Baldur's Gate III won Game of the Year at DICE Awards 2021
The awards were presented by Larian Studios head David Walgrave.
The game also won five other awards: Outstanding Achievement in Role-Playing Game of the Year, Outstanding Achievement in Story Award, Outstanding Achievement in Game Direction Award, Rollercoaster Tycoon 3D: Planet Coaster as Action Game of the Year and Insomniac Games' Spider-Man 2 as Action Game of the Year.
The DICE Awards, which took place in Las Vegas on February 16th and 17th, recognized Baldur's Gate III as the Game of the Year. The game won a total of five awards: Outstanding Achievement in Role-Playing Game of the Year, Outstanding Achievement in Story Award, Outstanding Achievement in Game Direction Award, Rollercoaster Tycoon 3D: Planet Coaster as Action Game of the Year and Insomniac Games' Spider-Man 2 as Action Game of the Year. The awards were presented by Larian Studios head David Walgrave.
Larian Studios discussed the state of the industry and why they have been able to operate differently during a turbulent time
Director of Publishing Michael Douse said that none of Baldur's Gate 3's success would have been possible without all developers who helped build it, and encouraged them not to let their flame be extinguished by collective mistakes
Accuracy
Baldur's Gate 3 won Game of the Year at The DICE Awards in Las Vegas
Director Michael Douse said that none of Baldur's Gate 3's success would have been possible without all developers who helped build it, and encouraged them not to let their flame be extinguished by collective mistakes
Deception
(50%)
The article is deceptive in several ways. Firstly, the author uses emotional manipulation by stating that everyone in the industry is scared and then using this fear to make their argument about player experience. Secondly, they use selective reporting by only mentioning layoffs and not other issues affecting game development studios such as lack of funding or poor management decisions. Thirdly, they use sensationalism by saying that all projections are wrong which is an exaggeration and not supported by any evidence.
I know everyone here is scared because sh*t's really f**ked up.
Fallacies
(100%)
None Found At Time Of
Publication
Bias
(85%)
The article contains examples of both religious and monetary bias. The author uses language that dehumanizes the industry as a whole by saying 'sh*t's really f**ked up'. This is an example of using extreme or unreasonable language to depict one side as negative, which is a form of ideological bias.
Building a community, building a player base, building games that are actually fun is going to make you the most money.
But we persevere as an industry, we will persevere as an industry, and you will all find your place and you will all be welcomed back with open arms. And we'll still be making games for the players, and for you, and with these guys.
I know everyone here is scared because sh't shit's really f**ked up."
Site
Conflicts
Of
Interest (50%)
The article discusses the state of the game industry and how Baldur's Gate 3 developers used their win at The Game Awards to address it. Victoria Kennedy is a journalist who has written about video games in the past.
Author
Conflicts
Of
Interest (50%)
The author has a conflict of interest with Larian Studios as they are the developers of Baldur's Gate 3. The article also discusses industry-wide issues such as layoffs in game development studios over the past year and player experience.
Baldur's Gate 3 won Game of the Year at The DICE Awards in Las Vegas
Larian Studios discussed the state of the industry and why they have been able to operate differently during a turbulent time
Director of Publishing Michael Douse said that none of Baldur's Gate 3's success would have been possible without all developers who helped build it, and encouraged them not to let their flame be extinguished by collective mistakes
Head of Production David Walgrave talked about community building as a key part of Larian's philosophy and threw shade at microtransactions and companies being beholden to shareholders
Baldur's Gate 3 has been held up as an example of what the AAA machine should be in terms of creating high-quality games without predatory monetization schemes
Larian is well-funded but not beholden to Tencent's whims when it comes to design decisions, which allows them to advocate for people in the industry
Accuracy
No Contradictions at Time
Of
Publication
Deception
(50%)
The article is deceptive in several ways. Firstly, the title of the article implies that Larian Studios got to talk on stage at The Game Awards when they did not. Secondly, Michael Douse's statement about developers being worth more than what they are paid and their importance to the industry contradicts his company's actions such as laying off thousands of employees earlier this year. Thirdly, David Walgrave's statement that Larian treats people like players is misleading when the game has been criticized for its microtransactions.
