Neil Newbon

The choice to help Astarion become the Vampire Ascendent in is a controversial one that divides fans of the vampire companion. Once ascending, Astarion’s character becomes more sinister and controlling than he was before the ritual, and the pre-programmed facial expressions in-game make that clear. Players can continue to romance him after he’s ascended, though Tav’s facial expressions will unveil the sudden shift in their power dynamic.

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes hits theaters this weekend. If you were hoping to find ways to spend more time in that world through video games, your options are surprisingly slim. Your only easy option is Planet of the Apes: Last Frontier. This is a game I’ve seen almost no one talk about since it was released, but it’s a fascinating title that warrants a revisit.

It seems Larian Studios thought of just about everything when crafting , and the various loopholes players have found to get out of significant boss fights can be both hilarious and innovative. A video from a particularly creative player shows how pushing NPCs’ buttons is sometimes the best way to get out of a future boss fight.

When it comes to Baldur's Gate 3's more eccentric characters, you'll be hard-pressed to find one quite like Astarion. Not only is he initially rather hostile, coming at you with a dagger when you first meet, but the whole vampire thing definitely makes him one of the more unique party members in terms of character and his story.

Betheda's official next-gen update for may have come at a cost to players by impacting a far more exciting, highly anticipated project. To coincide with the release of the TV show on Amazon Prime, Bethesda announced its free update for PS4 and Xbox One owners would be launching on April 25, alongside native digital applications for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S on the same day. These next-gen enhancements will bring new Performance mode and Quality mode settings across all platforms, as well as stability improvements and fixes to allow the game.

Baldur's Gate 3 fans who still haven't gotten their fill of everybody's favourite vampiric sadist, Astarion, can now look forward to an all-new adventure alongside Neil Newbon. The actor portrays the ultimate evil antagonist, Vecna, in a one-shot tabletop adventure, putting in an appropriately imposing vocal performance as one of the setting's big-bads.

In a game of exceedingly well-written characters like Baldur's Gate 3, the sadistic and sexually suggestive vampire spawn Astarion manages to stand out. But despite developer Larian Studios clearly signalling that it is moving on from the game and away from the series, Astarion actor Neil Newbon isn't quite ready to follow suit.

While may have come to an end, that doesn't mean its cast of characters can't go on any further adventures. Following the announcement that Larian Studios won't be developing any DLC for its critically-revered RPG, the community was understandably disappointed that they wouldn't be able to spend any more time with the likes of Astarion and Shadowheart. Fortunately, due to the game being an official part of the universe, there will seemingly be more opportunities for the characters to return either in a sequel or a different medium entirely.

Neil Newbon, the beloved actor being Astarion in makes his return to the world of albeit in a very different role. While Newbon has had a prolific career behind the microphone, his most popular character is undoubtedly the vampire rogue in Larian Studios' RPG for which he even earned the coveted Best Performance award at The Game Awards 2023. While he may not be returning to play Astarion in the near future, he's still doing some rather exciting with Wizards of the Coast on its ever-popular fantasy game series.

With Larian leaving Baldur’s Gate 3 and Dungeons & Dragons behind to work on a brand new game, the future of the series and the characters the developer brought to life is up in the air. But for Hasbro, owner of Dungeons & Dragons operator Wizards of the Coast, the hope is fans won’t have to wait as long for the next Baldur’s Gate game as they did for Baldur’s Gate 3.

Larian Studios confirmed earlier this year that it will not be involved in Baldur's Gate 4. The studio is moving away from Dungeons & Dragons to focus on its own projects, whatever they may be. But that doesn't mean the series is over.

Baldur’s Gate 3's Astarion actor, Neil Newbon, cut a very cool figure on the BAFTA Games Awards red carpet, with his shirt-free suit being translated into online fan art almost instantaneously.

Several Baldur's Gate 3 actors have confirmed that they would be open to returning in future iterations of the series, even without the involvement of Larian Studios. The developer recently confirmed it would not be developing a sequel to Baldur's Gate 3, but despite this, some of the cast are willing to return for the right script.

Baldur's Gate 3 actors Samantha Béart and Tracy Wiles, who play Karlach and Jaheira respectively, are open to returning for future games. However, they added that the script has to be up to the same quality that we got with Larian, as the studio won't be working on the next Baldur's Gate entry.

Last month, Larian Studios broke the hearts of every Baldur's Gate fan across the globe by announcing that they have no plans to work with the Dungeons & Dragons license moving forward, and that the studio will instead move onto something new rather than stick around and make Baldur's Gate 4. It was a hammer blow to the hopes and dreams of everyone that fell in love with the characters that Larian created, but it doesn't mean that they're gone forever.

