Baldur’s Gate 3: Can you play BG3 on Mac?

The answer isn't cut and dry.

The Druid Jaheira prepares to cast a spell in Baldur's Gate 3.
Screenshot by Dot Esports

Baldur’s Gate 3 is finally about to leave early access on Mac. Developer Larian Studios announced on Twitter that the third major patch would be arriving on September 21st “with full support for BG3 on Mac.”

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Because Apple computers use different software than most standard PCs, developers sometimes don’t create MacOS-friendly versions of their games. This is in part because the typical computer that a gamer might use runs Windows instead. But with the release of Baldur’s Gate 3, there have been some mixed signals on exactly how the game is playable on a Mac.

Can you play Baldur’s Gate 3 on Mac?

The answer is a bit complicated. Technically, Baldur’s Gate 3‘s early access is playable on MacOS, meaning Mac players can only play through the first act. But this is about to change soon, as the long-anticipated Baldur’s Gate 3 Mac port finally has a release date.

Launching on Sept. 21, Patch 3 of Baldur’s Gate will add full Mac Support.

How to play Baldur’s Gate 3 on Mac

Now that Baldur’s Gate 3 is coming to the Mac on Sept. 21 via Patch 3, it’s time to gear up your systems and check if you’re ready to jump into the action immediately.

If you tried the early access version on your Mac and haven’t uninstalled the game yet, you’d probably just need to update once the patch comes out to start playing. If you were using Apple’s Game Porting Toolkit or other third-party porting applications to unlock the full version on Mac, we suggest reinstalling the game from Steam when the patch is out.

While players can’t play the full version of the game yet on Mac, Larian has shared some system requirements for Mac users. These include a 2.6GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i7, 8GB of RAM, and at least an AMD Radeon460 4GB. It’s recommended to have 16GB of RAM, and if my experience on PC is indicative of how it will run on Mac, I highly suggest making sure you have the extra RAM and perhaps more processing power as well.

Baldur’s Gate 3 also supports cross-saves, so hopefully, this will allow players to transfer their character progress seamlessly from their PC or PS5 to the full version of the game on their Mac.

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Image of Sharmila Ganguly
Sharmila Ganguly
Freelance Writer at Dot Esports. An enthusiastic gamer who bumped into the intricacies of video game journalism in 2021 and has been hustling ever since. Obsessed with first-person shooter titles, especially VALORANT. Contact: sharmila@dotesports.com
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Image of Max Miceli
Max Miceli
Senior Staff Writer. Max graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a journalism and political science degree in 2015. He previously worked for The Esports Observer covering the streaming industry before joining Dot where he now helps with Overwatch 2 coverage.
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