Is The Pope playing ‘Baldur’s Gate 3’? Hit game sells copies in Vatican City
One resident has wishlisted the game – but hasn’t pulled the trigger yet
by Ali Shutler · NMEIt’s been revealed that Baldur’s Gate 3 has sold copies in Vatican City, with fans wondering if The Pope has been playing the fantasy role-playing game.
The Vatican City is the smallest country in the world with just 764 residents living there. Each citizen has to be considered to be influential or significant within Catholicism to live there and residents include religious leader Pope Francis, the head of the Catholic Church.
It’s perhaps why Larian’s director of publishing Michael Douse found it so funny that according to their data, two copies of Baldur’s Gate 3 have been sold in the country while another resident has it on their wishlist. “Sold two copies of Baldur’s Gate 3 in The Vatican, with one wishlist. I’d like to think the latter is just the Pope waiting until he has a free minute. Wish I could see their mod list. Bet it’s absolutely gnarly,” he wrote on social media.
The news has inspired a debate online about which Baldur’s Gate 3 character is the most religiously pure and what the pope would make of all the romancing options that are in the game.
It’s not the only time gaming has crossed paths with catholicism this year either. Earlier this year the church announced plans to canonise their first “millennial saint”. Before his death in 2006, Carlo Acutis earned the nickname “God’s influencer” by spreading awareness about Catholicism using the internet and helping the poor. He was also a big gaming fan and loved Halo, Super Mario and Pokémon (via PC Gamer). He is expected to be declared a saint during the jubilee celebrations in 2025.
In other news, Xbox has finally confirmed that it is working on a handheld console to rival the Nintendo Switch and Steam Deck. The project is still at the prototype stage though, so it will be years before the product is available to buy.