Sean Winningham
2023 has been a phenomenal year for video games. From the wildly successful release of Baldur’s Gate 3, Spider-Man 2, The Legend Of Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom, and more, gaming fans have had a lot to celebrate.
Needless to say, The Game Awards on December 7th was one of the many ways that celebrates this. Many gaming industry professionals was in attendance, and many fans watched it live on various platforms.
Here are the 5 biggest moments from one of the biggest gaming awards this year.
Neil Newbon’s Dedication To The LGBTQ Community
The voice actor behind Baldur’s Gate 3 pansexual vampire character, Astarion, Neil Newbon won “Best Performance” among stellar nominees such as Cameron Monaghan (Star Wars Jedi: Survivor), Melanie Liburd (Alan Wake 2), Idris Elba (Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty), and more. After being presented the award by Christopher Judge (voice of Kratos in the God Of War series), Newbon gave his speech (which all award recipients were only given about a minute of air time). In his speech, he ended it with a heartfelt and teary-eyed message for the LGBTQ fans of Baldur’s Gate 3:
The community has reached out to so many of us at Larian (Studios), and said that they were seen and they were represented by this game when they lost hope, they felt isolated, they felt alone, and this game brought them together, and gave them something to push through, to help them all. And to you, I want to say thank you so much for seeing us. Appreciate it. You’re not alone in this – none of us are.
Neil Newbon
Watch the acceptance speech here:
Blade Trailer
The Game Awards debut the trailer for Marvel’s next video game, Blade, which will be developed by Arkane Lyon (Deathloop, Dishonored) and Bethesda Softworks (Starfield, The Elder Scrolls V). There’s also speculation if this game will be XBox exclusive, in an attempt to rival Sony’s Spider-Man game series that’s exclusive to the PlayStation console, but there has been no confirmation or indication of this yet. The game is expected to release in 2025.
Watch the teaser trailer here:
Baldur’s Gate 3 Sweeps Awards
Larian Studios, the company behind Baldur’s Gate 3, came out the clear winner at this year’s Game Awards. They had a number of nominations and came out with 6 wins for Best RPG, Best Multiplayer Game, Best Community Support, Player’s Choice category, and the coveted Game Of The Year (not to mention Neil Newbon’s award for Best Performance on the game).
Swen Vincke, the CEO of Larian Studios, was in attendance and did not disappoint the fans with his attire: a full metal suit of armor (top only). In his acceptance speech for Game Of The Year, he dedicated the award to those on the team that passed away, including those who died from COVID.
Within minutes of winning the award, Larian Studios announced that the game is now available on XBox, which many members of the community have been waiting for.
Watch the Game Of The Year award presentation here:
Monster Hunter: Wilds Teaser
Capcom, the studio behind the Monster Hunter game series since 2004, announced that a new game, Monster Hunter: Wilds, is in the works. Although not much has been announced outside of the teaser trailer they dropped, it is expected to be release in 2025.
Watch the teaser trailer here:
“Please Wrap It Up”
Although the Game Awards were a hit this year, it didn’t come without major criticisms. Many viewers noticed that the majority of the awards show showed trailers and discussions about upcoming video games (as well as advertisements) and that the awards itself was less than half of the air time. Even more so, the awards show was criticized for how little time the winners received to give their speech (roughly 30-60 seconds), whereas celebrities who were there to announce or promote upcoming games received significantly more time.
One of the more controversial moments was when Larian Studios were dedicating their Game Of The Year award to their team members who passed away, and the teleprompter near the cameras had the phrase “Please Wrap It Up,” which outraged many fans.
If I won game of the year and was dedicating the award to a member of my team who had died during development and saw the words “Please wrap it up” I’d be fucking pissed #TheGameAwards pic.twitter.com/be0hLfmfT2
— Javiera Cordero ?? (@javierabegazo) December 8, 2023
Although the Game Awards more than likely had that pre-programmed and was not being directly insensitive about that moment, it still doesn’t sit well for many people that an awards show cared more about advertisements and future games than they did about the awards and the winners themselves.