Baldur's Gate 3 cast members Neil Newbon and Amelia Tyler want to return for more Dungeons & Dragons games or even a sequel to the Honor Among Thieves film.

A new Astarion cosplay for has been making the rounds on social media due to how hilariously relatable it is. Astarion is one of the many recruitable companions in and also one of the most beloved among the community of players. This character created by Larian Studios is a half-elf vampire that, alongside Tav and their other partners, has become infected with an Illythid tadpole. Astarion easily ascended to become one of the favorite characters in the game due to his witty personality, brilliantly translated by Neil Newbon’s performance.

's omnipresent narrator may have found their way into the hearts of the game's community, but Larian Studios briefly flirted with bringing in an exceptionally experienced Dungeon Master to dictate the experience. Through players' adventures through the Forgotten Realms, the voice of the narrator, played by veteran actor Amelia Tyler, accompanies every major decision and moment in the story, chronicling every action and choice. While Tyler has earned plenty of praise for her performance, one of the most beloved content creators almost took on the role.

Frazer Blaxland, the actor who portrays Dammon in Baldur’s Gate 3, is under fire after fans discovered he was following accounts and liking posts that expressed anti-LGBTQ and Palestine sentiments. Backlash from players and colleagues, as well as Blaxland’s own recent actions on social media, suggest the actor may have been fully canceled by Baldur’s Gate 3 and its community.

An early version of one of Baldur's Gate 3's most well-known characters, Astarion, has been shared by Larian Studios' founder Swen Vincke at the Game Developers Conference. GDC 2024 is currently underway in San Francisco, and game developers across the industry are gathering and discussing their experiences making the games millions of gamers have enjoyed over the past year, including Baldur's Gate 3.

Larian Studios founder Swen Vincke has shared an early look at every Baldur’s Gate 3 fan’s favorite vampire Astarion, and it looks like a lot has changed since the early days of his creation.

Crisis Core: Final Fantasy 7 Reunion voice actor Shaun Conde, who played Genesis Rhapsodos in the English dub, was seemingly too sexy for Square Enix and repeatedly told stop sounding so seductive. 

BAFTA has announced the nominations for the 2024 BAFTA Games Awards — and Baldur’s Gate 3 leads the pack.

Fallout: London — the upcoming fan made DLC-sized mod for Bethesda's Fallout 4 — has added Neil Newbon to its cast.

The makers of the Fallout London mod have announced many impressive details about the game, which we'll recap later in this article, but the latest news from the final progress video is that none other than Neil Newbon will lend his voice acting chops to the game.

This article has some spoilers for Baldur's Gate 3

The developer of the Fallout 4 mod Fallout: London has recently announced that Neil Newbon will play an unannounced role in the game. Newbon is known for playing the vampire Astarion in Baldur’s Gate 3 and his voice acting will probably be a fine addition to the ambitious Fallout 4 total conversion mod.

One of the stars of 2023 hit Baldur's Gate 3 has joined the cast of Fallout: London, an expansion-sized mod coming to Fallout 4.

Fallout London features recognizable voices from Baldur's Gate 3 and beyond.

The team behind the incredibly ambitious Fallout: London, a fan-made spin-off to Bethesda's hit post-apocalyptic series, just shared its "Final Progress Video", revealing that Baldur's Gate 3 Astarion actor Neil Newbon is part of the cast.

Star Wars Jedi: Survivor has been awarded a Grammy for Best Score Soundtrack for Video Games and Other Interactive Media, a rare nod from the more established mainstream award industry. Jedi: Survivor beat out the likes of God of War Ragnarok, Hogwarts Legacy, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 and Stray Gods: The Roleplaying Musical for the honour.

Months after Baldur’s Gate 3’s release, I continue to be haunted by one man. His face shows up on all of my feeds, he’s been the center of a few fan furors, and he feels like the natural evolution of some of my most beloved BioWare companions. I remain fascinated by Astarion, who has more than earned his place in the hall of fame of RPG allies, and I am not alone.

A Baldur's Gate 3 writer has said it's important to put some of yourself into the characters you're writing, and that they most relate to Astarion when he's "being a giant dumbass."

Spider-Man 2 led the nominations for the 27th Annual DICE Awards, which were announced yesterday.

With an adoring fanbase to dote on him, Baldur’s Gate 3‘s Astarion has been the source of inspiration for countless memes, fan art, and even catchy mash-up names like Goosetarion. We have Neil Newbon himself to thank for that one.

