Baldur's Gate 3 Wins Best Multiplayer Game at the 2023 Game Awards

The Nominees:

With Super Mario Bros. Wonder representing Nintendo and Street Fighter 6 swinging for Capcom, the multiplayer shortlist was packed with pedigree for 2023. Other nominations included Party Animals and Blizzard Entertainment's Diablo IV which, after a rocky launch, entered the running of this year's awards as an underdog despite sweeping upgrades introduced with Season 2.

The Favorite:

Baldur's Gate 3, nominated for a massive 8 awards in total, arrived as the hot favorite in the multiplayer category, despite it leaning into a single-player gameplay experience at its core. That said, multiplayer in BG3 is far from lacking. Co-op campaigns support 2-4 players per save, missing players can be replaced by NPC companions in future game sessions, and all players get the opportunity to spectate and vote on dialogue options during cutscenes.

The multiplayer experience, combated included, is seamless and is as easily replayable as the single-player mode.

While crossplay between PC and console is not currently possible, crossplay between PC and Mac is fully functional.

All Hail Baldur's Gate 3:

Was it ever truly in doubt? BG3 won yet another Games Award category as the best multiplayer game of 2023. Perhaps BG3's competition was merely too lacklustre in 2023, or is it that Baldur's Gate 3 is simply a masterpiece of modern gaming? Developers may need to buck their ideas before the 2024 Game Awards to keep pace with what may well be the most lauded title of the past decade.