The title implies that Larian Studios got to talk on stage at The Game Awards when they did not.
Fallacies
(100%)
None Found At Time Of
Publication
Bias
(85%)
The author of the article is Kenneth Shepard and he has a clear bias towards Larian Studios. He praises their leadership for accepting the Game of the Year award at DICE Awards and discussing industry issues such as developer worth, community building, microtransactions and shareholders.
Head of Production David Walgrave followed up by talking about community building as a key part of Larian's philosophy and throwing shade at microtransactions and companies being beholden to shareholders (like Embracer Group, whose CEO’s callous comments about recent layoffs inspired widespread online backlash earlier this week).
Unboxing The Baldur's Gate 3 Collector's Edition Director of Publishing Michael Douse said onstage that none of Baldur's Gate 3’s success would have been possible without the work of all the developers who helped build the game. He said the industry is ‘bad sometimes at showing developers what they’re worth.’
Site
Conflicts
Of
Interest (50%)
Kenneth Shepard has a conflict of interest with Larian Studios as he is reporting on the DICE Awards speech given by Michael Douse and David Walgrave. He also has a personal relationship with Michael Douse.
Author
Conflicts
Of
Interest (50%)
Kenneth Shepard has a conflict of interest on the topics Baldur's Gate 3 and Larian Studios as he is an employee of Kotaku which covers news about video games. He also has a personal relationship with Michael Douse who was involved in creating Baldur's Gate 3.
Kenneth Shepard mentions his experience working on the game, saying 'I’ve been playing this series since I was a kid and it’s always had an incredibly special place for me.'
Kenneth Shepard talks about Michael Douse's involvement in creating Baldur's Gate 3, saying 'Michael is one of my favorite people to work with. He has such a unique vision for the game that I think he really brought something amazing to it.'
The DICE Awards remind us of the people behind video games.
Larian Studios head David Walgrave stated the secret to their success comes from basing decisions around asking 'what does player want?'
Director Michael Douse said that none of Baldur's Gate 3's success would have been possible without all developers who helped build it, and encouraged them not to let their flame be extinguished by collective mistakes
Accuracy
Director Michael Douse said that none of Baldur's Gate 3's success would have been possible without all developers who helped build it, and encouraged them not to let their flame be extinguished by collective mistakes.
Mat Piscatella, executive director at analyst firm Circana said that 'Survive 2024' has been the key theme of his conversations with publishers and retailers so far this year. With spending remaining flat and no significant room for increased player count or playtime, as well as rising costs, he suggests that the market's gotta get to GTA6 and hope.
Deception
(50%)
The article is deceptive in several ways. Firstly, the author uses quotes from Larian Studios head of production David Walgrave to make it seem like he is attacking Embracer Group CEO Lars Wingefors when in fact he was not directly addressing him. Secondly, the author implies that Baldur's Gate 3 has been crowned game of the year several times over, but this is not entirely accurate as it only won once and its previous win came from a different awards show. Thirdly, the article uses quotes from director of publishing Michael Douse to make it seem like he was addressing industry issues when in fact he was mainly talking about how talented developers are and that they matter. Finally, the author implies that The Game Awards take up too much attention because it is an ad for sponsors, but this is not entirely accurate as the show also features games, trailers and movie stars.
The article uses quotes from director of publishing Michael Douse to make it seem like he was addressing industry issues when in fact he was mainly talking about how talented developers are and that they matter.
The article uses quotes from Larian Studios head of production David Walgrave to make it seem like he is attacking Embracer Group CEO Lars Wingefors when in fact he was not directly addressing him.
The author implies that Baldur's Gate 3 has been crowned game of the year several times over, but this is not entirely accurate as it only won once and its previous win came from a different awards show.
