The head of Larian Studios, the developers of the game that (also) won Game of the Year, couldn’t say everything he wanted to.

We wrote about how developers who win awards usually get half a minute to say how happy they are on stage. Instead, the focus was on celebrities and paid advertising, and even Geoff Keighley himself, the organizer of The Game Awards, admitted that this would not be the case next year and that no one would be sent off stage. Well, that’s not quite true, because Swen Vincke, head of Larian, would have said more. He shared his speech on Twitter, and we’ll quote it:

“Winning Game of the Year is a great honor and I would first like to thank everyone who voted for us and congratulate all the other nominees. This has been an incredibly competitive year and you all deserve to win this award (Capcom, Remedy, Insomniac Games, Nintendo). I want to thank Geoff Keighley and the people who organize The Game Awards for creating an awards show that is big enough to get mainstream attention. While 30 seconds is a bit short, there’s nothing like The Game Awards, and it’s an incredible accomplishment. I wore armor because Baldur’s Gate 3 is a game that couldn’t exist without our community, and I wanted to acknowledge how important you have been to its development. You rock, community!

Making a game like this only works if you have an incredibly passionate and talented team, and in that respect I am incredibly lucky to have Larian Studios. They’re some of the best and they’ve done a truly amazing job. Over 2000 people are listed in the credits, and since I can’t name them all, I want to focus on a group of people who don’t always get the credit they deserve: the QA, localization, customer support, operations, publishing, playtesters, and every other developer at Larian. Baldur’s Gate 3 would not exist without you, and you all deserve to be very proud of it. I would like to dedicate this award to the friends and family we lost during development, including Jim, our lead cinematic animator, who passed away last month, and personally to my father, who passed away the week before we launched our Early Access campaign.

You can’t make something like Baldur’s Gate 3 without the support of the people around you. Personally, I would like to thank five special people, a crazy dog, and a one-eyed cat for sticking with me. Also, a big shout out to our localization partners and Pitstop Productions, who had to use every corner of their building to record and performance capture an insane number of lines. To our actors, you did a great job. I hope our paths cross again in the future and your agents remain their usual reasonable selves. I would also like to thank Wizards of the Coast and especially the Dungeons & Dragons team for giving us the green light. I’m really sorry to hear that so many of you have been laid off. It’s sad to realize that almost none of the people who were in the original meeting room are still there. I hope you all end up okay.

There are many more partners I would like to thank. We asked a lot of you, but you delivered, and without your efforts, Baldur’s Gate 3 would not be what it is. I will end with a story about a conversation I had with a publisher a long time ago. He told me that, fortunately for them, games are driven by idealism. He meant it in an exploitative way, but he was right. Games are a unique art form, as important as books, music, or movies. Many developers, myself included, make games because they love to see others engage with their creations in a way that only games can offer. They don’t care much about the money they make, except that it’s the fuel they need to make new and better games. It’s worth reminding everyone that fuel is a means, not an end. Where we go and how we go is what matters and what we remember. Thank you. Also, Baldur’s Gate 3 is now out on Xbox [Series],” Vincke said.

The game is good. The award is well deserved!

Source: WCCFTech