Baldur's Gate 3 recently launched on PS5. Like the PC version, it includes support for split-screen, allowing PS5 owners to play with their friends who are playing Larian Studios' critically acclaimed RPG on PC. But while split-screen mostly works fine, IGN has nevertheless encountered some issues.
We discuss these issues in our new performance review of Baldur's Gate 3, where we compare the PS5 and PC versions of the game. Reviewer Michael Thompson says that the game's performance tanks when two characters explore different parts of a city, with the frames per second fluctuating while conducting the test in Act 3.
He notes that the CPU is being taxed while doing this work and not the GPU. Thompson reports an average of 27.3 frames per second while testing split-screen mode in Act 3. The PS5 version with split-screen enabled runs the game in Quality mode — 1440p at 30fps.
Thompson says that the game's performance tanks when two characters explore different parts of a city, with the frames per second fluctuating while conducting the test in Act 3. He notes that the CPU is being taxed while doing this work and not the GPU. Thompson reports an average of 27.3 frames per second while testing split-screen mode in Act 3.
The third act in Baldur's Gate 3 is known for being particularly taxing, regardless of platform, due to the large area of the location combined with the high number of NPCs populating the in-game location.
Despite performance dropping to varying degrees in Act 3, our reviewer points out that Baldur's Gate 3 on PS5 does "a decent job of staying at or around the 30fps target" when outside of that location.
Baldur's Gate 3 split-screen has been an issue on every platform
Split-screen has proven to be a pain point for every version of Baldur's Gate 3, particularly on Xbox, where it was initially delayed due to performance issues. Larian compromised by removing split-screen from Xbox Series S version, though it may get the feature at a later date.
Larian Studios is also working on cross-play support that will allow PS5 owners to hop on their PC and pick up where they left off and vice versa.
Baldur's Gate 3's co-op is quite ambitious overall, supporting multiple players across both online and split-screen. Overall, though, Larian Studios has done an admiral job of making it all work.
In our review of Baldur's Gate 3, which we gave a 10, we said, "With crunchy, tactical RPG combat, a memorable story with complex characters, highly polished cinematic presentation, and a world that always rewards exploration and creativity, Baldur's Gate 3 is the new high-water mark for CRPGs."
Taylor is a Reporter at IGN. You can follow her on Twitter @TayNixster.
