Baldur’s Gate 3 – it got more than just one Game Award (Picture: Larian Studios)
Larian Studios’ epic role-playing game has emerged the biggest winner at The Game Awards, as the Xbox Series X/S version is finally released.
Although most people watch The Game Awards primarily for the new game trailers, the awards themselves are not entirely inconsequential – even if the best surprise this year was Christopher Judge, the voice of Kratos, mocking Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 for having such a short campaign.
The Game of the Year award was always Baldur’s Gate 3’s to lose, but it didn’t and also picked up five other awards: Best Performance (for Neil Newbon as Astarion), Best Community Support, Best RPG, Best Multiplayer, and Players’ Voice.
Player’s Voice is the only award voted on 100% by fans, with the other awards relying on a panel of judges from around the world, including us, and a 10% influence from fan votes.
Alan Wake 2 was the next best performer, with three votes, for Best Game Direction, Best Narrative, and Best Art Direction – even though it certainly wasn’t one of our favourites of the year.
Forza Motorsport was the only other game to receive multiple awards, for Innovation in Accessibility and Best Sports/Racing. Although Final Fantasy as a whole also won twice, with Final Fantasy 16 picking up Best Score and Music and Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth winning the Most Anticipated Game award.
Baldur’s Gate 3 was always intended to be a normal multiformat release, but developer Larian Studios found it impossible to get the game’s split-screen co-op mode working on the Xbox Series S.
According to Microsoft policy, all games have to have the same features on both console, which created an impasse. They made a special exception for Baldur’s Gate 3 though, which now only has split-screen on Xbox Series X, although it might get it on the Series S as well later – if they can get it running properly.
The Game Awards 2023 winners list
Game of the Year
Baldur’s Gate 3 (Larian Studios)
Best Game Direction
Alan Wake 2 (Remedy Entertainment/Epic Games Publishing)
Best Adaptation
The Last Of Us (PlayStation Productions/HBO)
Best Narrative
Alan Wake 2 (Remedy Entertainment/Epic Games Publishing)
Best Art Direction
Alan Wake 2 (Remedy Entertainment/Epic Games Publishing)
Best Score and Music
Final Fantasy 16, composer Masayoshi Soken (Square Enix)
Best Audio Design
Hi-Fi Rush (Tango Gameworks/Bethesda Softworks)
Best Performance
Neil Newbon, Astarion in Baldur’s Gate 3
Innovation in Accessibility
Forza Motorsport (Turn 10 Studios/Xbox Game Studios)
Games for Impact
Tchia (Awaceb/Kepler Interactive)
Best Ongoing Game
Cyberpunk 2077 (CD Projekt Red)
Best Community Support
Baldur’s Gate 3 (Larian Studios)
Best Independent Game
Sea Of Stars (Sabotage Studio)
Best Debut Indie Game
Cocoon (Geometric Interactive/Annapurna Interactive)
Best Mobile Game
Honkai: Star Rail (HoYoverse)
Best VR/AR Game
Resident Evil Village VR Mode (Capcom)
We’re glad to see Armored Core 6 won Best Action Game (Picture: Bandai Namco)
Best Action Game
Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon (FromSoftware/Bandai Namco)
Best Action/Adventure Game
The Legend Of Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)
Best RPG
Baldur’s Gate 3 (Larian Studios)
Best Fighting Game
Street Fighter 6 (Capcom)
Best Family Game
Super Mario Bros. Wonder (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)
Best Sim/Strategy Game
Pikmin 4 (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)
Best Sports/Racing
Forza Motorsport (Turn 10 Studios/Xbox Game Studios)
Best Multiplayer
Baldur’s Gate 3 (Larian Studios)
Players’ Voice
Baldur’s Gate 3 (Larian Studios)
Most Anticipated Game
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth (Square Enix)
More: Trending
Content Creator of the Year
IronMouse
Best Esports Game
Valorant (Riot Games)
Best Esports Athlete
Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok (League Of Legends)
Best Esports Team
JD Gaming (League Of Legends)
Best Esports Coach
Christine ‘potter’ Chi (Evil Geniuses – Valorant)
Best Esports Event
2023 League Of Legends World Championship
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MORE : Baldur’s Gate 3 Patch 5 adds a playable epilogue set six months later
MORE : Baldur’s Gate 3 Deluxe Edition unveiled and it’s surprisingly cheap
MORE : Baldur’s Gate 3 boss says next game will ‘push many boundaries’
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Larian Studios’ epic role-playing game has emerged the biggest winner at The Game Awards, as the Xbox Series X/S version is finally released.