The British Academy Games Awards is BAFTA’s annual celebration of the very best in games of the past 12 months. The nominations announced today highlight an outstanding level of creative excellence from a broad range of UK and international development teams. The Awards take place on Thursday 4 April 2019.
The highlights of today’s nominations are:
• 10 nominations for God of War, the action adventure game and the eighth instalment in the series.
• Six nominations each for Red Dead Redemption 2, Return of the Obra Dinn and Florence.
• Five nominations for Celeste, including Game Beyond Entertainment. The game’s narrative encourages players to overcome struggles, persevere and achieve their goals with compassion, and aims to bring a greater understanding of mental illness.
• Other nominations in Game Beyond Entertainment are 11-11: Memories Retold, Florence, Life is Strange 2, My Child Lebensborn and Nintendo Labo.
Voting opened on Tuesday 12 March for the EE Mobile Game of the Year, the only award voted for by the public. The shortlist is Brawl Stars, Clash Royale, Fortnite, Old School Runescape, Pokémon Go and Roblox. Vote now at ee.co.uk/BAFTAgames.
The ceremony, hosted by Dara O’Briain, takes place on Thursday 4 April at the Queen Elizabeth Hall on London’s Southbank and will be live streamed on all major social, online and gaming platforms: www.bafta.org/games/howtowatch
The British Academy Games Awards is part of the London Games Festival, which runs from 2 - 14 April covering 40 events across the capital. The London Games Festival is backed by the Mayor of London and delivered by Games London, an initiative from Film London, the capital’s screen industries agency, and video game trade boy Ukie (The Association for UK Interactive Entertainment) to make London the games capital of the world, creating £35m for local business.
The Awards are supported by BAFTA’s official games partners Activision Blizzard, Electronic Arts, PlayFusion, PlayStation, SEGA Europe Ltd., Tencent Games and Ubisoft Entertainment, with EE sponsoring the only award voted for by the public.
The Awards, including the nominations, are voted for by BAFTA’s global membership, comprising experienced games industry practitioners from a range of backgrounds in game development and production. To become a BAFTA member, visit membership.bafta.org.
BAFTA curates a year-round global programme of events and initiatives that support the games industry. This includes developer talks, showcases, debates, scholarships and networking, as well as the flagship Games Lecture by an inspirational practitioner.
BAFTA Young Game Designers gives young people and educators insights into the industry and access to the brightest creative minds in games. BAFTA Crew Games is a network that connects practitioners working in the UK games industry and provides participants with a skills development programme.
Nominations
14 March 2019
ARTISTIC ACHIEVEMENT
DETROIT: BECOME HUMAN Guillaume de Fondaumière, David Cage, John O’Brien – Quantic Dream/Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe
GRIS Development Team – Nomada Studio/Devolver Digital
GOD OF WAR Development Team – Santa Monica Studio/Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe
MARVEL’S SPIDER-MAN Development Team – Insomniac Games/Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe
RED DEAD REDEMPTION 2 Development Team – Rockstar Games/Rockstar Games
RETURN OF THE OBRA DINN Lucas Pope – Lucas Pope/3909
AUDIO ACHIEVEMENT
BATTLEFIELD V Development Team – EA Dice/Electronic Arts
DETROIT: BECOME HUMAN Guillaume de Fondaumière, David Cage, John O’Brien – Quantic Dream/Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe
GOD OF WAR Mike Niederquell, Todd Piperi, Leilani Ramirez – Santa Monica Studio/Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe
MARVEL’S SPIDER-MAN Paul Mudra, Phillip Kovats, Dwight Okahara – Insomniac Games/Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe
RED DEAD REDEMPTION 2 Development Team – Rockstar Games/Rockstar Games
TETRIS EFFECT Hydelic, Noboru Mutoh, Takako Ishida – Monstars Inc. and Resonair/Enhance, Inc.
