WINNER WINNER WINNER

Baldur's Gate 3 wins Game of the Year and three other awards at the 2024 Games Developer Choice Awards

Larian's RPG was the big winner at the 24th Annual GDC Awards.

News by Connor Makar Staff Writer

Additional contributions by Stephany Nunneley-Jackson

Published on March 21, 2024

Baldur's Gate 3 has taken the Game of the Year award at the 2024 Games Developer Choice Awards, beating out Cocoon, Dredge, Marvel's Spiderman 2 and The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.

The awards were given out at the 24th Annual Game Developers Choice Awards (GDC Awards), in front of an audience of developers, industry professionals, and press attending the annual GDC Conference in San Francisco.

Cover image for YouTube video — 2024 Game Developers Choice Awards (GDC Awards) Winners MontageWatch on YouTube

Baldur's Gate 3 also took home awards in Best Design, Best Narrative, and the Audience Award. Nominees for the latter are selected from the list of finalist games from every Main Category with the winner chosen through a public vote.

Previous winners of the GDC Game of the Year awards include Elden Ring, Hades, God of War and Overwatch. Winners are determined from select video game creators and developers, making it a highly sought after prize be nominees.

Nintendo’s The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom walked home with two awards for Innovation and Best Technology, and Visai Games’ Venba also received awards for Best Debut and the Social Impact Award. Other winners of the night include Alan Wake 2 and Hi-Fi Rush.

That’s pretty much your list of game award winners right there, but two other awards were handed out: the Lifetime Achievement Award and the Ambassador Award.

Respected Japanese composer and pianist Yoko Shimomura, whose work includes music for Kingdom Hearts, Super Mario RPG, Street Fighter 2, and Final Fantasy 15, was handed the Lifetime Achievement Award.

Fawzi Mesmar, the award-winning creative director, game designer, and author was presented with the Ambassador Award. Mesmar’s career spans over two decades in the games industry and had a hand in the development of titles from franchises such as Battlefield, Candy Crush, Mario Rabbids, Star Wars, and Persona.

Below, you will find the full list of nominees with all winners listed in bold.