Just a couple of days after winning the Game of the Year and Best Story-Rich Game prizes at the Steam Awards 2023, Baldur's Gate 3 is once again preparing to clean up the house at the upcoming 13th Annual New York Game Awards. The New York Videogame Critics Circle (NYVGCC) has just announced the full list of nominees during a live stream event and Larian's outstanding cRPG has received six nominations in the Game of the Year, Best Writing, Best World, Best Music, and Best Acting (twice, for Amelia Tyler as the narrator of Baldur's Gate 3 and Neil Newbon as the High Elf Vampire Rogue companion character Astarion) categories.

There are several characters in that are worth their own spin-off title in the series. The popular RPG by Larian Studios features a compelling story and part of that narrative value stems from the complexity of the characters that are presented throughout the campaign. These include the companions in , as well as several friendly – and even unfriendly – NPCs that players may encounter during their journeys along the Sword Coast. While there are a lot of interactable NPCs that do not have much to offer players, especially the citizens of the city in Act 3, several others are carefully developed over time.

With the bar for quality in gaming being raised even further in 2023, a lot of questions have emerged. How sustainable was this kind of progression for the long term? Can we expect this many legitimate Game of the Year contenders in 2024? Just how much has the idea of industry standouts as individuals or brands broken into the mainstream?

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Warframe’s latest expansion, with a new cinematic quest, Whispers in the Walls, arrives today, along with cross-save beginning its rollout, and the 55th Warframe, Qorvex.

When an armour-clad Swen Vincke, boss of Baldur's Gate 3 developer Larian Studios, accepted the award for Game of the Year at The Game Awards 2023, he had just 30 seconds before the dreaded “please wrap it up” message ushered him off stage.

At The Game Awards 2023, Digital Extremes confirmed the final release date for Warframe's Whispers in the Walls update. Players will get the free patch on Wednesday, December 13, and it'll also mark the start of the long-awaited cross-save rollout.

was stealth-dropped onto Xbox Series X|S during The Game Awards last night, and it seems like this is because Larian Studios’ CEO Swen Vincke forgot to make the announcement. Vincke was meant to mention the release during an award acceptance speech, but he failed at his “one job” and left several people confused in the process.

The Game Awards 2023 concluded last night, with Baldur’s Gate 3 taking home the trophy for Game of the Year. It was a big moment for Larian, and during the winner’s speech, studio head Swen Vincke took time to honor those who put in so many hours and work, especially those who couldn’t see this award.

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Call of Duty developers past and present have taken to social media to express their frustration with a comment made by God of War voice actor Christopher Judge at The Game Awards.

Last night, Geoff Keighley revealed dozens of trailers for upcoming video games, and interviewed some of his favourite celebrites and best palss from the games industry on stage. He also happened to hand out some awards to game developers. At his awards show. Titled The Game Awards.

Larian Studios just had a great night at The Game Awards, with Baldur's Gate 3 winning Game of the Year over some fierce competition. But just as fans started to celebrate, they were shocked to find that Baldur's Gate 3 had popped up on the Xbox store with no warning, completely ready to play on Xbox Series X/S.

Hideo Kojima and Gonzo from The Muppets had just as much time on-stage at The Game Awards as the award winners themselves, who were hurried off-stage with a teleprompter reading "please wrap it up".

One God of War actor had some choice words for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3’s campaign while presenting The Game Awards 2023. 

Baldur's Gate 3 actor Neil Newbon has won the award for Best Performance at The Game Awards 2023, and the community is celebrating with him. 

Larian Studios and Remedy led The Game Awards last night, with Baldur's Gate 3 winning six awards including Game of the Year, and Alan Wake 2 taking home three of the eight it was nominated for.

Baldur's Gate III took home the top honour at The Game Awards 2023, held early Friday in Los Angeles, besting its lead competitor Alan Wake II. The Dungeons & Dragons-based sprawling RPG, which was strongly revered by both fans and critics alike, bagged six trophies, including Best Community Support and Best Performance. The latter was collected by Neil Newbon, who played Astarion, the silver-haired vampire spawn, holding our attention with his melodramatic persona and the occasional high-pitched screeches. Meanwhile, Remedy's Alan Wake 2 won four awards across some of the most important categories, with co-directors Sam Lake and Kyle Rowley emerging as the best game directors of the year, alongside a writing/ narrative nod.

Baldur's Gate 3 nabbed The Game Awards' coveted Game of the Year title, and Larian Studios founder and CEO Swen Vincke graciously accepted it wearing half a suit of shining armor. 

