‘Baldur’s Gate 3’ slays rivals at UK’s video game BAFTAs

LONDON: Role-playing hit Baldur’s Gate 3, based in the world of Dungeons And Dragons, slayed its video game rivals to win a flurry of top prizes April 11 at Britain’s annual BAFTA Games Awards.

Set in a fantasy realm of wizards, elves, barbarians and other characters, the latest instalment in the titular franchise created by Belgium’s Larian Studios scooped Game of the Year.

It also picked up the EE Players’ Choice Award voted on by the public as well as BAFTAs for music, narrative and performers, taking its haul at the central London prize ceremony to five.

The medieval-fantasy game, part of a popular game saga dating back to the late 1990s, had already bagged the top prize at the Game Awards 2023 in Los Angeles last December.

It has been a runaway commercial success since its release last August, selling over 10 million copies on PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series, according to figures provided by the studio in late February.

Other winners at the gaming BAFTAs, now in their 20th year, included The Legend Of Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom, which landed the award for Technical Achievement.

The latest offering in the adventures of elf-like warrior Link, it has also enjoyed stellar success since its release last year on Switch, the console from Japanese gaming giant Nintendo.

With over 10 million sales in just three days, Tears Of The Kingdom has become the fastest-selling Nintendo game of all time. In total, it sold over 20 million copies in 2023, according to figures provided by Nintendo.

The Zelda game franchise, which began in 1986, includes more than a dozen titles – several of which have been acclaimed by critics as among the great video games of all time – and has sold over 150 million copies.

This latest instalment is the direct sequel to 2017’s Breath Of The Wild, hailed as one of the best Switch titles.

Meanwhile, Super Mario Bros Wonder, another Switch game from Nintendo’s legendary franchise, won the Family BAFTA and the Multiplayer prize.

Last year’s release of The Super Mario Bros. Movie has helped lift sales of the popular game following its October release as well as other Mario-related titles.

PS5 game Alan Wake 2 also bagged two BAFTAs while actor Nadji Jeter won Performer in a Leading Role as Miles Morales in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2. – AFP