Baldur’s Gate 3’s Astarion actor wins Best Supporting Performer prize at Golden Joysticks 2023

Neil Newborn, Astarion, Baldur's Gate 3 winning at the Golden Joystick Awards 2023
(Image credit: Larian Studios)

Neil Newbon has won the Best Supporting Performer gong for his role as Astarion in Baldur’s Gate 3 at the Golden Joystick Awards 2023 powered by Intel. 

Newborn won out against some wonderful competition featuring in projects like Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty, Final Fantasy 16, and more. You can see the full list of Golden Joystick Awards 2023 nominees below:

  • Laura Bailey - Mary Jane in Marvel's Spider-Man 2
  • Neil Newbon - Astarion in Baldur's Gate 3 (Winner)
  • Cissy Jones - Andreja in Starfield
  • Amelia Tyler -  Narrator in Baldur's Gate 3
  • Ralph Ineson - Cidolfus Telamon in Final Fantasy XVI
  • Patricia Summersett - Princess Zelda in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
  • Idris Elba - Solomon Reed in Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty

Astarion is one of the many Baldur's Gate 3 companions you'll meet on your way to the titular gate. Much like all of those companions, they feature a wonderful back story that slowly unfurls as you get to know them on your trip, rewarding the effort you put in. One highlight is the character's bad ending, which one of the game's writers describes as a wake-up call for players lusting over the game's characters. Naturally, though, what helps this all land is Newbon's ability to bring life to the character. 

We had plenty of praise for the RPG's characters and more ourselves. In our Baldur's Gate 3 review, we called it the new gold standard for RPGs.

"Baldur's Gate 3 is the most successful and authentic take on D&D in the tabletop franchise's 50-year history," we said. "Its complexity and size might be daunting for novices, but the breadth and depth of Baldur's Gate 3's world make this a once-in-a-generation achievement."

Discover the best games of 2023 at the best prices by checking out the Golden Joystick Awards Steam sale page

Iain Harris
News Editor, Games

I joined GamesRadar+ in May 2022 following stints at PCGamesN and PocketGamer.Biz, with some freelance for Kotaku UK, RockPaperShotgun, and VG24/7 thrown in for good measure. When I'm not running the news team on the games side, you'll find me putting News Editor duties to one side to play the hottest JRPG of 20 years ago or pillaging the depths of Final Fantasy 14 for a swanky new cloak – the more colourful, the better.