Sven Vincke congratulated the team behind the project that won Game of the Year at Game Developers Choice 2025. Game Director of Baldur’s Gate 3 is glad that his choice coincided with the opinion of other developers.
«Congratulations LocalThunk!!! You were my GOTY and I’m glad to see that other developers agree. It’s well deserved!!!», — Winke wrote under the award post.
Yes, we are talking about «card bagel» Balatro, a game that received many awards in 2024. For it, developers from LocalThunk received nominations and awards at the Golden Joystick Awards, The Game Awards 2024, The Steam Awards, and several other ceremonies that took place in 2024 and 2025. At GDC 2025, Balatro was named Game of the Year and won three other awards, which was the reaction of Sven Vincke .
Larian Studios has also won many awards before, for Baldur’s Gate 3. The game was the first in history to receive the main prize at all five main game ceremonies— Game Awards, Golden Joystick Awards, DICE Awards, GDC Awards, and British Academy Games Awards. So Vincke’s choice in favor of Balatro carries much more weight than the opinion of most other individual developers.
Actually, it’s hard to say much about Balatro — it’s a rougelike poker game. The independent game has been wildly popular since its debut: it earned $1 million in just 8 hours and dispersed with a circulation of more than 1 million copies in less than a month — before its release on Android and iPhone. Now, the game is available on Steam, as well as on three major consoles and two major mobile platforms.
