The prestigious accolade of Game of the Year at The Game Awards 2023, held early Friday in Los Angeles, was claimed by Baldur’s Gate III, overshadowing its primary rival, Alan Wake II. The beloved Dungeons & Dragons-inspired RPG received six awards in total, including Best Community Support and Best Performance, with the latter awarded to Neil Newbon, who portrayed Astarion, captivating audiences with his dramatic portrayal infused with high-pitched flourishes.
Alan Wake II, developed by Remedy, secured four awards, including honors for Best Game Direction, awarded to co-directors Sam Lake and Kyle Rowley, as well as recognition for writing and narrative excellence.
Despite creating a significant buzz in early 2023, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom won only one award—Best Action/Adventure Game. Cyberpunk 2077, experiencing a revival thanks to its 2.0 update and the Phantom Liberty expansion, was named Best Ongoing Game, attributed to its efforts in rejuvenating a title that struggled upon release. The indie game category sparked debate due to the inclusion of Dave the Diver but ultimately, Sea of Stars prevailed. Additionally, the cast of the upcoming Fallout series graced the stage to present the Best Adaptation award, which went to HBO’s hit series The Last of Us, an expected outcome.
Baldur’s Gate 3 Review
In conjunction with the juried awards, the ceremony featured a Players’ Voice category, wherein fan voting played a decisive role. Baldur’s Gate 3 emerged victorious in this bracket, surpassing Genshin Impact, whose fanbase was criticized last year for alleged voting manipulations.
The following is the comprehensive list of winners from The Game Awards 2023:
The Game Awards 2023 winners — the full list
Game of the Year
Baldur’s Gate 3 (Larian Studios) — WINNER
Alan Wake II (Remedy Entertainment/Epic Games Publishing)
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 (Insomniac Games/SIE)
Resident Evil 4 remake (Capcom)
Super Mario Bros. Wonder (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)
Best Game Direction
Alan Wake II — WINNER
Baldur’s Gate 3
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2
Super Mario Bros. Wonder
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
Best Narrative
Alan Wake II — WINNER
Baldur’s Gate 3
Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty (CD Projekt Red)
Final Fantasy XVI (Square Enix)
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2
Best Art Direction
Alan Wake 2 — WINNER
Hi-Fi Rush (Tango Gameworks/Bethesda Softworks)
Lies of P (Round8 Studio/Neowiz Games)
Super Mario Bros. Wonder
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
Best Score and Music
Masayoshi Soken, Final Fantasy XVI — WINNER
Petri Alanko, Alan Wake 2
Borislav Slavov, Baldur’s Gate 3
Shuichi Kobori, Hi-Fi Rush
Nintendo Sound Team, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
Best Adaptation
The Last of Us (PlayStation Productions/HBO) — WINNER
Castlevania: Nocturne (Powerhouse Animation/Netflix)
Gran Turismo (PlayStation Productions/Sony Pictures)
The Super Mario Bros. Movie (Illumination/Nintendo/Universal Pictures)
Twisted Metal (PlayStation Productions/Peacock)
The Last of Us Season 1 Review
Best Audio Design
Hi-Fi Rush — WINNER
Alan Wake 2
Dead Space (Motive Studio/EA)
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2
Resident Evil 4
Best Performance
Neil Newbon, Baldur’s Gate 3 — WINNER
Ben Starr, Final Fantasy XVI
Cameron Monaghan, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor
Idris Elba, Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty
Melanie Liburd, Alan Wake 2
Yuri Lowenthal, Marvel’s Spider-Man 2
The Game Awards 2023: The Biggest Announcements
Innovation in Accessibility
Forza Motorsport (Turn 10 Studios/Xbox Game Studios) — WINNER
Diablo IV (Blizzard Entertainment)
Hi-Fi Rush
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2
