Larian says it’s going to expand the Baldur’s Gate 3 mod toolkit ‘to give you even more freedom,’ so there goes another 100 hours I’ve lost to modding
Baldur’s Gate 3 Patch 8 marked the last of Larian’s major updates, but that doesn’t mean we can’t get a hotfix or modding surprise as a treat. As part of the RPG’s second anniversary community update, the studio shared a few bite-sized fixes and a quick breakdown of more BG3 player stats. But most notably, the developer revealed that it isn’t done working on the official modding toolkit.
Specifically, Larian says it’s “working on expanding the official toolkit to give you even more freedom,” with more details on what that entails coming soon.
The community update notes its extra effort is inspired by the RPG’s relentlessly creative modding scene that “raised the bar with every mod,” so shout out to all of those ridiculously detailed custom hairstyles, the millions of costume recolors in my mod folder, and, uh, Withers’ big naturals.
There’s also a scene for modding the mod tools. It only took two days after the official kit debuted for someone to unlock its developer mode and reveal a hidden level editor. We’ve seen extra additions from Larian since then, but nothing quite as robust as what some third-party tweaks accomplished.
BG3’s Patch 8 update added partial level editing, so you can drop in DIY NPCs and objects to the world, but it’s got limitations. The unlocked toolkit isn’t something you’ll find help with through Larian’s official channels either, but we’ve seen some wild creations borne from community projects as modders set their sights on custom campaigns and restoring cut content.
As one of the self-proclaimed modding sickos, my brain immediately conjures up a million what-if scenarios for what expanding those tools could mean. I understand there are limitations to keep folks from going too wild within the official hub and risking game instability, plus Larian’s FAQ explains licensing and console guidelines, but I’ve already been tempted by the forbidden level editor fruit.
I mean, I can’t mod anything beyond changing a color or texture, but just imagine the custom Karlach date destinations all you talented modding types could make.