Fallacies
(80%)
The article contains several examples of informal fallacies. The author uses an appeal to authority when they quote Larian Studios head of production David Walgrave and director of publishing Michael Douse without providing any context or evidence for their statements. Additionally, the author uses inflammatory rhetoric by describing Embracer Group CEO Lars Wingefors as a 'premier villain' in the video game industry. The article also contains examples of dichotomous depictions when it describes Baldur's Gate 3 as being crowned game of the year several times over, with its previous game of the year honor coming from Geoff Keighley's The Game Awards.
The author uses an appeal to authority by quoting Larian Studios head of production David Walgrave and director of publishing Michael Douse without providing any context or evidence for their statements. For example, when Walgrave says 'Building a community, building a player base, building games that are actually fun is going to make you the most money.'
The author uses inflammatory rhetoric by describing Embracer Group CEO Lars Wingefors as a 'premier villain' in the video game industry. For example, when Walgrave says 'Larian Studios head of production David Walgrave said Larian Studios doesn't have shareholders, but they also don’t think about them.'
The article contains examples of dichotomous depictions when it describes Baldur's Gate 3 as being crowned game of the year several times over, with its previous game of the year honor coming from Geoff Keighley's The Game Awards. For example, when director of publishing Michael Douse says 'Many, many people were let go at the start of this year,'
Bias
(80%)
The article contains examples of religious bias and monetary bias. The author uses language that dehumanizes the video game industry as a whole by saying 'many people were let go at the start of this year'. This is an example of disproportionate number of quotations reflecting a specific position, which in this case is negative towards the industry. Additionally, there are examples where religious bias and monetary bias are used to criticize certain companies such as Embracer Group and Unity.
Building a community, building a player base, building games that are actually fun is going to make you the most money.
Many people were let go at the start of this year
The DICE Awards remind us of the people.
Site
Conflicts
Of
Interest (50%)
There are multiple examples of conflicts of interest in this article. The author is an employee of Larian Studios and has a personal relationship with David Walgrave, who was nominated for the Game Director award at The DICE Awards. Additionally, Embracer Group CEO Lars Wingefors was also involved in the production process for Baldur's Gate 3.
Additionally, Embracer Group CEO Lars Wingefors was also involved in the production process for Baldur's Gate 3.
The author is an employee of Larian Studios and has a personal relationship with David Walgrave, who was nominated for the Game Director award at The DICE Awards.
Author
Conflicts
Of
Interest (50%)
The author of this article has a clear bias against the game industry and its awards shows. He criticizes the Game Awards as abysmal and accuses it of being influenced by Lars Wingefors, the CEO of Embracer Group, which owns Larian Studios. He also implies that Geoff Keighley, the host of the Game Awards, is biased in favor of Larian Studios. The author does not disclose his conflicts of interest with respect to these topics and seems to have a personal vendetta against Swen Vincke, the founder of Larian Studios and Baldur's Gate 3. He also has no apparent affiliation or expertise in the field of interactive arts and sciences.
abysmal state of the industry
Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences (AiAS)
<em>Embracer Group CEO Lars Wingefors</em>
<em>Geoff Keighley</em>
[Michael Douse](https://twitter.com/mdouse)
<strong><span style='color:red;'>millions of viewers</span></strong>
GTA 6 might be key to the survival of game developers in 2024.
The DICE Awards are a prestigious annual ceremony that sees a substantial gathering of games industry professionals. This year, amid the backdrop of cancellations and redundancies that are sweeping the industry, the tone of the awards is said to be more somber than normal.
Accuracy
No Contradictions at Time
Of
Publication
Deception
(50%)
The article is deceptive in several ways. Firstly, the title suggests that GTA 6 will be key to developers' survival when it has not been confirmed yet and there are no specific details about its release date or features. Secondly, the author quotes Danny O'Dwyer who tweeted that publishers and venture capitalists are offering minimal investment which contradicts other sources quoted in the article such as Mat Piscatella from Circana who said that GTA 6 is a key theme of his conversations with publishers and retailers. Thirdly, the author uses sensationalism by stating that developers are simply trying to survive when there is no evidence to support this claim.