Mortal Kombat 1 (NetherRealm Studios/WB Games)
Street Fighter 6 (Capcom)
Best Ongoing Game
Cyberpunk 2077 — WINNER
Final Fantasy XIV
Apex Legends (Respawn Entertainment/EA)
Fortnite (Epic Games)
Genshin Impact (HoYoverse)
Games for Impact
Tchia (Awaceb/Kepler Interactive) — WINNER
A Space for the Unbound (Mojiken Studio/Toge Productions/Chorus)
Chants of Sennaar (Rundisc/Focus Entertainment)
Goodbye Volcano High (KO_OP)
Terra Nil (Free Lives/Devolver Digital/Netflix)
Venba (Visai Games)
Baldur’s Gate 3 — WINNER
Cyberpunk 2077
Destiny 2 (Bungie)
Final Fantasy XIV
No Man’s Sky (Hello Games)
Best Independent Game
Sea of Stars (Sabotage Studio) — WINNER
Cocoon (Geometric Interactive/Annapurna Interactive)
Dave the Diver (MINTROCKET)
Dredge (Black Salt Games/Team 17)
Viewfinder (Sad Owl Studios/Thunderful Publishing)
Best Debut Indie Game
Cocoon — WINNER
Dredge
Pizza Tower (Tour de Pizza)
Venba
Viewfinder
Best Mobile Game
Honkai: Star Rail — WINNER
Final Fantasy VII: Ever Crisis (Applibot/Square Enix)
Hello Kitty Island Adventure (Sunblink Entertainment)
Monster Hunter Now (Niantic/Capcom)
Terra Nil
Best VR/AR Game
Resident Evil Village VR Mode (Capcom) — WINNER
Gran Turismo 7 (Polyphony Digital/SIE)
Humanity (tha LTD/Enhance Games)
Horizon Call of the Mountain (Guerrilla Games/Firesprite/SIE)
Synapse (nDreams)
Best Action Game
Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon (FromSoftware/Bandai Namco) — WINNER
Dead Island 2 (Dambuster Studios/Deep Silver)
Ghostrunner 2 (One More Level/505 Games)
Hi-Fi Rush
Remnant 2 (Gunfire Games/Gearbox Publishing)
Best Action/Adventure Game
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom — WINNER
Alan Wake 2
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2
Resident Evil 4
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor
Resident Evil 4 Remake Review
Best RPG
Baldur’s Gate 3 — WINNER
Final Fantasy XVI
Lies of P
Sea of Stars
Starfield (Bethesda Game Studios/Bethesda Softworks)
Best Fighting Game
Street Fighter 6 — WINNER
God of Rock (Modus Studios Brazil/Modus Games)
Mortal Kombat 1
Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2 (Ludosity/Fair Play Labs/GameMill Entertainment)
Pocket Bravery (Statera Studio/PQube)
Best Family Game
Super Mario Bros. Wonder — WINNER
Disney Illusion Island (Dlala Studios/Disney)
Party Animals (Recreate Games)
Pikmin 4 (Nintendo EPD/Nintendo)
Sonic Superstars (Arzest/Sonic Team/Sega)
Best Sim/Strategy Game
Pikmin 4 — WINNER
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)
Best Sports/Racing
Forza Motorsport — WINNER
EA Sports FC 24 (EA Vancouver/EA Romania/EA Sports)
F1 23 (Codemasters/EA Sports)
Hot Wheels Unleashed 2: Turbocharged (Milestone)
The Crew Motorfest (Ubisoft Ivory Tower/Ubisoft)
Best Multiplayer
Baldur’s Gate 3 — WINNER
Diablo IV
Party Animals
Street Fighter 6
Super Mario Bros. Wonder
Most Anticipated Game
Final Fantasy VII Rebirth (Square Enix) — WINNER
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 — WINNER
PeopleMakeGames
Quackity
Spreen
SypherPK
Best Esports Game
Valorant (Riot Games) — WINNER
Counter-Strike 2 (Valve)
Dota 2 (Valve)
League of Legends (Riot Games)
PUBG Mobile (LightSpeed Studios/Tencent Games)
Best Esports Athlete
Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok (League of Legends) — WINNER
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
JD Gaming (League of Legends) — WINNER
Evil Geniuses (Valorant)
Fnatic (Valorant)
Gaimin Gladiators (Dota 2)
Team Vitality (Counter-Strike)
Best Esports Coach
Christine “potter” Chi (Evil Geniuses – Valorant) — WINNER
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 — WINNER
Blast.tv Paris Major 2023
EVO 2023
The International Dota 2 Championships 2023
VALORANT Champions 2023
Players’ Voice
Baldur’s Gate 3 — WINNER
Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty
Genshin Impact
Spider-Man 2
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
