Race to uncover the Bigfoot of Baldur's Gate 3 cutscenes hots up as YouTuber dangles $500 carrot in front of anyone who can find it
You can use it to buy one and a half collector's editions.
There's a bounty out on Karlach. No, not the one she starts the game under, and which you can collect on if you're some kind of terrible monster. That one was placed by a fell creature from the depths of hell itself, whereas this bounty was placed by a fell creature known as a YouTuber.
Videogame video-maker Proxy Gate Tactician has offered a $500 reward to anyone who can catch Faerûn's favourite tiefling breaking the fourth wall (via GamesRadar).
As you might have read on PC Gamer dot com, BG3 game files uncovered by a different YouTuber named Chubblot show a scene in which Karlach is struck by the horrifying realisation that she's in a videogame. It's a great little skit, with Karlach gesturing at everything from the game's enormous web of choices to its 100-hour (or more, or less) length.
Problem is, no one's accessed the scene legitimately (that is to say, without modding the game's files), even though multiple players claim to have done it and Karlach's actor Samantha Béart has even suggested it ought to be accessible "organically." Still, no one's actually shown their working.
Seems fishy to me, and to Proxy Gate Tactician, which is no doubt why they've put a hit out. "Much like Bigfoot," says PCT, "there's no evidence showing this fourth-wall break recorded naturally." In fact, PCT says they're "confident in saying this cutscene does not exist in-game legitimately" and puts their money where their mouth is: $500 is on the table for anyone who can prove they've unlocked the cutscene without so much as glimpsing at a file explorer.
"If someone can find a legitimate way, without modifying the game's files or cheating, to trigger this cutscene, [then] post a video showing a method of how they did it, and others can do it themselves using that method, I will send you $500." With those words, the gauntlet has been thrown.
To be honest? I think their money is safe. Our article about Karlach's vision-through-time went up all the way back in September last year, and we're still all scrambling around trying to figure the darn thing out almost a year later. I suspect the sad, simple truth is that the scene is simply cut content. But hey, if you can prove me wrong, go ahead and post the evidence in PCT's comments. A cool five-hundo awaits you.
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One of Josh's first memories is of playing Quake 2 on the family computer when he was much too young to be doing that, and he's been irreparably game-brained ever since. His writing has been featured in Vice, Fanbyte, and the Financial Times. He'll play pretty much anything, and has written far too much on everything from visual novels to Assassin's Creed. His most profound loves are for CRPGs, immersive sims, and any game whose ambition outstrips its budget. He thinks you're all far too mean about Deus Ex: Invisible War.