Baldur's Gate 3 won so many Golden Joystick Awards that Swen Vincke can barely hold all of them

Swen Vincke with an armful of Golden Joystick Awards.
(Image credit: Michael Douse)

Baldur's Gate 3 gobbled up five awards in London today at The Golden Joystick Awards, an annual event put on by PC Gamer's publisher. That's Larian CEO Swen Vincke hugging the haul with a big grin in the photo above, which was posted on X by Larian director of publishing Michael Douse.

The D&D RPG, which received PC Gamer's highest review score in years, won the following awards at this year's Golden Joysticks:

  • Best Storytelling
  • Best Visual Design
  • Best Game Community
  • PC Game of the Year
  • Ultimate Game of the Year

Additionally, Larian won Studio of the Year, which is why Vincke's got his arms wrapped around six Joysticks in the photo. Actor Neil Newbon also won Best Supporting Performer for his role as Baldur's Gate 3 companion Astarion. Counting those two, Baldur's Gate 3 won a record seven Golden Joystick Awards.

The only game aside from Baldur's Gate 3 to win multiple awards this year was Final Fantasy 16: It won Best Audio, and actor Ben Starr won Best Lead Performer for his performance as FF16's Clive Rosfield. Other 2023 Golden Joystick winners include Alan Wake 2, which took home the Critic's Choice Award (game critics love Remedy, it's a thing) and Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty, which won Best Expansion. The year's other giant RPG, Starfield, won Xbox Game of the Year. GamesRadar's got the full list of winners here

Baldur's Gate 3 was the clear king of the Joysticks, and it's safe to say that these seven awards are just the start. Vincke might want to invest in a bag of holding.

The Game Awards is the next big end-of-the-year videogame awards show, airing on December 7, and PC Gamer publishes its annual awards in late December.

Tyler Wilde
Editor-in-Chief, US

Tyler grew up in Silicon Valley during the '80s and '90s, playing games like Zork and Arkanoid on early PCs. He was later captivated by Myst, SimCity, Civilization, Command & Conquer, all the shooters they call "boomer shooters" now, and PS1 classic Bushido Blade (that's right: he had Bleem!). Tyler joined PC Gamer in 2011, and today he's focused on the site's news coverage. His hobbies include amateur boxing and adding to his 1,200-plus hours in Rocket League.

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