Baldur’s Gate 3 Patch 4 Leaves Sex Speedrunners ‘in Shambles’

Baldur’s Gate 3 developer Larian might just have patched sex speedruns out of the game.

Larian’s sprawling Dungeons and Dragons role-playing game has spawned a vociferous Sex% speedrun category in which players try to bed a companion in the quickest time possible. The current world record, set by speedrunner Mae just two weeks ago, comes in at under two minutes, and uses the established strategy of gaining enough early approval with Githyanki fighter Lae’zel that she agrees to spend the night.

Lae’zel is (was!) the perfect companion for this strategy because she was relatively easy to impress right at the start of the game by bullying a Tiefling in Silvanus’ Grove, and area players could leapfrog huge swathes of Baldur’s Gate 3’s opening section to get to in just a minute (check out our Lae’zel romance guide for more).

But the enormously long patch notes for Baldur’s Gate 3 Patch 4 revealed a key change that makes Lae’zel harder to charm: “For Lae’zel to decide to romance you, you no longer only need to gain high enough approval from her. You must also have proven yourself worthy through your actions.”

As the Baldur’s Gate 3 speedrunning community scrambles to work out what these “worthy” actions are, observers have said the Sex% category may never be the same again, and may even split off into categories specific to certain companions (fastest to bear sex seems inevitable). “Sex% speedruns in shambles,” declared redditor Monk-Ey.

It’s early days in terms of reaction, but record-holder Mae has already had a bit of fun in a YouTube video. “Rest in peace to the funniest category ever (we’ll probably make a new leaderboard for Patch 4).” Then, in a community post, Mae said: “It is with immeasurable disappointment that I announce that Sex% speedruns have been patched out of Baldur’s Gate 3… it’s been real, boys.”

In IGN’s review of Baldur’s Gate 3, which returned a 10/10, we said: “With crunchy, tactical RPG combat, a memorable story with complex characters, highly polished cinematic presentation, and a world that always rewards exploration and creativity, Baldur’s Gate 3 is the new high-water mark for CRPGs.”

For more, check out IGN’s comprehensive Baldur’s Gate 3 walkthrough.

Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at [email protected] or confidentially at [email protected].