Baldur’s Gate 3 Shoots Up Steam Top-Sellers List After Bear Sex Reveal

ign.com:

Last week’s Baldur’s Gate 3 showcase propelled the fantasy role-playing game up the Steam top-sellers list.

The Panel From Hell livestream revealed players can have sex with a Druid in bear form. Clips of the cutscene went viral on social media, and even caused TikTok to pull the showcase halfway through.

The Druid in question is called Halsin, an NPC and potential companion who can be rescued from a prison. Halsin can temporarily 'wildshape' into a bear, and if you play your cards right he does this during a romance cutscene. You can see it in the tweet video below:

So Baldur's Gate 3 is a 10/10... this is the proper D&D experience. #baldursgate3 pic.twitter.com/HEi2PJRLLu

In an interview with IGN, Larian boss Swen Vincke called Baldur's Gate 3's bear sex scene “hilarious”. “Every single person who’s seen it is like, 'oh my god.' But it’s funny.”

It didn’t take long for Baldur’s Gate 3 to shoot up Steam’s top-sellers list, which is ranked by revenue. At the time of publication, the game had risen 21 places to become the fourth top-selling game on Steam, ahead of the likes of Red Dead Redemption 2, Hogwarts Legacy, and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.

In a new statement issued to IGN, Vincke did not single out the bear sex scene as the sole cause of Baldur’s Gate 3’s rapid climb. Instead he pointed to the success of the livestream overall.

“The Panel From Hell, and the impressions from journalists and creators who spent time hands-on with the game at our press event, have certainly helped sales,” Vincke said.

“It’s a game of depth and variety, which makes it hard to show everything we’re excited about, but the response has been fantastic and I think people are only now starting to realize exactly how deep BG3 is and how much