Baldur's Gate 3 has emerged as a remarkable success story in 2023. While the game is set to make its way to Xbox Series X|S in the near future, recent reports suggest that Microsoft may have initially underestimated its potential.

This revelation stems from a recent Polygon report on a major Xbox leak. The report highlights Microsoft's characterization of Baldur's Gate 3 in 2022 as a "second-run Stadia PC RPG," implying that the game was initially perceived as lacking the 'wow factor' needed for Xbox Game Pass.

However, Michael Douse, Director of Publishing at Larian Studios, the developer behind Baldur's Gate 3, expressed no surprise at this initial assessment. In a recent tweet, Douse admitted that the game's true potential was underestimated by everyone prior to its release. He attributed this underestimation to Larian Studios' unique approach to the situation.

Douse refrained from placing blame on Microsoft for the initial oversight, and it's worth noting that Microsoft had long-standing plans to bring Baldur's Gate 3 to Xbox Series X|S. Unfortunately, these plans encountered hurdles, particularly with the Series S version, which led to the announcement that the Series S version would not support local co-op upon release.

Despite the challenges, the good news is that we can look forward to playing Baldur's Gate 3 on Xbox before the end of 2023. While the journey to this point has been somewhat turbulent, the anticipation of enjoying the game on Xbox is growing stronger.

In summary, Baldur's Gate 3's unexpected success, coupled with its imminent Xbox release, demonstrates that initial perceptions can be deceiving, and the gaming community has much to look forward to in the near future.