What does Baldur's Gate 3 incompatible version mean?

Nicholas James Published 22/09/2023

If you’ve run into the Baldur’s Gate 3 save error that tells you that you have an “incompatible version”, we have an explanation for you.

Many fans began to experience issues with Larian Studios’ hit new game Baldur’s Gate 3 in late August. The most worrying of these was the “incompatible version” error, that would prevent players from accessing saves. Here’s what had happened, why it was such a problem, and how to fix it.

Baldur’s Gate 3 incompatible version

Most of the reported issues had one very particular cause, the rollback of Hotfix #4 on August 16. This Hotfix being rolled back meant that players who had played the game while Hotfix #4 was out, had saved, and then loaded back into the game after the Hotfix had been removed could no longer play. This is because the save file was essentially built for a more advanced version of the game that no longer existed.

This was only a problem for players who had saved during Hotfix #4 and then had their game version rolled back, whereas those who never patched the game and removed Hotfix #4 would be entirely fine to continue playing as normal.

How to fix BG3 incompatible version

This isn’t good news, but the only way to get around it is to select and load up a save that was created before the Hotfix in question was rolled back. If you’ve stepped away since Hotfix 4 and have a save that’s not working, your only option is to select the save most previous to that one chronologically that wasn’t also a Hotfix 4 patch.

This shouldn’t be an issue going further, but fans with old saves may run into this issue. That’s everything you need to know to stop the Baldur’s Gate 3 incompatible version issue.

Nicholas James

About Nicholas James

Nicholas James is a gaming writer with a passion for all things geekdom, as well as live theater. Nicholas is best known for covering League of Legends and other top MOBA titles, but his expertise covers numerous games across multiple genres. When not watching the LCS or playing the latest new release, Nicholas can be found doing some tabletop gaming and painting his favorite miniatures. Nicholas has also published with Hotspawn, TheGamer, Dexerto, Esports.gg and other industry outlets.

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