The Early Access version of "Baldur's Gate 3" is fast approaching. It will be available at the end of this month, but now we know how much money you will need if you want to play it soon.

According to Michael Daus, Larian's publishing director, "Baldur's Gate 3" will cost $60, making it Larian's most expensive PC game; "Divinity: Original Sin 2" was $60 on consoles but was released on PC for $45.

Daus revealed the price on Twitter, adding that "you shouldn't feel pressured to buy it during the EA period." As announced during last month's livestream, the Early Access version will offer 25 hours of adventure, taking you through Faelan, Avernus, and the Underdark. Drow and demons, what more could you want?"

However, this is only the first act, and the finished game will, not surprisingly, be considerably longer.

This is a $15 increase over Larian's previous work, but Daus tells me that it reflects the size of the game and the team that designed it. Everything is bigger.

"DOS2 was completed by a much smaller team. 'Compared to when DOS2 was released, Larian now has more than twice as many people. And BG3 is a bigger, deeper game with much higher production values. So not only has the depth increased, but the production value has increased along with it."

While $60 for a new PC game is hardly unusual, it is considerably more expensive than other Early Access games. Daus said he has seen few complaints about paying $60 for a game that is not yet complete, but he is concerned about the "perception problem" of Early Access: paying $60 allows Early Access players to play the complete game when it is complete .

"Early Access is best thought of as a playable preorder," he says. 'Although, of course, that's not exactly how it works. The function of Early Access is to gather feedback, test ideas, and iterate directly with the audience to make the game even better."

"Some Early Access games are not available for pre-order."

"Some games are available for pre-order."

Some Early Access players will spend a tremendous amount of time on a game in development, submitting numerous bug reports and feature requests. There is an argument that if players are doing QA, even if it is because they are passionate about the game, it should be reflected in a price reduction or in some other way.

While the price of "Baldur's Gate 3" will not be reduced for Early Access, Douse cites several other ways that players can get value by jumping in early.

"If you look back at the history of DOS2, there are a lot of interrelationships," Douse said. We have transparent, consistent, intelligent conversations with our players." I think when our game is so valuable, and there's so much content, and we often come up with more specific surprises, [they] feel like they're listening to us. We don't have these plans yet (in fact, we didn't even have them at this stage with DOS2), but we have done gift bag DLC, Definitive Edition updates, etc. We made a huge investment and released it for free. We don't promise to replicate that, but we raise it to underscore the point that there are many ways to cater to our audience beyond simply discounting it at launch."[21

The latest gift bag DLC, which came out in June and was distributed to everyone, not just those who played during Early Access, still means that three years after launch, you received more than you paid for.

"There are good and bad ways to do Early Access, but I think we're doing it the right way," says Daus. The key is to support the player for the life of the game, long after EA and launch, "The last gift bag for DOS2 wasn't that long ago, and we're still updating it, so we've got to make sure we're doing the right thing. So I feel very strongly that not only is it worth it from day one in Early Access, but the value of the $60 will increase exponentially and in extraordinary ways year after year. This was proven in DOS2, and BG3 is a new beginning of a similar journey by the same people."

I always feel a little uncomfortable starting an adventure in an Early Access version of an RPG. When you reach the end of the Early Access version, you have to wait months or years to start all over again. Of course, I am willing to go through this terrible ordeal for the sake of Baldur's Gate 3. I mean, it's Baldur's Gate 3. I have to get it.

Regional pricing has not yet been announced, but will be covered in future updates ahead of the September 30 Early Access launch.