BEST GAME
ASSASSIN’S CREED ODYSSEY Development Team – Ubisoft Quebec/Ubisoft
ASTRO BOT: RESCUE MISSION Development Team – SIE Japan Studio/Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe
CELESTE Development Team – Matt Makes Games Inc./Matt Makes Games Inc.
GOD OF WAR Cory Barlog, Yumi Yang, Shannon Studstill – Santa Monica Studio/Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe
RED DEAD REDEMPTION 2 Development Team – Rockstar Games/Rockstar Games
RETURN OF THE OBRA DINN Lucas Pope – Lucas Pope/3909
BRITISH GAME
11-11: MEMORIES RETOLD Dan Efergan, Bram Ttwheam, George Rowe - Digixart, Aardman & Bandai Namco Entertainment Europe/Bandai Namco Entertainment Europe
FORZA HORIZON 4 Development Team – Playground Games/Microsoft Studios
RED DEAD REDEMPTION 2 Development Team – Rockstar Games/Rockstar Games
THE ROOM: OLD SINS Development Team – Fireproof Games/ Fireproof Games
OVERCOOKED 2 Development Team – Ghost Town Games & Team 17/ Team 17
TWO POINT HOSPITAL Development Team – Two Point Studios/SEGA
DEBUT GAME
BEAT SABER Development Team – Beat Games/Beat Games
CULTIST SIMULATOR Alexis Kennedy, Lottie Bevan – Weather Factory/Humble Bundle
DONUT COUNTY Ben Esposito – Ben Espositio/Annapurna Interactive
FLORENCE Development Team – Mountains/Annapurna Interactive
GRIS Development Team – Nomada Studio/Devolver Digital
YOKU’S ISLAND EXPRESS Development Team – Villa Gorilla/Team 17
EVOLVING GAME
DESTINY 2: FORSAKEN Development Team – Bungie/Activision
ELITE DANGEROUS: BEYOND Development Team – Frontier/Frontier
FORTNITE Development Team – Epic Games/Epic Games
OVERWATCH Development Team – Blizzard Entertainment/Blizzard Entertainment
SEA OF THIEVES Development Team – Rare Ltd/Microsoft Studios
TOM CLANCY’S RAINBOW SIX SIEGE Development Team – Ubisoft Montreal/Ubisoft
FAMILY
LEGO DISNEY PIXAR’S THE INCREDIBLES Pete Gomer, Dan Crossley, Nicholas Ricks – TT Games/WB Games
NINTENDO LABO Development Team – Nintendo EPD/Nintendo
OVERCOOKED 2 Development Team – Ghost Town Games & Team17/Team17
POKÉMON: LET’S GO, PIKACHU! AND LET’S GO, EEVEE! Development Team – Game Freak/The Pokémon Company and Nintendo
SUPER MARIO PARTY Development Team – NDCube/Nintendo
YOKU’S ISLAND EXPRESS Development Team – Villa Gorilla/Team 17
GAME BEYOND ENTERTAINMENT
11-11: MEMORIES RETOLD Yoan Fanise, Dan Efergan, Lionel Lovisa - Digixart, Aardman & Bandai Namco Entertainment Europe/Bandai Namco Entertainment
CELESTE Development Team – Matt Makes Games Inc./Matt Makes Games Inc.
FLORENCE Development Team – Mountains/Annapurna Interactive
LIFE IS STRANGE 2 Michel Koch, Raoul Barbet - DONTNOD Entertainment/Square Enix
MY CHILD LEBENSBORN Development Team - Sarepta Studio AS/Teknopilot AS, Sarepta Studio AS
NINTENDO LABO Development Team – Nintendo EPD/Nintendo
GAME DESIGN
ASTRO BOT: RESCUE MISSION Development Team – SIE Japan Studio/Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe
CELESTE Development Team – Matt Makes Games Inc./Matt Makes Games Inc.
