Baldur's Gate 3 Wins Big at The Game Awards 2023

At least nobody crashed the stage?

Baldur’s Gate 3 took home the ultimate Game of the Year prize, along with Best Community Support, Best RPG, Best Multiplayer, Players’ Voice, and Best Performance (for Neil Newbon, who voices Astarion). The game had gone into the event with eight total nominations.

Alan Wake 2, which also came into The Game Awards with eight nominations, ended up with three trophies for Best Art Direction, Best Game Direction, and Best Narrative. It also had one of the more memorable moments of the night when the Old Gods of Asgard took the stage to perform Herald of Darkness. (Who knew Sam Lake could dance?)

The ceremony was packed full of reveals and world premieres but will be remembered in the end for what it wasn’t. An estimated total of 9,000 game developers have lost their jobs this year, yet there was no addressing that fact even as the camera cut to several prominent faces that had been laid off.

And there was no word or response from Keighley about the open letter from members of The Game Awards Future Class that had banded together to call for a ceasefire in Gaza as well as the industry to invest in ending the “systemic dehumanization of people from South-West Asia and Northern Africa.”

While the show was paced fairly well, many also called out the 30-second timeframe winners had on stage to be able to deliver their speeches and thanks, while certain guests on stage had long presentations with not a lot to show for it. Several important categories were also relegated to one-off announcements, such as Best RPG, Best Independent Game, and Best Community Support.

Here’s the full list of winners:

Game of the Year
Alan Wake 2 (Remedy Entertainment/Epic Games Publishing)
Baldur’s Gate 3 (Larian Studios)
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 (Insomniac Games/SIE)
Resident Evil 4 (Capcom)
Super Mario Bros. Wonder (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)

Best Game Direction
Alan Wake 2 (Remedy Entertainment/Epic Games Publishing)
Baldur’s Gate 3 (Larian Studios)
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2(Insomniac Games/SIE)
Super Mario Bros. Wonder (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)

Best Adaptation
Castlevania: Nocturne (Powerhouse Animation/Netflix)
Gran Turismo (PlayStation Productions/Sony Pictures)
The Last of Us (PlayStation Productions/HBO)
The Super Mario Bros. Movie (Illumination/Nintendo/Universal Pictures)
Twisted Metal (PlayStation Productions/Peacock)

Best Narrative
Alan Wake 2 (Remedy Entertainment/Epic Games Publishing)
Baldur’s Gate 3 (Larian Studios)
Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty (CD Projekt Red)
Final Fantasy XVI (Square Enix)
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 (Insomniac Games/SIE)

Best Art Direction
Alan Wake 2 (Remedy Entertainment/Epic Games Publishing)
Hi-Fi Rush (Tango Gameworks/Bethesda Softworks)
Lies of P (Round8 Studio/Neowiz Games)
Super Mario Bros. Wonder (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)

Best Score and Music
Alan Wake 2, Composer Petri Alanko (Remedy Entertainment/Epic Games Publishing)
Baldur’s Gate 3, Composer Borislav Slavov (Larian Studios)
Final Fantasy XVI, Composer Masayoshi Soken (Square Enix)
Hi-Fi Rush, Audio Director Shuichi Kobori (Tango Gameworks/Bethesda Softworks)
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, Composed by Nintendo Sound Team (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)

Best Audio Design
Alan Wake 2 (Remedy Entertainment/Epic Games Publishing)
Dead Space (Motive Studio/EA)
Hi-Fi Rush (Tango Gameworks/Bethesda Softworks)
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 (Insomniac Games/SIE)
Resident Evil 4 (Capcom)

Best Performance
Ben Starr, Final Fantasy XVI
Cameron Monaghan, STAR WARS Jedi: Survivor
Idris Elba, Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty
Melanie Liburd, Alan Wake 2
Neil Newbon, Baldur’s Gate 3
Yuri Lowenthal, Marvel’s Spider-Man 2

Innovation in Accessibility
Diablo IV (Blizzard Entertainment)
Forza Motorsport (Turn 10 Studios/Xbox Game Studios)
Hi-Fi Rush (Tango Gameworks/Bethesda Softworks)
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 (Insomniac Games/SIE)
Mortal Kombat 1 (NetherRealm Studios/WB Games)
Street Fighter 6 (Capcom)

Games for Impact
A Space for the Unbound (Mojiken Studio/Toge Productions/Chorus)
Chants of Sennaar (Rundisc/Focus Entertainment)
Goodbye Volcano High (KO_OP)
Tchia (Awaceb/Kepler Interactive)
Terra Nil (Free Lives/Devolver Digital/Netflix)
Venba (Visai Games)

Best Ongoing Game
Apex Legends (Respawn Entertainment/EA)
Cyberpunk 2077 (CD Projekt Red)
Final Fantasy XIV (Square Enix)
Fortnite (Epic Games)
Genshin Impact (HoYoverse)

Best Community Support
Baldur’s Gate 3 (Larian Studios)
Cyberpunk 2077 (CD Projekt Red)
Destiny 2 (Bungie)
Final Fantasy XIV (Square Enix)
No Man’s Sky (Hello Games)

Best Independent Game
Cocoon (Geometric Interactive/Annapurna Interactive)
Dave the Diver (MINTROCKET)
Dredge (Black Salt Games/Team 17)
Sea of Stars (Sabotage Studio)
Viewfinder (Sad Owl Studios/Thunderful Publishing)

