a great world to explore, BG3 could be one of the best games of all time, especially if you’re a fan of Larian’s Divinity Original Sin series.