Larian Studios’ Baldur’s Gate 3 took the marquee Game of the Year prize at the 10th annual Game Awards, which were handed out tonight at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles.
Actor Timothée Chalamet presented the Game of the Year award. Baldur’s Gate 3 also won for Best Performance, Best Community Support, Best RPG, Best Multiplayer, and copped the Player’s Voice awards.
Other winners included Alan Wake 2 for Best Direction, Alan Wake 2 for Best Narrative, Cocoon for Best Debut Indie and The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom for Best Action/Adventure.
Baldur’s Gate 3 and Alan Wake 2 came into the ceremony with a leading eight nominations apiece.
Elden Ring and God of War: Ragnarök dominated last year’s Game Awards, with Ragnarök scoring seven wins and Elden Ring taking four, including Game of the Year.
The tech-based awards show did not skimp on star power, as it brought out Matthew McConaughey to introduce Archetype Entertainment’s sci-fi space adventure, Exodus. And in a surprise appearance, writer-director Jordan Peele teamed up with horror game icon Hideo Kojima to announce an upcoming mystery game named OD, starring Sophia Lillis, Hunter Schafer, and Udo Kier. Kojima and Peele boasted that the game pushes the boundary of the genre and functions as both a movie and a video game.
Some of the other big names present included Anthony Mackie, Ed Boon, Simu Liu, Zedd, and the cast of Prime Video’s Fallout, Aaron Moten, Ella Purnell, and Walton Goggins.
The show also included special live performances by Heilung and Poets of the Fall appearing as “Old Gods Of Asgard” from Remedy Entertainment’s Alan Wake franchise.
Additionally, Loren Allred performed music from the original soundtrack of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth. The Game Awards Orchestra, conducted by BAFTA and Emmy nominated composer Lorne Balfe, performed scores from the year’s Game of the Year nominees and more.
For the second year, The Game Awards 2023 honored the most innovative, game-inspired projects across entertainment in the Best Adaptation category, with The Last of Us (PlayStation Productions/HBO) taking home the award this year.
Here are the winners at the 2023 Game Awards:
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 XVI, Composer Masayoshi Soken (Square Enix)
Best Audio Design
Hi-Fi Rush (Tango Gameworks/Bethesda Softworks)
Best Performance
Neil Newbon, 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)
Best Action Game
Armored Core VI: 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 Presented by Discord
Baldur’s Gate 3 (Larian Studios)
Most Anticipated Game
Final Fantasy VII Rebirth (Square Enix)
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
Player’s Voice
Baldur’s Gate 3 (Larian Studios)
