Neil Newbon received an award for his role as Astarion in Baldur’s Gate 3 at this year’s Golden Joystick Awards. In a heartfelt speech, he expressed his gratitude. MeinMMO reveals what it’s all about.
What award did he receive? The Golden Joystick Awards are an annual video game awards ceremony in the UK. This year’s ceremony took place on November 10 in London and was broadcast live worldwide.
“Baldur’s Gate 3” won several awards at the ceremony in London, including the Ultimate Game of the Year
award and a special recognition for Neil Newbon, who received the award for Best Supporting Actor for his role as Astarion. He thanked for this with an emotional speech.
Thank you! This is a gift. I will not forget it
Why was the speech so touching? At the Golden Joystick Awards, Neil Newbon spoke about his award and emphasized the challenge of expressing his gratitude. It was a strange moment when you don’t quite know what to say.
He reflected on his own journey in the gaming world and shared that he was financially at rock bottom and was about to leave the industry.
But the gaming industry had given him so much, including love
, passion
, and great friends
.
He said:
And I can’t thank everyone in this room enough for including me in this. And to everyone who worked with me, thank you. It’s truly overwhelming to be among such amazing people, among like-minded individuals.[…]
Neil Newbon – Golden Joystick Awards via YouTube
He emphasized that Astarion means the world to him. Astarion is a survivor who has gone through trauma. Numerous members of the community reached out to him personally and said they identified with many stories and characters from Baldur’s Gate 3.
He also said:
The story of the game itself has really reached them, and people have come to me and said they felt inspired to deal with their own trauma.
As a survivor myself, I understand what they mean.[…] That they feel seen by the game, that they feel understood by the characters – and that’s a testament to this amazingly beautiful masterpiece that Larian Studios and the writing team have put together and created and the amazing cast of 248 wonderful actors who gave their all every day.
Neil Newbon – Golden Joystick Awards via YouTube
He also expressed his appreciation for the people who supported him and emphasized that he would miss a lot of people he wants to thank. Newbon expressed his deep gratitude to the community that embraced everyone embraced
and highlighted that he greatly appreciates this.
In conclusion, it became particularly touching again
At the end of his speech, he emphasized that the experience made him a better person
and concluded his thank you speech with a connection to his role as Astarion. In Astarion’s voice, he said: Thank you, this is a gift, I will not forget it.
You can watch his entire speech here:
On Twitter, many people congratulated Neil Newbon, including Stephen Rooney, Senior Writer at Larian Studios, who wrote Astarion. Thereupon, Neil Newbon replied to him: Man, I love you damn much and the words and the character you created and gave me were the highlight of my career. Thank you Stephen, a huge hug for you, brother.
Neil Newbon and his impressive talent
Undoubtedly, Astarion has become an absolute favorite among players of Baldur’s Gate 3, particularly due to Neil Newbon’s outstanding performance.
With an impressive mix of passion and humor, Newbon brings Astarion to life, especially in a secret scene where Astarion makes some sharp-tongued remarks that must have certainly made many players smile.
Anyone who has dated Astarion in Baldur’s Gate 3 knows that he has mastered the art of sensual speaking. Apparently sometimes even too well, as Larian Studios humorously had to rein Neil Newbon in since things got a bit too steamy.
But Neil Newbon even plays Baldur’s Gate 3 live on Twitch and frequently improvises Astarion lines. One of the highlights of his streams is the moment when he tried to date himself and shyly emphasized how strange it felt.
