Baldur's Gate 3 vs The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
Baldur's Gate 3 is an RPG strategy game from Larian Studios (2023) while The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is an action-RPG open-world game from CD Projekt RED (2015).
What each one is
Steam files Baldur's Gate 3 under RPG and Strategy. In contrast, it files The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt under Action-RPG and Open-World.
Baldur’s Gate 3 is a story-rich, party-based RPG set in the universe of Dungeons & Dragons, where your choices shape a tale of fellowship and betrayal, survival and sacrifice, and the lure of absolute power.
You are Geralt of Rivia, mercenary monster slayer. Before you stands a war-torn, monster-infested continent you can explore at will. Your current contract? Tracking down Ciri — the Child of Prophecy, a living weapon that can alter the shape of the world.
At a glance
| Baldur's Gate 3 | The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | |
|---|---|---|
| GamingPickz Score | 9.2/10 | 8.9/10 |
| Steam rating | Overwhelmingly Positive (97%, 855,414) | Overwhelmingly Positive (97%, 885,535) |
| Critic aggregate | 96/100 | 93/100 |
| Price | $59.99 | $49.99 |
| Install size | 150 GB | 50 GB |
| Steam Deck | verified | verified |
| Released | 2023 | 2015 |
| Developer | Larian Studios | CD Projekt RED |
Prices and Steam ratings are read live and move over time.
Baldur's Gate 3 vs The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, point by point
Each facet side by side. A round is marked won only where a figure settles it; feel and "which is better" carry no mark, because no number we hold decides them.
Genre and premise
Baldur's Gate 3RPG strategy gameThe Witcher 3: Wild HuntAction-RPG open-world gameWhat each is filed as. Each game describes itself in full above; we do not judge a premise.
How it plays
Baldur's Gate 3RPG, Character Customization, Choices MatterThe Witcher 3: Wild HuntOpen World, RPG, Story RichThe tags players apply most, in order of votes. A read on feel, not a verdict.
Reception
Baldur's Gate 3 ✓Score 9.2 · 97% on Steam · 96 criticThe Witcher 3: Wild HuntScore 8.9 · 97% on Steam · 93 criticThe GamingPickz Score is a composite of player sentiment, critics and popularity, computed the same way for every game.
Content and scale
Baldur's Gate 3855,414 reviews · 2 add-ons · 150 GBThe Witcher 3: Wild Hunt885,535 reviews · 4 add-ons · 50 GBReach and footprint, not quality: more reviews or a bigger install is not a better game.
Price
Baldur's Gate 3$59.99The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt ✓$49.99Read live from Steam and subject to change.
On a Steam Deck
Baldur's Gate 3VerifiedThe Witcher 3: Wild HuntVerifiedValve's own Deck compatibility rating.
Across the rounds a number can settle, it is level at 1 each. Which one is "better" is the part no figure decides, so we leave it to what you want from the two.
The two on the grid
Compare the whole catalogueBaldur's Gate 3 and The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt on the axes the GamingPickz Score is built from, on the full 0 to 100 scale so each dot is its real position. Change either axis to compare them on any measure.
2 games have both
Players. The share of Steam reviews marked positive, pulled toward the catalogue average in proportion to how few reviews stand behind it. A game with 200 reviews moves a long way toward the average; one with 200,000 barely moves at all. Without this a title sitting at 100 percent on nine reviews outranks Half-Life 2 at 98 percent on 278,000.
Popularity. A blend of two things that are not the same. Audience is how many people wrote a Steam review, which is a floor on how many played it. Reach is how many language editions of Wikipedia document the game, which is cultural footprint rather than sales. A game can score high on one and low on the other: a huge free-to-play title has audience without reach, and a landmark console exclusive has reach without a Steam audience at all. Where both exist they are averaged; where only one does, that one carries it.
- Multi-platform
- PC
Every point links to that game's entry. The value map and the reception map are fixed views of the same data.
How positions are decided
No paid placement, no favouritism, live third-party data
- Placed by the published method, not by us. Every coordinate is computed from the axis definitions and weights printed on this site. Nobody moves a point. See the axes.
- Nothing here is paid for. No sponsored placements, no promoted slots, no arrangement of any kind affects a position. If that ever changes it will be labelled and sit outside the ranking.
- No favouritism, including our own. The 16 games we have written full reviews of are scored by exactly the same formula as the other 1,510, from the same third-party inputs, and they land where it puts them. Our own opinion of a game does not enter its coordinates.
- A position is not an endorsement. It says how a game was received and what it costs, not that we recommend it. Where we do recommend something, it carries a written review with a name on it.
- Fetched from live third-party data. Player sentiment from Steam, critic aggregates as published on store pages, prices checked hourly, attention from Wikipedia. Each figure carries its source and the date it was read, and we do not adjust any of them.
Which to pick, by what you want
- The higher-rated of the two: Baldur's Gate 3 (GamingPickz Score 9.2)
- The cheaper right now: The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt ($49.99)
- Lighter on storage: The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (50 GB)
What they have in common
Both are tagged by Steam players with:
RPGChoices MatterStory RichFantasyAdventureSingleplayerNudityDark Fantasy
Where they differ
Character CustomizationTurn-Based CombatDungeons & DragonsCRPGSexual ContentRomance
Open WorldAtmosphericMatureGreat SoundtrackThird PersonMedieval
Tags players apply to one game and not the other.
Difficulty and who each is for
By the tags players apply, Baldur's Gate 3 is middle-of-the-road on difficulty. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is middle-of-the-road on difficulty.
System requirements, side by side
| Baldur's Gate 3 | The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum GPU | Nvidia GTX 970 / RX 480 / Intel Arc A380 / Qualcomm Adreno X1 (4GB+ of | Nvidia GPU GeForce GTX 660 / AMD GPU Radeon HD 7870 |
| Minimum CPU | Intel I5 4690 / AMD FX 8350 / Snapdragon X Elite | Intel CPU Core i5-2500K 3.3GHz / AMD A10-5800K APU (3.8GHz) |
| Minimum RAM | 8 GB | 6 GB |
| Install size | 150 GB | 50 GB |
Can your PC run them? Check each against your own kit: Baldur's Gate 3 · The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.
Accessibility features
Steam store pages declare 10 accessibility features for Baldur's Gate 3 and 9 for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. A declaration is a floor, not a review.
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Common questions
How different are Baldur's Gate 3 and The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt in scope?
Baldur's Gate 3 has drawn 855,414 Steam reviews, ships 2 add-ons and installs in 150 GB. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt has drawn 885,535 Steam reviews, ships 4 add-ons and installs in 50 GB.
Is Baldur's Gate 3 or The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt better?
By the GamingPickz Score, Baldur's Gate 3 rates higher (9.2 to 8.9). That is a composite of player sentiment, the critic aggregate and popularity, not our taste. "Better" also depends on price, length and platform, which the table above lays out.
Which is cheaper, Baldur's Gate 3 or The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt?
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is cheaper right now at $49.99, against $59.99. Prices move, so this is read live from Steam and can change.
Do you rank one above the other for a fee?
No. Neither game, nor anyone else, pays for placement or a verdict here. The order and every figure come out of the same public data the rest of the site uses.
Related comparisons
How we compare, and what we will not do
The GamingPickz Score is a composite of player sentiment (adjusted for sample size), the critic aggregate and popularity, computed by the same code every ranked list on this site uses. The Steam rating label is Valve's own, reconstructed from the positive percentage and review count. Prices are read live. We do not write an opinion of which game is "better": we report the numbers and say which wins each measurable question above.