Baldur’s Gate 3 won the top prize for excellence in storytelling in science fiction and fantasy media on Sunday. The World Science Fiction Convention (WSFC) awarded the Hugo Award for best game or interactive work to Larian Studios’ gripping Dungeons & Dragons-inspired adventure, beating out competitors such as The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Realm, Alan Wake 2AND Star Wars Jedi: Survivor.
WSFC announced the award winners on Sunday at 7pm EST. Worldconwhich took place this year in Glasgow, Scotland. Baldur’s Gate 3 is the second video game to win the newly created category at the annual Hugo Awards. A tiny group of developers from Larian Studios attended the event and gathered around studio founder Swen Vincke as he gave his acceptance speech.
“I’m very grateful that you created this award and this category. Video game writing is often underrated.” Vincke said, “It’s very, very, very tough work. For Baldur’s Gate 3, We had to create over 174 hours of cinematics to honor player choices and make sure each one had an emotional story that reflected their choices and impact on the game.”
You can watch the moment and the whole event online via live recording.
The WSFC has honored science fiction and fantasy works since the 1950s, but has historically focused on visual art and literature. The organization tried to create an award for Best Interactive Video Game of 2006 but did not receive enough nominations. Then in 2021, it proposed a category for video games and interactive media as a one-time award. Hades Hugo won for the best video game in its inaugural year. That makes it Baldur’s Gate 3 only the second game to win this award.
Now Larian Studios can add another jewel to its shiny crown of achievements. Baldur’s Gate 3 has already won the Game of the Year Award at five of the most significant awards ceremonies in the video game industry: the Golden Joystick Awards, The Game Awards, the DICE Awards, the Game Developers Choice Awards, and the British Academy Games Awards, also known as BAFTA. And that’s in addition to being a commercial success, surpassing the sales of the studio’s previous titles.
