Unlocking the Platinum Trophy in Baldur's Gate 3: A PlayStation 5 Shortcut Through Cross-Saves

Earning a platinum trophy in the PlayStation 5 version of Baldur's Gate 3 has become surprisingly accessible, with some early players claiming it can be achieved in as little as an hour by utilizing PC saves. This revelation surfaced towards the end of the Baldur's Gate 3 PS5 early access phase, leading up to the official release on Sony's console on September 6.

Larian Studios has emphasized the convenience of cross-saves in Baldur's Gate 3, a feature they've promoted since 2020. Much like their previous RPG, Divinity: Original Sin 2, Baldur's Gate 3 enables players to seamlessly continue their adventure across supported platforms. To activate cross-saves, players simply need to create a free account with the developer and ensure they are logged in to their profile when launching the game.

Beyond its convenience, it appears that Baldur's Gate 3 cross-saves offer an unexpected advantage – a speedy path to unlocking the game's platinum trophy on the PS5. Reportedly, at least two players managed to achieve this within hours of the game's official release on PlayStation, as reported by PlayStation LifeStyle. A user on the PSNProfiles forums, StyxSense, also confirmed that achieving trophies through cross-saves is a viable strategy, even earning the Critical Hit trophy for "completing" the PS5 version of the game on Tactician difficulty.

While Baldur's Gate 3 boasts a total of 53 achievements, using cross-saves to expedite the process of earning the platinum trophy on the PS5 still requires players to have access to a substantial collection of strategically crafted saves. Nevertheless, completionists focused on achievements may find that investing some time in loading saves is an efficient approach, especially when compared to most PS5 games with notably challenging platinum trophies.

The relatively straightforward path to obtaining the platinum trophy on the PS5 version of Baldur's Gate 3 may not be an oversight by Larian Studios, but rather a consequence of the RPG's cross-save functionality. Similar to the PS4 version of Divinity: Original Sin 2, a comparable workaround allowed players to swiftly secure a platinum trophy. While it's theoretically possible to import someone else's PC saves for use on the PlayStation, this method still necessitates purchasing the game twice. Given the lack of competitiveness in Baldur's Gate 3 and Larian's willingness to allow players to use cross-saves, this shortcut is likely to be available on Microsoft's consoles as well, as the developer has confirmed cross-save support for the Xbox version of Baldur's Gate 3.