Here’s How To Fix Baldur’s Gate 3’s Incompatible Save Error

Baldur's Gate 3 Dragonborn promo screenshot

There’s no denying that Baldur’s Gate 3 is a massive game, both in scope and in reception. The game was so popular that it almost broke Steam, and very quickly became one of the most-played games ever on the platform. Having millions of players rush to play your game comes at a cost, though, and that cost is real time QA testing showing every little bug immediately on a scale you could never test by yourself.

No game is without bugs, and BG3’s latest bug is a pretty nasty one, the “save incompatible version” error. It’s pretty recent, and pretty annoying. There is somewhat of a solution though, even if it’s not ideal. Let’s break down what it is, and what caused it.

BG3: Incompatible Save Version Error Cause

This nasty bug occurred after an update, Hotfix #4, was introduced to the game and subsequently removed. There was a major issue with the update, which is why it was pulled, but having it removed means there’s a save data discrepancy. If you played after Hotfix #4 was installed, your save data is now ahead of the current version of the game.

If your game hasn’t updated (or downdated, I guess) to roll back the update, you can probably continue without any concerns as long as you play offline and don’t let it update. If you didn’t play after Hotfix #4, you don’t have to worry at all, but if you did and BG3 has rolled back, your save is stuck in limbo for the moment.

BG3: Incompatible Save Version Error Fix

There are two solutions for fixing the incompatible save version bug, but neither of them are particularly ideal. The first option is to wait for a fix, said to be coming soon but with no actual date in mind. Once Hotfix #4 is reintroduced – with the bugs fixed of course – you should be able to continue with your save right away.

The other solution is loading a save from before Hotfix #4 was released. This is obviously not great either, as you very well could be looking at hours of lost progress, but it is an option, and one that you can utilize if you don’t want to wait around for a patch. If you’ve only lost an hour or two of game progress, it might be worth doing this, but if you’ve got a lot more, your best bet is probably to just wait, unfortunately.