Baldur's Gate 3 has claimed the top prize at the Golden Joystick Awards 2023 powered by Intel, capping off a huge night by winning the title of Ultimate Game of the Year.
After a phenomenal few months since its launch in the summer, Baldur's Gate 3's critical and commercial success has translated into a stellar awards night. As well as this Ultimate prize, the game, its cast, and developer Larian Studios has taken home another six awards, winning every category it was nominated for.
On top of Ultimate Game of the Year and PC Game of the Year, the game secured prizes for its community, its storytelling, and its visual design, in addition to prizes for Larian as Studio of the Year and Astarion actor Neil Newbon for Best Supporting Performer.
That's the biggest haul for a single game since The Witcher 3, which won five awards (including UGOTY) in 2015, with Most Wanted nods in 2013 and 2014 with three more awards in 2016 for its excellent Blood and Wine expansion, which netted a performance award for Geralt actor Doug Cockle.
To win this final award, Baldur's Gate 3 had to beat a massive field of games representing the amazing year of titles we've seen throughout 2023. Other Ultimate Game of the Year nominees included blockbusters like Starfield, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, and Marvel's Spider-Man, genre-leaders like Diablo 4, Forza Motorsport, and Street Fighter 6, delightful surprises like Dead Space and Hi-Fi Rush, and indie darlings like Cocoon and Sea of Stars.
The full list of Golden Joystick Awards 2023 nominees is as follows:
- Baldur's Gate 3 (winner)
- The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
- Marvel's Spider-Man 2
- Star Wars Jedi: Survivor
- Alan Wake 2
- Resident Evil 4 Remake
- Cocoon
- Starfield
- Final Fantasy 16
- Diablo 4
- Forza Motorsport
- Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon
- Assassin's Creed Mirage
- Super Mario Bros Wonder
- Street Fighter 6
- Metroid Prime Remastered
- Hi-Fi Rush
- Lords of the Fallen
- Dead Space Remake
- Sea of Stars
To best a field of 19 competitors that strong is testament to the quality, attention to detail, and heart that went into Baldur's Gate 3. Now where's that DLC?
Sign up to the 12DOVE Newsletter
Weekly digests, tales from the communities you love, and more
Discover the best games of 2023 at the best prices by checking out the Golden Joystick Awards Steam sale page
I'm GamesRadar's news editor, working with the team to deliver breaking news from across the industry. I started my journalistic career while getting my degree in English Literature at the University of Warwick, where I also worked as Games Editor on the student newspaper, The Boar. Since then, I've run the news sections at PCGamesN and Kotaku UK, and also regularly contributed to PC Gamer. As you might be able to tell, PC is my platform of choice, so you can regularly find me playing League of Legends or Steam's latest indie hit.