Larian Studios, the studio behind 2023’s Game of the Year Baldur’s Gate III, released Patch 8 for the game with the surprise addition of split-screen co-op on Xbox Series S. The game’s eighth update was announced in November of last year, promising cross-play, a dozen more subclasses, and a photo mode.

You’ll no doubt remember how the original release of Baldur’s Gate III was delayed on Xbox Series consoles due to the platform requiring parity between it’s consoles. Eventually, Larian and Microsoft came to an agreement, and the game was released on the Series S without split-screen co-op.

The stress test for the update began today, with the added surprise that players can try out the split-screen co-op on Series S consoles.

The choice to let Baldur’s Gate III launch on the Xbox Series S without split-screen co-op caused quite a stir, as Xbox have made it a requirement for all games released on their consoles to have parity. This highly requested feature comes to Series S consoles less than a month after the director of Black Myth: Wukong confirmed the lack of an Xbox version of the game was due to the Series S’s memory.

After Larian Studios’ director Swen Vincke made some comments about splitting with Hasbro, the owners of the Dungeons & Dragons IP, the studio confirmed they were working on two new projects back in April 2024.

Have you been waiting for split-screen co-op for Baldur’s Gate III to arrive on Series S? Are you excited to play through with a friend?

Let us know in the comments!