PC Gamer vindicated by Swen Vincke: Larian boss calls Balatro his personal GOTY as it sweeps top prize from devs at GDC awards

The jester from Balatro, portrayed in unsettling detail in real life, wears an uncanny smile and stares at the viewer.

(Image credit: LocalThunk)

It's Game Developers Conference (GDC) season, which means it's time for industry luminaries from across the globe to descend on San Francisco to talk about, you know, advancements in SpeedTree and what-have-you. It's also time for a shadowy camarilla of "leading game creators from all parts of the industry" to hand out the Game Developers Choice Awards—trophies for things like Best Debut, Best Visual Art, that kind of thing.

Top gong, of course, is Game Of The Year, and what do you know? This year's GOTY went to none other than Balatro. You know who else gave a GOTY award to Balatro? A little computer games outlet called PC Gamer.

You know who else called Balatro their GOTY? A little videogame CEO called Swen Vincke (previously seen with his arms overflowing with his studio's own awards for Baldur's Gate 3).

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"Congratulations LocalThunk!!!" tweeted Vincke, "You were my GOTY and I'm happy to see other devs agree. Well deserved!!!"

Well deserved is right. Balatro is an incredible gem that's consumed several thousand person–hours of productivity here at PCG. For a while there, our Slack was converted mostly into a medium via which writers shared their latest ridiculously high scores. It's good that so much of the games industry writ large has recognised it for its accomplished.

Also, more importantly, we've been vindicated. La historia nos ha absuelto, and that's what really matters. Take that, anyone who thought GOTY couldn't go to 'a card game'.

Congratulations @LocalThunk!!! You were my GOTY and I'm happy to see other devs agree. Well deserved!!! https://t.co/XDCveRHpYNMarch 21, 2025

Alongside top prize, Balatro also walked away from GDCA with the Innovation Award, Best Debut, and Best Design. Meanwhile, the Pioneer Award went to Papers, Please maker Lucas Pope, while Sam Lake got the Lifetime Achievement Award, presumably entirely because of that face he gave to the OG Max Payne.

Here's the full list of awards and who they went to:

Best Debut
- Balatro (LocalThunk / Playstack)
Best Visual Art
- Black Myth: Wukong (Game Science)
Best Audio
- Astro Bot (PlayStation Studios Team ASOBI / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
Best Narrative
- Metaphor: ReFantazio (ATLUS / SEGA / Studio Zero)
Social Impact Award
- Life is Strange: Double Exposure (Deck Nine Games / Square Enix)
Innovation Award
- Balatro (LocalThunk / Playstack)
Best Technology
- Astro Bot (PlayStation Studios Team ASOBI / Sony Interactive Entertainment)
Best Design
- Balatro (LocalThunk / Playstack)
Audience Award
- Final Fantasy VII Rebirth (Square Enix)
Game of the Year
- Balatro (LocalThunk / Playstack)
Pioneer Award
- Lucas Pope
Lifetime Achievement Award
- Sam Lake

TOPICS

One of Josh's first memories is of playing Quake 2 on the family computer when he was much too young to be doing that, and he's been irreparably game-brained ever since. His writing has been featured in Vice, Fanbyte, and the Financial Times. He'll play pretty much anything, and has written far too much on everything from visual novels to Assassin's Creed. His most profound loves are for CRPGs, immersive sims, and any game whose ambition outstrips its budget. He thinks you're all far too mean about Deus Ex: Invisible War.

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