Swen Vincke posted the full version of the speech he was not allowed to deliver at The Game Awards

Geoff Keighley was criticized on social media because TGA winners were given just a minute to share their joy, while his friend Hideo Kojima spoke for nearly 10 minutes about nothing

Larian studio head and Baldur’s Gate 3 game director Swen Vincke posted the full version of the speech he was not allowed to deliver by The Game Awards organizers on his X (formerly Twitter) page. 

Vincke noted that it was a great honor for him and the entire Larian team to take home the statuette for “Game of the Year” and congratulated all the other nominees who also deserved recognition.

“I wore armor at The Game Awards because BG3 could not exist without our community, and I wanted to pay tribute to how much we appreciate them. Our BG3 community is truly amazing.”

“Developing a game like this could only be done by an exceptionally talented team, and I am very lucky to have them. They are the best and did a simply phenomenal job.”

“There are over 2,000 people in the credits, and since I cannot name everyone, I want to focus on a group of people who do not always get the recognition they deserve,” he continued.

“The QA team, localization teams, customer support, operations, testers, and all the other developers at Larian — BG3 would not exist without you, and you all deserve to feel proud of this.”

“I want to dedicate this award to the friends and family members we lost during development, including Jim, our lead animator who passed away last month, and personally to my father, who passed away the week before we launched our Early Access campaign.”

Vincke concluded by stating that games have been and remain a special art form, no less important than books, music, or movies.

“Games are a unique art form, just as important as books, music, or cinema. Many developers, including myself, make games because they love seeing how people interact with their creations in a way that is impossible with anything else. Money is not as important to them. They see it more as "fuel" needed to create new and greater games. But it is important to remember that fuel is merely a means, not the goal.”

(news cover source: TGA)