Baldur's Gate 3's Patch 8 stress test is here for real after its accidental early PS5 launch, but Larian asks that you please don't use photo mode for bug reports

The Dark Urge leads a reign of terror in Baldur's Gate 3
(Image credit: Larian Studios)

After a hiccup accidentally released it early for PS5 players, Baldur's Gate 3's Patch 8 stress test is now out on all platforms, ready to be popped and broken. Larian just asks that, as you're pushing Patch 8 to its limit, report bugs the old fashioned way, OK?

Though, Patch 8 may tempt you toward some more experimental means of communication; in its recent community update on Steam, Larian notes that internal playtesters have taken to sharing issues through Patch 8's new photo mode.

"Thanks to the introduction of photo mode in Patch 8, our playtesters have discovered new means to highlight some interesting issues," Larian writes. It demonstrates with an impeccably composed image of a group of custom characters gaping and pointing at a guy with invisible elbows.

"While we don't expect you to showcase every unexpected bug you run into (please, don't do that)," Larian continues, "we would be grateful if you could report any issues you experience in the Patch 8 stress test using the existing bug reporting form." Remember to add "Patch 8" to the report's Game Version field, too.

At the moment, Larian is already aware of several problems, like the fact that the Vulkan API visually corrupts Photo Mode, and that some hotkeys may stop working after you trade with a merchant. Once it's really and truly out, Patch 8 will be a hefty update that, in addition to Photo Mode, also excitingly introduces 12 new subclasses, cross-play, and split screen for Xbox Series X/S players, so it's bound to have growing pains.

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Ashley Bardhan
Senior Writer

Ashley is a Senior Writer at 12DOVE. She's been a staff writer at Kotaku and Inverse, too, and she's written freelance pieces about horror and women in games for sites like Rolling Stone, Vulture, IGN, and Polygon. When she's not covering gaming news, she's usually working on expanding her doll collection while watching Saw movies one through 11.