Beloved Queer Game ‘Baldur’s Gate 3’ Wins Big At 2024 Gayming Awards
Image: Shadowheart from Baldur's Gate 3, winner of Best LGBTQ+ Character. Source: Larian Studios
The universally acclaimed and deeply queer Baldur鈥檚 Gate 3 took home the most prizes at Gayming Magazine鈥檚 2024 Gayming Awards, including Game of the Year.聽
It鈥檚 yet another win for Larian Studios鈥� highly acclaimed fantasy RPG based on the world of Dungeons & Dragons, which won the five major Game of the Year awards given out by the video game industry, as well as receiving the honour from countless news publications.
Larian Studios Founder and CEO Swen Vincke accepted the award on behalf of the entire studio: 鈥�Baldur鈥檚 Gate 3 has won many awards, and every single time I鈥檓 telling myself 鈥楬ow is this even possible?鈥櫬�
鈥淲e started making a turn-based RPG based on D&D six years ago and we hoped it was gonna be successful, but we could not imagine it was going to be appreciated as much as it has been,鈥� Vincke continued.聽
鈥淭he competition this year was incredible, there were so many good games being released, so thank you very very very much. We really appreciate it, and it motivates us to make our next game even better.鈥�
Other Baldur’s Gate 3聽awards
Alongside the top award, Baldur鈥檚 Gate 3 also won the Player鈥檚 Choice Award and Best LGBTQ+ Character for Shadowheart, accepted by lesbian actress Jennifer English and Larian Senior Writer John Corcoran.聽
鈥淭hank you so much for this incredible award for Shadowheart,鈥� said English. 鈥淚 like to think I made her as gay as I possibly could鈥� We are very honoured that this woman who has hidden swathes of her past, fancies Karlach and is generally just a little bit fruity has been accepted by the Alphabet Mafia. It鈥檚 all we鈥檝e ever wanted.鈥�
Corcoran added: 鈥淚鈥檓 really honoured to see how she鈥檚 been embraced by the community. I may have written words, but Jen breathed life into her and you made her an icon. She was a huge part of my life for the past 5-6 years, and now we get to share her with you all.鈥澛�
Other Gayming Award winners
The second biggest winner of the night was Outerloop Games鈥� part-RPG, part-Tony Hawk indie hit Thirsty Suitors, which won Best LGBTQ+ Indie Game and the Authentic Representation award.聽
Outerloop Games co-founder and studio director Candana 鈥楨ka鈥� Ekanayake shared his gratitude to his team, partners, QA testers, localisers and the extended family of everyone on the team while accepting the Best Indie Game award.聽
Actress Farah Merani was deeply thankful for the opportunity to portray Jala, and how games like Thirsty Suitors create meaningful South Asian representation.聽
For the full list of Gayming Awards 2024 winners, .