GOD OF WAR Development Team - Santa Monica Studio/Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe
INTO THE BREACH Justin Ma, Matthew Davis – Subset Games/Subset Games
MINIT Development Team - JW, Kitty, Jukio, and Dom/Devolver Digital
RETURN OF THE OBRA DINN Lucas Pope – Lucas Pope/3909
GAME INNOVATION
ASTRO BOT: RESCUE MISSION Development Team – SIE Japan Studio/Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe
CELESTE Development Team – Matt Makes Games Inc./Matt Makes Games Inc.
CULTIST SIMULATOR Alexis Kennedy, Lottie Bevan – Weather Factory/Humble Bundle
MOSS Development Team – Polyarc/Polyarc
NINTENDO LABO Development Team – Nintendo EPD/Nintendo
RETURN OF THE OBRA DINN Lucas Pope – Lucas Pope/3909
MOBILE GAME
ALTO’S ODYSSEY Development Team – Team Alto/Snowman
BRAWL STARS Development Team – Supercell/Supercell
DONUT COUNTY Ben Esposito – Ben Esposito/Annapurna Interactive
FLORENCE Development Team – Mountains/Annapurna Interactive
REIGNS: GAME OF THRONES François Alliot, Tamara Alliot, Arnaud De Bock – Nerial/Devolver Digital
THE ROOM: OLD SINS Development Team – Fireproof Games/Fireproof Games
MULTIPLAYER
A WAY OUT Development Team – Hazelight/EA Originals
BATTLEFIELD V Development Team – EA DICE/Electronic Arts
OVERCOOKED 2 Development Team – Ghost Town Games & Team 17/Team 17
SEA OF THIEVES Development Team – Rare Ltd/Microsoft Studios
SUPER MARIO PARTY Development Team – NDCube/Nintendo
SUPER SMASH BROS. ULTIMATE Development Team – Nintendo, Bandai Namco Studios and Sora Ltd/Nintendo
MUSIC
CELESTE Lena Raine – Matt Makes Games Inc./Matt Makes Games Inc.
FAR CRY 5 Development Team – Ubisoft Montreal/Ubisoft
FLORENCE Development Team – Mountains/Annapurna Interactive
GOD OF WAR Bear McCreary, Keith Leary, Peter Scaturro - Santa Monica Studio/Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe
GRIS Development Team – Nomada Studios/Devolver Digitial
TETRIS EFFECT Hydelic, Noboru Mutoh, Takako Ishida – Monstars Inc. and Resonair/Enhance, Inc.
NARRATIVE
FLORENCE Writing Team – Mountains/Annapurna Interactive
FROSTPUNK Writing Team – 11 Bit Studios/11 Bit Studios
GOD OF WAR Cory Barlog, Matt Sophos, Richard Zangrande Gaubert – Santa Monica Studio/Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe
MARVEL’S SPIDER-MAN Writing Team - Insomniac Games/Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe
RED DEAD REDEMPTION 2 Dan Houser, Rupert Humphries, Michael Unsworth - Rockstar Games/Rockstar Games
RETURN OF THE OBRA DINN Lucas Pope – Lucas Pope/3909
ORIGINAL PROPERTY
DEAD CELLS Development Team – Motion Twin/Motion Twin
FLORENCE Development Team – Mountains/Annapurna Interactive
INTO THE BREACH Development Team – Subset Games/Subset Games
MOSS Development Team – Polyarc/Polyarc
RETURN OF THE OBRA DINN Lucas Pope – Lucas Pope/3909
SUBNAUTICA Development Team – Unknown Worlds Entertainment/Unknown Worlds Entertainment
PERFORMER
CHRISTOPHER JUDGE as Kratos in God of War
DANIELLE BISUTTI as Freya in God of War
JEREMY DAVIES as The Stranger in God of War
MELISSANTHI MAHUT as Kassandra of Sparta in Assassin’s Creed Odyssey
ROGER CLARK as Arthur Morgan in Red Dead Redemption 2
SUNNY SULJIC as Atreus in God of War
EE MOBILE GAME OF THE YEAR (voted for by the public)
BRAWL STARS – Supercell/Supercell
CLASH ROYALE – Supercell/Supercell
FORTNITE - Epic Games/Epic Games
OLD SCHOOL RUNESCAPE – Jagex/Jagex
POKÉMON GO – The Pokémon Company, Niantic/Nintendo
ROBLOX – Roblox Corporation/Roblox Corporation
14 March 2019: Nominations are correct at the time of going to print. BAFTA reserves the right to make changes to the names listed at any time up until 4 April 2019
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The highlights of today’s nominations are:
• 10 nominations for God of War, the action adventure game and the eighth instalment in the series.