Best Debut Indie Game
Cocoon (Geometric Interactive/Annapurna Interactive)
Dredge (Black Salt Games/Team 17)
Pizza Tower (Tour de Pizza)
Venba (Visai Games)
Viewfinder (Sad Owl Studios/Thunderful Publishing)

Best Mobile Game
Final Fantasy VII: Ever Crisis (Applibot/Square Enix)
Honkai: Star Rail (HoYoverse)
Hello Kitty Island Adventure (Sunblink Entertainment)
Monster Hunter Now (Niantic/Capcom)
Terra Nil (Free Lives/Devolver/Netflix)

Best VR/AR Game
Gran Turismo 7 (Polyphony Digital/SIE)
Humanity (tha LTD/Enhance Games)
Horizon Call of the Mountain (Guerrilla Games/Firesprite/SIE)
Resident Evil Village VR Mode (Capcom)
Synapse (nDreams)

Best Action Game
Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon (FromSoftware/Bandai Namco)
Dead Island 2 (Dambuster Studios/Deep Silver)
Ghostrunner 2 (One More Level/505 Games)
Hi-Fi Rush (Tango Gameworks/Bethesda Softworks)
Remnant 2 (Gunfire Games/Gearbox Publishing)

Best Action/Adventure Game
Alan Wake 2 (Remedy Entertainment/Epic Games Publishing)
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 (Insomniac Games/SIE)
Resident Evil 4 (Capcom)
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor (Respawn Entertainment/EA)
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)

Best RPG
Baldur’s Gate 3 (Larian Studios)
Final Fantasy XVI (Square Enix)
Lies of P (Round8 Studio/Neowiz Games)
Sea of Stars (Sabotage Studio)
Starfield (Bethesda Game Studios/Bethesda Softworks)

Best Fighting Game
God of Rock (Modus Studios Brazil/Modus Games)
Mortal Kombat 1 (NetherRealm Studios/WB Games)
Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2 (Ludosity/Fair Play Labs/GameMill Entertainment)
Pocket Bravery (Statera Studio/PQube)
Street Fighter 6 (Capcom)

Best Family Game
Disney Illusion Island (Dlala Studios/Disney)
Party Animals (Recreate Games)
Pikmin 4 (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)
Sonic Superstars (Arzest/Sonic Team/Sega)
Super Mario Bros. Wonder (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)

Best Sim/Strategy Game
Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp (WayForward/Nintendo)
Cities: Skylines II (Colossal Order/Paradox Interactive)
Company of Heroes 3 (Relic Entertainment/Sega)
Fire Emblem Engage (Intelligent Systems/Nintendo)
Pikmin 4 (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)

Best Sports/Racing
EA Sports FC 24 (EA Vancouver/EA Romania/EA Sports)
F1 23 (Codemasters/EA Sports)
Forza Motorsport (Turn 10 Studios/Xbox Game Studios)
Hot Wheels Unleashed 2: Turbocharged (Milestone)
The Crew Motorfest (Ubisoft Ivory Tower/Ubisoft)

Best Multiplayer Presented by Discord
Baldur’s Gate 3 (Larian Studios)
Diablo IV (Blizzard Entertainment)
Party Animals (Recreate Games)
Street Fighter 6 (Capcom)
Super Mario Bros. Wonder (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)

Players’ Voice
Baldur’s Gate 3 (Larian Studios)
Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty (CD Projekt Red)
Genshin Impact (HoYoverse)
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 (Insomniac Games / SIE)
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)

Most Anticipated Game
Final Fantasy VII Rebirth (Square Enix)
Hades II (Supergiant Games)
Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth (Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio/Sega)
Star Wars Outlaws (Massive Entertainment/Ubisoft)
Tekken 8 (Bandai Namco/Arika)

Content Creator of the Year
IronMouse
PeopleMakeGames
Quackity
Spreen
SypherPK

Best Esports Game
Counter-Strike 2 (Valve)
Dota 2 (Valve)
League of Legends (Riot Games)
PUBG Mobile (LightSpeed Studios/Tencent Games)
Valorant (Riot Games)

Best Esports Athlete
Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok (League of Legends)
Mathieu “ZywOo” Herbaut (CS:GO)
Max “Demon1” Mazanov (Valorant)
Paco “HyDra” Rusiewiez (Call of Duty)
Park “Ruler” Jae-hyuk (League of Legends)
Phillip ”ImperialHal” Dosen (Apex Legends)

Best Esports Team
Evil Geniuses (Valorant)
Fnatic (Valorant)
Gaimin Gladiators (Dota 2)
JD Gaming (League of Legends)
Team Vitality (Counter-Strike)

Best Esports Coach
Christine “potter” Chi (Evil Geniuses – Valorant)
Danny “zonic” Sorensen (Team Falcons – Counter-Strike)
Jordan “Gunba” Graham (Florida Mayhem – Overwatch)
Remy “XTQZZZ” Quoniam (Team Vitality – Counter-Strike)
Yoon “Homme” Sung-young (JD Gaming – League of Legends)

Best Esports Event
2023 League of Legends World Championship
Blast.tv Paris Major 2023
EVO 2023
The International Dota 2 Championships 2023
Valorant Champions 2023

In the closing moments, Keighley announced the show will return in December 2024. What did you think of the show this year? Were you hoping Alan Wake 2 would take home Game of the Year? Let us know in the comments.