1. Game of the Year 2. Best Game Direction 3. Best Narrative 4. Best Art Direction 5. Best Score and Music 6. Best Audio Design 7. Best Performance 8. Innovation in Accessibility 9. Games for Impact 10. Best Ongoing 11. Best Community Support 12. Best Independent Game 13. Best Debut Indie Game 14. Best Mobile Game 15. Best VR / AR 16. Best Action Game 17. Best Action / Adventure 18. Best RPG 19. Best Fighting 20. Best Family 21. Best Sim / Strategy22. Best Sports / Racing 23. Best Multiplayer 24. Best Adaptation 25. Most Anticipated Game 26. Content Creator of the Year 27. Best Esports Game 28. Best Esports Athlete 29. Best Esports Team 30. Best Esports Coach 31. Best Esports Event 32. Player's Voice

Baldur's Gate 3 racked up six awards at The Game Awards today, including Game of the Year, a win Larian founder Swen Vincke tells PC Gamer he didn't expect, even after leaving the recent Golden Joystick Awards with too many awards to carry.

Baldur's Gate 3 — which is now available on Xbox! — won Game of the Year at tonight's The Game Awards ceremony.

Digital Extremes revealed during The Game Awards that the next big update for Warframe, titled Whispers in the Walls will be released next week on December 13. The update focuses on a cinematic quest and narrative arc featuring popular voice actors Neil Newbon (Baldur’s Gate 3) and Ben Starr(Final Fantasy XVI). Starr will also be returning for the upcoming Warframe 1999.

At last year's Game Awards, actor Christopher Judge won the Best Performance award for his role as Kratos in God of War Ragnarök, and gave an acceptance speech so long it became a highlight of the show. Judge returned as a presenter at this year's Game Awards, and of course cracked a joke about his verbose speech—at the expense of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3.

Actor Neil Newbon has just won best performance at The Game Awards for his portrayal of everyone's favourite vampire, Astarion, in Baldur's Gate 3.

Shadowheart's actor is the latest of Baldur's Gate 3's main cast to romance their own in-game character.

Baldur's Gate 3 developers have seeming certified one of the community's most beloved characters as 'canon' with the game's new epilogue.

The actor behind Baldur's Gate 3's Lae'zel has properly leaned into her character by raiding the growth in the name of Minthara.

Astarion's actor said that he's romance his own character in Baldur's Gate 3 as far back as 2021.

By Ash Parrish, a reporter who has covered the business, culture, and communities of video games for seven years. Previously, she worked at Kotaku.

Xbox Series X/S owners eager for a Baldur's Gate 3 release date announcement will have a little longer to wait; developer Larian Studios has confirmed it'll be sharing the news during this year's Geoff-Keighley-hosted The Game Awards on 8th December.

Baldur's Gate 3 recently swept the board at the Golden Joysticks. Neil Newbon, the voice behind Astarion, won Best Supporting Performer at the Golden Joysticks 2023—and during his acceptance speech, said: «when I found games I was broke, I was on my knees, I actually was actually very close to quitting the [acting] industry.» 

The actor behind Lae'zel in Baldur's Gate 3 recently streamed the RPG in full Githyanki face paint, and almost murdered Astarion right in front of his actor. 

The Game Awards 2023 nominations are now out in the wild. Two of the biggest titles this year, Baldur's Gate 3 and the more recent Alan Wake II lead the pack with a whopping eight nods each, including Game of the Year. Despite being considered one of the best years for gaming, the show host and organiser Geoff Keighley is sticking to his rule of including only six names for the prestigious award. The remaining GOTY contenders include Marvel's Spider-Man 2, Super Mario Bros. Wonder, Resident Evil 4 remake, and The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. The latter two were big hits during the first half of the year, with Zelda players showing off their mechanical creations in the lands of Hyrule, while the RE4 PC players messed around with sultry mods.

The nominees for the Game Awards 2023 have been revealed, with Alan Wake 2 and Baldur's Gate 3 taking eight nominations each.

Nominees for The Game Awards 2023 have been revealed, with Alan Wake 2 and Baldur's Gate 3 leading the way with eight nominations each.

The actor behind Astarion in Baldur's Gate 3 was "very close to quitting" the industry before landing a role in the Larian RPG.

Baldur's Gate 3 has swept the board at the 2023 Golden Joystick Awards.

Baldur's Gate 3 and Larian Studios just had the most successful night in the history of the Golden Joysticks Awards.

Baldur's Gate 3 has claimed the top prize at the Golden Joystick Awards 2023 powered by Intel, capping off a huge night by winning the title of Ultimate Game of the Year.

Baldur's Gate 3 just swept the Golden Joystick Awards, winning in six different categories. This includes the Ultimate Game of the Year award, and even Studio of the Year for its developer, Larian.

The results are in, and all the winners of this year’s Golden Joystick Awards have been confirmed. The 41st annual awards were hosted today in the Royal Lancaster Hotel in London, UK, with awards handed out for a total of 23 categories. 

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. 

Baldur's Gate 3 has won the Best Storytelling award at the Golden Joystick Awards 2023 powered by Intel, kicking off what could be a big night for the game.