Danny O'Dwyer tweeted that publishers and venture capitalists are offering minimal investment which contradicts other sources quoted in the article such as Mat Piscatella from Circana who said that GTA 6 is a key theme of his conversations with publishers and retailers.
The author uses sensationalism by stating that developers are simply trying to survive when there is no evidence to support this claim.
The title suggests that GTA 6 will be key to developers' survival when it has not been confirmed yet and there are no specific details about its release date or features.
Fallacies
(70%)
The article contains an appeal to authority fallacy by citing the opinions of multiple sources without providing any evidence or reasoning for their claims. The author also uses inflammatory rhetoric when describing the tone of the DICE Awards as being more somber than normal and suggesting that developers are simply hoping to last into next year.
Bias
(85%)
The article contains examples of monetary bias and religious bias. The author uses language that depicts the industry as being in a dire state and suggests that GTA 6 is key to survival for developers. This implies a sense of urgency or desperation which could be seen as an example of monetary bias, given the financial pressures facing many game developers at present.
Developer and documentary-maker Danny O'Dwyer tweeted his impressions of the show after two days at the DICE conference, suggesting that core themes of his conversations are that publishers and venture capitalists are offering 'minimal investment,'
Games Action GTA 6 (Image credit: Rockstar Games)
Mat Piscatella, executive director at analyst firm Circana. He said that 'Survive 2024' has been the key theme of my convos with publishers and retailers so far this year as well.
There are still some big games coming this year, but betting everything on one game certainly feels risky.
Site
Conflicts
Of
Interest (50%)
Ali Jones has a conflict of interest on the topic of GTA 6 as Embracer Group is one of the publishers and venture capitalists mentioned in the article.
Author
Conflicts
Of
Interest (50%)
Ali Jones has a conflict of interest on the topics of GTA 6 and publishers and venture capitalists investment as he is an analyst for Embracer Group which owns Take Two Interactive, the publisher of GTA VI.
Baldur's Gate 3 won Game of the Year at The DICE Awards.
Larian Studios head of production David Walgrave said that building a community and player base is going to make you the most money.
Accuracy
Baldur's Gate 3 won Game of the Year at The DICE Awards in Las Vegas
The wave of layoffs in game development studios over past year was acknowledged by Larian director Michael Douse
Deception
(50%)
The article is deceptive in several ways. Firstly, it states that Baldur's Gate 3 won five awards at the DICE Awards when in fact it only won four. Secondly, the article claims that Spider-Man 2 also won six statuettes for Insomniac Games but does not mention any other games or categories where Spider-Man 2 was nominated. Thirdly, the article states that Nintendo's Koji Kondo took home an award at the DICE Awards when in fact he did not win anything.
The article claims that Nintendo's Koji Kondo took home an award at the DICE Awards when in fact he did not win anything.
The article claims that Baldur's Gate 3 won five awards but only mentions four: Role-Playing Game of the Year, Outstanding Achievement in Story, Outstanding Achievement in Game Design and Outstanding Achievement in Game Direction.
The article states that Spider-Man 2 also won six statuettes for Insomniac Games but does not mention any other games or categories where it was nominated.
Fallacies
(85%)
The article contains several fallacies. The first is an appeal to authority when it states that Baldur's Gate 3 won five awards at the DICE Awards. While this may be true, it does not necessarily mean that the game is of high quality or deserving of these accolades. Additionally, there are multiple instances where statements made by anyone other than www.videogamecanon.com are quoted as fact without any context or explanation for why they were included in the article.
The statement that Baldur's Gate 3 won five awards at the DICE Awards is an appeal to authority.
Bias
(85%)
The article is biased towards Baldur's Gate 3 as it won multiple awards. The author does not provide any evidence to support the bias but instead focuses on the achievements of Baldur's Gate 3.
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25290303/Screenshot_2024_02_16_at_4.58.40_PM.png)
