Baldur's Gate 3 still struggles to run Act 3 smoothly, even on the PS5

Baldur's Gate 3 is predominantly an enchanting experience, devoid of any flaws, bugs, or performance setbacks during its initial two acts. However, those who have reached the final third of Baldur's Gate 3 will become aware of the performance issues encountered in Act 3, particularly when visiting the eponymous city of Baldur's Gate. The heightened density and populace of the environments make even the most powerful PCs perspire, and the same holds true for the PS5.

In a comparison between the PS5 and PC versions of Baldur's Gate 3 conducted by Digital Foundry (thanks to GamesRadar), it is demonstrated that the game's performance noticeably declines when navigating through Baldur's Gate, regardless of the chosen mode. In the Performance mode, the game consistently runs at 60fps during gameplay, occasionally experiencing minor drops during cutscenes, but the performance significantly deteriorates in Act 3. In the most severe cases, the frame rate plummets to a regrettable 20fps, accompanied by noticeable screen tearing when the frame rate decreases.

It is precisely the same scenario when playing in Quality mode. Baldur's Gate 3 runs largely flawlessly at a consistent 30fps in Quality mode, but once again, the performance declines in Act 3. It is slightly better than in Performance mode, as no screen tearing is observed, yet the frame rate still noticeably drops to around 20fps.

Digital Foundry appears to believe that the cause of these issues is a combination of errors and a CPU bottleneck situation in the vicinity of Baldur's Gate, as both modes experience a drop to around 20fps regardless of the visual quality. Clearly, this is not of significant concern for PC users, given the availability of potential solutions and more powerful hardware. However, those of you diving into Baldur's Gate 3 on the PS5 will have to contend with it unless the developer, Larian Studios, releases a new patch.

That is currently highly likely, as Larian has been releasing patches and hotfixes at an almost breathtaking pace recently. Within a week, Larian responded to feedback regarding the popular character Karlach, adding an epilogue scene and new dialogue options to address those concerns. The latest patch has even made Minthara significantly more talkative. Therefore, it is possible that Larian will attempt to improve the game's performance in Act 3 once the more pressing issues have been addressed.

In other news regarding Baldur's Gate 3, it was recently revealed that Larian has already begun work on their next game. Co-founder and creative director Swen Vincke stated that he is "closing the chapter" of his career that Baldur's Gate 3 represented.