The Game Awards 2023: Baldur’s Gate 3 takes home top prize

Alan Wake 2 wins multiple awards while Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 surprisingly misses out

The creators of Baldur's Gate 3 accept the Game of the Year award. EPA

American actress Tara Platt and voice actor Yuri Lowenthal enjoyed their night. AFP

Rock band Poets of the Fall appeared as Old Gods of Asgard from Alan Wake 2 to put on a performance. EPA

Finnish actor Ilkka Villi appeared as his Alan Wake character during a performance by Poets of the Fall. EPA

Rod Ferguson, Joe Shely, Melissa Corning and Drew McCrory were in attendance. AFP

The Game Awards Orchestra plays ahead of the Game of the Year award announcement during The Game Awards at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles, California, USA, 07 December 2023. The Game Awards recognizes creative and technical excellence in the global video game industry. Gaming fans will see awards given out in over 30 categories. Many companies also use this event to make major announcements and tease future releases, such as Xbox's promise of ''major announcements''. EPA / CAROLINE BREHMAN

Capcom executives Takayuki Nakayama and Shuhei Matsumoto. EPA

English actress Ella Purnell, who will star in the television adaptation of the Fallout games, attends The Game Awards. EPA

Walton Goggins, Purnell, Geneva Robertson-Dworet and Aaron Moten attend The Game Awards. AFP

Actor Timothee Chalamet presents the Game of the Year award. EPA

The Alan Wake team attend The Game Awards. AFP

Baldur Gate 3's Neil Newbon. AFP

Gabriel Amatangelo, Igor Sarzynski, Pawel Sasko, Marcin Momot, Karolina Nieweglowska and Anna Kalinowska attend The Game Awards. AFP

Kristen Yoon, Jessica Chang and Morgan Jones. AFP

The team from Insomniac Games attend The Game Awards. AFP

The Xbox team attends The Game Awards. AFP

Game developers Luigi Peters and AJ Grand-Scrutton. AFP

Byun Jun Cha, Changkyu Noh, Choi Ji-Won and Jason Park. AFP

Celebrities, gaming industry officials and fans gathered in Los Angeles for the The Game Awards 2023 to celebrate the best offerings released this year.

Fantasy role-playing game Baldur’s Gate 3 took home the top award as it was crowned the Game of the Year.

Released on August 3, the game took home the prize after beating top contenders such as Alan Wake 2 and Marvel’s Spider-Man 2.

Baldur’s Gate 3 is produced and published by Larian Studios and follows a long-running series that started in 1998.

Alan Wake 2, which received eight nominations across various categories, won three awards. While Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, which was also nominated eight times, didn't win any.

Here’s a breakdown of some of the biggest winners across the categories.

Award winners

In addition to being named as the Game of the Year, Baldur’s Gate 3 also won the Player’s Voice award, which was determined by a fan vote.

The fantasy game also won awards for Best Multiplayer Game, Best Role-Playing Game and Best Community Support.

Remedy’s Alan Wake 2 took home three awards in the Best Game Direction, Best Narrative and Best Art Direction categories.

The creators of Baldur's Gate 3 accept the Game of the Year award. EPA

American actress Tara Platt and voice actor Yuri Lowenthal enjoyed their night. AFP

Rock band Poets of the Fall appeared as Old Gods of Asgard from Alan Wake 2 to put on a performance. EPA

Finnish actor Ilkka Villi appeared as his Alan Wake character during a performance by Poets of the Fall. EPA

Rod Ferguson, Joe Shely, Melissa Corning and Drew McCrory were in attendance. AFP

The Game Awards Orchestra plays at the award ceremony in California. EPA

Capcom executives Takayuki Nakayama and Shuhei Matsumoto. EPA

English actress Ella Purnell, who will star in the television adaptation of the Fallout games, attends The Game Awards. EPA

Walton Goggins, Purnell, Geneva Robertson-Dworet and Aaron Moten attend The Game Awards. AFP

Actor Timothee Chalamet presents the Game of the Year award. EPA

The Alan Wake team attend The Game Awards. AFP

Baldur Gate 3's Neil Newbon. AFP

Gabriel Amatangelo, Igor Sarzynski, Pawel Sasko, Marcin Momot, Karolina Nieweglowska and Anna Kalinowska attend The Game Awards. AFP

Kristen Yoon, Jessica Chang and Morgan Jones. AFP

The team from Insomniac Games attend The Game Awards. AFP

The Xbox team attends The Game Awards. AFP

Game developers Luigi Peters and AJ Grand-Scrutton. AFP

Byun Jun Cha, Changkyu Noh, Choi Ji-Won and Jason Park. AFP

Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 was the night's biggest surprise as it left empty-handed despite its eight nominations.

CD Projekt Red’s Cyberpunk 2077 redeemed itself after a disastrous release in 2020, mired by bugs, to win the Best Ongoing Game award. It released downloadable content this year starring actor Idris Elba, which received praise for renewing the game.

Independent release Tchia won the Games for Impact award for its open-world exploration and for shedding a light on the culture and history of the island of New Caledonia.

Street Fighter 6 took home the award for Best Fighting Game. Nintendo’s strongest contenders, Super Mario Bros Wonder and The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, both won awards in the Best Family Game and Best Action/Adventure Game categories respectively.

Racing game Forza Motorsport won two awards in the Best Sports/Racing Game and Innovation in Accessibility categories.

HBO’s television show The Last of Us won the award for Best Adaptation. The show stars Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey and is created by Craig Mazin. The show is due to return for a second season in 2025.

Announcements and reveals

The biggest reveal of the night was a new horror game from Kojima Productions called OD.

The new project teams up video game designer Hideo Kojima with horror film director Jordan Peele. The game will be published by Xbox Game Studios, which is a departure for Kojima who usually works with PlayStation.

Fans were expecting Kojima to reveal the sequel to Death Stranding but were surprised when the video game auteur announced the brand-new game that he says he’s assembled “The Avengers” of horror to work on with.

A short teaser for the game was shown at the ceremony and it features actors Hunter Schafer, Sophia Lillis and German movie veteran Udo Kier.

Other reveals and announcements include Lego Fortnite, Jurassic Park: Survival and Marvel’s Blade.