D&D title Baldur’s Gate 3 rolls a critical at The Game Awards, scooping up six accolades
Including Game of the Year.
The Dungeons & Dragons video game Baldur’s Gate 3 took home six trophies from last night’s Game Awards.
An official D&D video game, Baldur’s Gate 3 is the third in a trilogy of titles set within The Forgotten Realms setting of the tabletop roleplaying game. The original Baldur’s Gate was released in 1998 and was developed by Bioware, the company behind the Mass Effect and Dragon Age series of video games. In the series, players take the role of a character embroiled in an epic story that spans The Sword Coast, the city of Baldur’s Gate itself and beyond.
As with the previous entries in the franchise, Baldur’s Gate 3 has players creating a character, choosing from a range of D&D classes and playable species, before setting out to explore the land, meet recruitable companions and fight various enemies. The gameplay for BG3 is based on the D&D: 5E system, with players being required to roll a d20 – which appears as a digital die representing a random number generator in the game – and add any bonuses they might have in order to pass various skill checks or saving throws.
Combat in BG3 is also based on the 5E system, requiring players to select from their available actions and perform a limited number within a turn-based order. Depending on what kind of character players are controlling, such as their class, they’ll be able to choose from casting spells, wielding weapons and transforming into other beings. In the single-player mode, players can control up to four different characters at once – including their custom character – whereas the multiplayer mode can support four players at once: each controlling their own character.
Baldur’s Gate 3 won a total of six different awards at last night’s ceremony for The Game Awards 2023, an annual event that looks to celebrate various video games released each year. (Thanks Eurogamer.)
Having been nominated for eight awards BG3 took home six: including the coveted Game of the Year, as well as Best RPG, Best Multiplayer and Best Community Support. Neil Newborn, the actor behind Baldur’s Gate 3’s elven rogue Astarion, was awarded Best Performance, whilst the D&D video game also took home the Player’s Voice Award – which is voted for by the public.
Larian Studios is the company responsible for developing and publishing Baldur’s Gate 3 and is otherwise known for creating the Divinity: Original Sin series of roleplaying games, which has also been adapted into a board game.
Baldur’s Gate 3’s success, alongside the release of the blockbuster film Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves earlier this year, has solidified 2023 as a big year for the tabletop RPG – with the launch of the next edition coming in 2024.