• Six nominations each for Red Dead Redemption 2, Return of the Obra Dinn and Florence.
• Five nominations for Celeste, including Game Beyond Entertainment. The game’s narrative encourages players to overcome struggles, persevere and achieve their goals with compassion, and aims to bring a greater understanding of mental illness.
• Other nominations in Game Beyond Entertainment are 11-11: Memories Retold, Florence, Life is Strange 2, My Child Lebensborn and Nintendo Labo.
Voting opened on Tuesday 12 March for the EE Mobile Game of the Year, the only award voted for by the public. The shortlist is Brawl Stars, Clash Royale, Fortnite, Old School Runescape, Pokémon Go and Roblox. Vote now at ee.co.uk/BAFTAgames.
The ceremony, hosted by Dara O’Briain, takes place on Thursday 4 April at the Queen Elizabeth Hall on London’s Southbank and will be live streamed on all major social, online and gaming platforms: www.bafta.org/games/howtowatch
The British Academy Games Awards is part of the London Games Festival, which runs from 2 - 14 April covering 40 events across the capital. The London Games Festival is backed by the Mayor of London and delivered by Games London, an initiative from Film London, the capital’s screen industries agency, and video game trade boy Ukie (The Association for UK Interactive Entertainment) to make London the games capital of the world, creating £35m for local business.
The Awards are supported by BAFTA’s official games partners Activision Blizzard, Electronic Arts, PlayFusion, PlayStation, SEGA Europe Ltd., Tencent Games and Ubisoft Entertainment, with EE sponsoring the only award voted for by the public.
The Awards, including the nominations, are voted for by BAFTA’s global membership, comprising experienced games industry practitioners from a range of backgrounds in game development and production. To become a BAFTA member, visit membership.bafta.org.
BAFTA curates a year-round global programme of events and initiatives that support the games industry. This includes developer talks, showcases, debates, scholarships and networking, as well as the flagship Games Lecture by an inspirational practitioner.
BAFTA Young Game Designers gives young people and educators insights into the industry and access to the brightest creative minds in games. BAFTA Crew Games is a network that connects practitioners working in the UK games industry and provides participants with a skills development programme.
Nominations
14 March 2019
ARTISTIC ACHIEVEMENT
DETROIT: BECOME HUMAN Guillaume de Fondaumière, David Cage, John O’Brien – Quantic Dream/Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe
GRIS Development Team – Nomada Studio/Devolver Digital
GOD OF WAR Development Team – Santa Monica Studio/Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe
MARVEL’S SPIDER-MAN Development Team – Insomniac Games/Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe
RED DEAD REDEMPTION 2 Development Team – Rockstar Games/Rockstar Games
RETURN OF THE OBRA DINN Lucas Pope – Lucas Pope/3909
AUDIO ACHIEVEMENT
BATTLEFIELD V Development Team – EA Dice/Electronic Arts
DETROIT: BECOME HUMAN Guillaume de Fondaumière, David Cage, John O’Brien – Quantic Dream/Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe
GOD OF WAR Mike Niederquell, Todd Piperi, Leilani Ramirez – Santa Monica Studio/Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe
MARVEL’S SPIDER-MAN Paul Mudra, Phillip Kovats, Dwight Okahara – Insomniac Games/Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe
RED DEAD REDEMPTION 2 Development Team – Rockstar Games/Rockstar Games
TETRIS EFFECT Hydelic, Noboru Mutoh, Takako Ishida – Monstars Inc. and Resonair/Enhance, Inc.
