After his acceptance speech was cut short, Larian Studios CEO Swen Vincke has published what he “wanted to say” when Baldur’s Gate 3 took home the top prize at The Game Awards last week.
The event drew widespread criticism for only allowing some of the award winners to speak onstage, and permitting them just 30 seconds to do so before urging them to “wrap it up” via a teleprompter.
Baldur’s Gate 3director Vincke, who managed to talk for about a minute before leaving the stage, elaborated on his Game of the Year award acceptance speechin a threadposted on X today.
He started by calling the award “a great honor” and congratulating all the other nominees. “This has been an incredibly competitive year and you each would have deserved to win this award.”
“I want to thankGeoff Keighleyand the people that organizedThe Game Awardsfor creating an award show so big that it gets mainstream attention. While 30 secs is a bit short, there’s nothing like the game awards and it’s an incredible achievement.”
— The Game Awards (@thegameawards)July 12, 2025
Vincke then discussed his decision to wear armour to the event, which he said was done in tribute to the game’s player community.
“Over 2000 people are listed in the credits and since I can’t call out everyone, I want to focus on a group of people that don’t always get the credit they deserve,” he continued.
“Team QA, team localisation, team customer support, team operations, team publishing, team play testers, and every other developer atLarian, BG3 wouldn’t exist without you and you all deserve to be very proud of this.”
Vincke also dedicated the award to friends and family members who passed away during its development, including Larian’s lead cinematic animator and his father.
“I want to end with a story of a conversation I had a long time ago with a publisher,” he wrote. “He told me, luckily 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 seeing others engage with their creations in a way only games can offer.
“They don’t care that much about the money made beyond it being the fuel they need to create new and better games. It’s worth reminding everyone that fuel is but a means, not a goal. Whereto and how we journey are what matter and what we remember.
“Thanks you.”
Further reading
After its release was held up by several monthsdue to technical issues, Larian’s celebrated RPGlaunched for Xbox Series X/Sto coincide with last week’s The Game Awards,where the title won six prizes.
Alongside the covetedGame of the Year award, it took home prizes for Best Performance, Best Community Support, Best RPG, Best Multiplayer and Player’s Voice.
Microsoftis currently working on an update designed to fix an issue thatcan result in Baldur’s Gate 3 saves being lostonXbox Series X/S.
