2024 may have just started, but Baldur’s Gate 3 continues to rake in accolades. The epic D&D CRPG from Larian Studios took home the Game of the Year at the Steam Awards.
2023 was a banner year for Larian Studios with its critical and fan favorite video game, Baldur’s Gate 3. Officially licensed from Wizards of the Coast, the grand adventure in the Forgotten Realms was released in August of that year to much acclaim. It would later receive nominations and wins at the biggest award-giving bodies in the video game industry, including the prestigious Golden Joystick and The Game Awards.
And now, BG3 can add another Game of the Year title under its belt. Steam announced the winners for its annual awards and shared the results on social media. The announcement highlighted Baldur’s Gate 3’s triumph.
You've voted, and the results are in for the Steam Awards 2023!
Congratulations to Baldur's Gate 3 (twice!), Labyrinthine, Lethal Company, Sifu, DAVE THE DIVER, and more!
Check out the full list here:https://t.co/eSgcvJSJUu
— Steam (@Steam) January 2, 2024
Larian Studios extended its gratitude to the 40 million+ respondents to the Steam Awards voting process.
After more than 40 Million votes, we're delighted that Baldur's Gate 3 has won Game of the Year AND Outstanding Story-Rich Game in this year's Steam Awards. Thank you all for supporting Baldur's Gate 3 🙏🙏 pic.twitter.com/5sHU9frP9l
— Larian Studios (@larianstudios) January 2, 2024
Aside from the GOTY title, Baldur’s Gate 3 also won the Steam Awards Outstanding Story-Rich Game title. With thousands of possible variations to the story progression, endings, and epilogues, it comes as no surprise that BG3 won this category as well. Just recently, Larian Studios added even more epilogue options with Update #5.
But you might be wondering why the critical and fan-favorite modern masterpiece from Larian Studios came away with winning only two categories from the Steam Awards? After all, Baldur’s Gate 3 raked in multiple categories with the other major video game awards. This is because Valve held a strict limit of two nominations for each game in all the Steam Awards categories.
Baldur’s Gate 3 is also featured in Steam’s “Best of 2023” Platinum Top Sellers. Along with BG3, the titles with the highest gross revenue include Call of Duty, Cyberpunk 2077, Hogwarts Legacy, Destiny 2, Starfield, Sons of the Forest, Counter-Strike 2, PUBG Battlegrounds, Apex Legends, and DOTA 2.
Larian Studios has certainly reaped the rewards of its major gamble, partnering with Wizards of the Coast to bring to life a third entry in the Baldur’s Gate series. Going back to the old school roots of the computer roleplaying game (CRPG) genre, no one could have predicted how successful it would be.
Modern RPGs have focused more on action, hyper-realistic graphics, and vast open-world explorations. Heavily story-driven narratives with turn-based tactical combat were the exceptions, rather than the norm in the current era. But Baldur’s Gate 3 proved gamers still have a lot of love for this style of gameplay.
Now that Baldur’s Gate 3 added another notch to its Game of the Year wins, what do you think about its odds for the upcoming 2024 BAFTA Games Awards? Do you think Baldur’s Gate 3 and Larian Studios deserve all these accolades? Are you looking forward to a possible sequel to BG3 in the future?