BEST GAME
ASSASSIN’S CREED ODYSSEY Development Team – Ubisoft Quebec/Ubisoft
ASTRO BOT: RESCUE MISSION Development Team – SIE Japan Studio/Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe
CELESTE Development Team – Matt Makes Games Inc./Matt Makes Games Inc.
GOD OF WAR Cory Barlog, Yumi Yang, Shannon Studstill – Santa Monica Studio/Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe
RED DEAD REDEMPTION 2 Development Team – Rockstar Games/Rockstar Games
RETURN OF THE OBRA DINN Lucas Pope – Lucas Pope/3909
BRITISH GAME
11-11: MEMORIES RETOLD Dan Efergan, Bram Ttwheam, George Rowe - Digixart, Aardman & Bandai Namco Entertainment Europe/Bandai Namco Entertainment Europe
FORZA HORIZON 4 Development Team – Playground Games/Microsoft Studios
RED DEAD REDEMPTION 2 Development Team – Rockstar Games/Rockstar Games
THE ROOM: OLD SINS Development Team – Fireproof Games/ Fireproof Games
OVERCOOKED 2 Development Team – Ghost Town Games & Team 17/ Team 17
TWO POINT HOSPITAL Development Team – Two Point Studios/SEGA
DEBUT GAME
BEAT SABER Development Team – Beat Games/Beat Games
CULTIST SIMULATOR Alexis Kennedy, Lottie Bevan – Weather Factory/Humble Bundle
DONUT COUNTY Ben Esposito – Ben Espositio/Annapurna Interactive
FLORENCE Development Team – Mountains/Annapurna Interactive
GRIS Development Team – Nomada Studio/Devolver Digital
YOKU’S ISLAND EXPRESS Development Team – Villa Gorilla/Team 17
EVOLVING GAME
DESTINY 2: FORSAKEN Development Team – Bungie/Activision
ELITE DANGEROUS: BEYOND Development Team – Frontier/Frontier
FORTNITE Development Team – Epic Games/Epic Games
OVERWATCH Development Team – Blizzard Entertainment/Blizzard Entertainment
SEA OF THIEVES Development Team – Rare Ltd/Microsoft Studios
TOM CLANCY’S RAINBOW SIX SIEGE Development Team – Ubisoft Montreal/Ubisoft
FAMILY
LEGO DISNEY PIXAR’S THE INCREDIBLES Pete Gomer, Dan Crossley, Nicholas Ricks – TT Games/WB Games
NINTENDO LABO Development Team – Nintendo EPD/Nintendo
OVERCOOKED 2 Development Team – Ghost Town Games & Team17/Team17
POKÉMON: LET’S GO, PIKACHU! AND LET’S GO, EEVEE! Development Team – Game Freak/The Pokémon Company and Nintendo
SUPER MARIO PARTY Development Team – NDCube/Nintendo
YOKU’S ISLAND EXPRESS Development Team – Villa Gorilla/Team 17
GAME BEYOND ENTERTAINMENT
11-11: MEMORIES RETOLD Yoan Fanise, Dan Efergan, Lionel Lovisa - Digixart, Aardman & Bandai Namco Entertainment Europe/Bandai Namco Entertainment
CELESTE Development Team – Matt Makes Games Inc./Matt Makes Games Inc.
FLORENCE Development Team – Mountains/Annapurna Interactive
LIFE IS STRANGE 2 Michel Koch, Raoul Barbet - DONTNOD Entertainment/Square Enix
MY CHILD LEBENSBORN Development Team - Sarepta Studio AS/Teknopilot AS, Sarepta Studio AS
NINTENDO LABO Development Team – Nintendo EPD/Nintendo
GAME DESIGN
ASTRO BOT: RESCUE MISSION Development Team – SIE Japan Studio/Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe
CELESTE Development Team – Matt Makes Games Inc./Matt Makes Games Inc.
