Popular queer game “Baldur’s Gate 3” celebrates birthday with hilarious statistics

The critically acclaimed and unashamedly queer fantasy RPG Baldur’s Gate 3 celebrated its first birthday this week, and developer Larian Studios is joining in on the excitement by sharing tons of hilarious community data with fans. Some spoilers follow.

“It has been a year since Baldur’s Gate 3 was released, and you know what we noticed?” asked the game’s official Twitter/X account. “Over a quarter of you can’t be trusted not to pick a fight with a genie, and a surprising number of you enjoy bear sex and tentacles. Who would have thought?”

Most interesting for fans of the games were the romance statistics that Larian was happy to share. The 15 million players have given their digital companions a total of over 75 million kisses, with God’s favorite princess Shadowheart (winner of the Best LGBTQ+ Character at the Gayming Awards) is clearly in the lead with 27 million kisses. It seems that she is by far the most popular character to romance, with 48.8% of players experiencing their final love scene.

Larian also shared some more… interesting romance stats. It turns out that 658,000 players have had sex with the druid Halsin, and nearly 200,000 of those people chose to do so in his much-advertised bear form. Meanwhile, 1.1 million players chose to get down and dirty with the mind flayer known as the Emperor; 63% of those players chose a human form for the encounter, while 37% took him in his true form, tentacles and all…

Other interesting stats include the fact that 1.9 million players have been turned into cheese wheels after a fight with a genie, that the game’s animal companions have been given over 160 million pets, and that Paladin is the most popular class for new players. Larian also revealed that only 34 players have reached one of the game’s many endings.

Baldur’s Gate 3 Developers and actors thank

In addition to these statistics, many of the creatives who contributed Baldur’s Gate 3 to life also reflected the turbulent year since the game’s release.

In a YouTube video, Larian founder and CEO Swen Vincke thanked the community and everyone who made the game the phenomenon it is: “You have inundated us with fan creations, from videos to music, cosplay, poetry, to gifts you have sent to our studio. It has been very rewarding, but also very inspiring.”

Shadowheart actress Jennifer English took to Instagram about the “best year of her life” since the release of Baldur’s Gate 3“Thank you to everyone in this magical community for making this year so incredible.

“You are the best, healthiest, most beautiful, smartest people and I adore you. And thank you to everyone who made the game, it changed my life and I will always be so grateful.”

Neil Newbon, Game Award-winning actor of the half-elf vampire Astarion, shared his sincere appreciation: “Here’s to a great year! The memory of this incredible experience will stay with me for the rest of my life and I will always be grateful for the gift of this role.”

Nonbinary actress Samantha Béart, who plays the hot-hearted Karlach, expressed their appreciationalso: “What a role, what a gift. What a journey!”

Baldur’s Gate 3 is available on PS5, Xbox and PC via Steam.