The Game Awards may have inadvertently found their two contenders for Game of the Year on Steam, thanks to the showdown between Hogwarts Legacy and Baldur’s Gate 3.
According to Steam Charts, Baldur’s Gate 3 is on track to surpass the all-time concurrent player peak set by Hogwarts Legacy. While some sources, different from Steam Charts, state that Hogwarts Legacy reached a peak of 879,308 players just two days after its launch, Baldur’s Gate 3 currently boasts a total of 875,343 concurrent players. This places Baldur’s Gate 3 only 4,000 players shy of Hogwarts Legacy’s record, potentially positioning it to make history and secure its position as the most popular game of the year (up to this point).
On a side note, however, Hogwarts Legacy also experienced a significant drop from its position as the number one game on Steam. At of the time of writing, the game maintains an average player base of 8,500, highlighting the massive decline it has faced since its launch. Merely a month after its release in March 2023, Hogwarts Legacy‘s player count had already halved, and its reviews have been underwhelming, to say the least. On the flip side, Baldur’s Gate 3 appears to be steadily progressing toward claiming the title of the game of the year.
Beyond its astonishing launch weekend, the video game developed by Larian Studios has garnered equally impressive reviews. So much so that the game currently holds the highest rating on Metacritic, boasting an impressive 97%. This surpasses the previous chart-topper, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, which sits at 96%. In contrast, Hogwarts Legacy currently holds a rating of 83% on the same website.
Ultimately, time will determine whether Baldur’s Gate can surpass the fair competition posed by Hogwarts Legacy. Nevertheless, it’s safe to say that when it comes to delivering quality gameplay, a clear winner has already emerged, and it doesn’t involve J.K. Rowling.
Published: Aug 14, 2023 12:16 pm