So, Baldur’s Gate 3, right? Everyone and their dog was hyped for this game, and me and my pals were no different. We were all ready to dive deep into Faerûn. But there was a small hiccup, or so we thought. I’m on my trusty PC, another friend too, but one of our core group, he’s a dedicated console warrior, specifically on his PS5. The big question started buzzing in our group chat almost immediately: could we actually play this epic adventure together? My browser history for a few days was just filled with “bg3 cross play” searches, trying to get a straight answer.
Getting My Hands Dirty: The Setup Journey
I remember reading bits and pieces, some folks saying yes, some saying “soon™”. When Larian finally confirmed that cross-play was a go, or at least coming, it was a huge relief. But, you know, hearing it and actually making it work are two different beasts. I figured I’d be the one to test the waters for our group. Someone had to take the plunge.
First order of business was getting that Larian Studios account sorted. Sounds dead simple, doesn’t it? Well, I had to reset my password, because of course I forgot it. Then the email verification dance. You know the drill. Once I was in, I poked my buddy on the PS5 to do the same on his end. That was step one ticked off the list.
The Moment of Truth: Will It Blend?
Okay, accounts linked in-game on both sides. This was it. I booted up Baldur’s Gate 3 on my PC. My friend fired it up on his PS5. We both fumbled our way to the multiplayer lobby. My palms were a bit sweaty, not gonna lie. It felt less like starting a game and more like trying to perform some delicate technical wizardry. Visions of error messages danced in my head.
- I found him on my Larian friends list and shot over an invite.
- A second later, he messages, “Got it!” My heart did a little jump.
- He clicked accept.
- And then, like magic, his character icon popped right into my lobby. We were in!
We both just burst out laughing over voice chat. The sheer relief! It actually, genuinely worked. No messing with complicated network settings, no trying to find weird workarounds. It just connected. We probably spent a good five minutes just saying “Dude, it worked!” before we even thought about whose character would be what.
Our First Adventure Across the Digital Divide
So, we roped in our other PC friend, and the three of us kicked off a brand new campaign. And you know what? It was smooth. Like, surprisingly smooth. We used Discord for voice chat, as we always do, so that part was already sorted. The game itself? Ran like a dream for everyone. I was half-expecting some weird lag for the console player, or random disconnects, but nope. It felt exactly, and I mean exactly, like we were all on PCs in the same room.
We sank a good few hours into it that first night. Got into some trouble with some goblins, argued over loot, the whole nine yards. The fact that one of us was on a PS5 and the others on PC just completely melted away. It became a non-issue, which is honestly the highest praise I can give a feature like this. It just let us play the game, together.
It’s kind of funny looking back. All that slight worry and anticipation, and then the setup was pretty painless. Made me appreciate what Larian managed to pull off here. Our little adventuring group is now whole, no platform boundaries holding us back. That’s pretty awesome, if you ask me.