GOD OF WAR Development Team - Santa Monica Studio/Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe
INTO THE BREACH Justin Ma, Matthew Davis – Subset Games/Subset Games
MINIT Development Team - JW, Kitty, Jukio, and Dom/Devolver Digital
RETURN OF THE OBRA DINN Lucas Pope – Lucas Pope/3909
GAME INNOVATION
ASTRO BOT: RESCUE MISSION Development Team – SIE Japan Studio/Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe
CELESTE Development Team – Matt Makes Games Inc./Matt Makes Games Inc.
CULTIST SIMULATOR Alexis Kennedy, Lottie Bevan – Weather Factory/Humble Bundle
MOSS Development Team – Polyarc/Polyarc
NINTENDO LABO Development Team – Nintendo EPD/Nintendo
RETURN OF THE OBRA DINN Lucas Pope – Lucas Pope/3909
MOBILE GAME
ALTO’S ODYSSEY Development Team – Team Alto/Snowman
BRAWL STARS Development Team – Supercell/Supercell
DONUT COUNTY Ben Esposito – Ben Esposito/Annapurna Interactive
FLORENCE Development Team – Mountains/Annapurna Interactive
REIGNS: GAME OF THRONES François Alliot, Tamara Alliot, Arnaud De Bock – Nerial/Devolver Digital
THE ROOM: OLD SINS Development Team – Fireproof Games/Fireproof Games
MULTIPLAYER
A WAY OUT Development Team – Hazelight/EA Originals
BATTLEFIELD V Development Team – EA DICE/Electronic Arts
OVERCOOKED 2 Development Team – Ghost Town Games & Team 17/Team 17
SEA OF THIEVES Development Team – Rare Ltd/Microsoft Studios
SUPER MARIO PARTY Development Team – NDCube/Nintendo
SUPER SMASH BROS. ULTIMATE Development Team – Nintendo, Bandai Namco Studios and Sora Ltd/Nintendo
MUSIC
CELESTE Lena Raine – Matt Makes Games Inc./Matt Makes Games Inc.
FAR CRY 5 Development Team – Ubisoft Montreal/Ubisoft
FLORENCE Development Team – Mountains/Annapurna Interactive
GOD OF WAR Bear McCreary, Keith Leary, Peter Scaturro - Santa Monica Studio/Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe
GRIS Development Team – Nomada Studios/Devolver Digitial
TETRIS EFFECT Hydelic, Noboru Mutoh, Takako Ishida – Monstars Inc. and Resonair/Enhance, Inc.
NARRATIVE
FLORENCE Writing Team – Mountains/Annapurna Interactive
FROSTPUNK Writing Team – 11 Bit Studios/11 Bit Studios
GOD OF WAR Cory Barlog, Matt Sophos, Richard Zangrande Gaubert – Santa Monica Studio/Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe
MARVEL’S SPIDER-MAN Writing Team - Insomniac Games/Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe
RED DEAD REDEMPTION 2 Dan Houser, Rupert Humphries, Michael Unsworth - Rockstar Games/Rockstar Games
RETURN OF THE OBRA DINN Lucas Pope – Lucas Pope/3909
ORIGINAL PROPERTY
DEAD CELLS Development Team – Motion Twin/Motion Twin
FLORENCE Development Team – Mountains/Annapurna Interactive
INTO THE BREACH Development Team – Subset Games/Subset Games
MOSS Development Team – Polyarc/Polyarc
RETURN OF THE OBRA DINN Lucas Pope – Lucas Pope/3909
SUBNAUTICA Development Team – Unknown Worlds Entertainment/Unknown Worlds Entertainment
PERFORMER
CHRISTOPHER JUDGE as Kratos in God of War
DANIELLE BISUTTI as Freya in God of War
JEREMY DAVIES as The Stranger in God of War
MELISSANTHI MAHUT as Kassandra of Sparta in Assassin’s Creed Odyssey
ROGER CLARK as Arthur Morgan in Red Dead Redemption 2
SUNNY SULJIC as Atreus in God of War
EE MOBILE GAME OF THE YEAR (voted for by the public)
BRAWL STARS – Supercell/Supercell
CLASH ROYALE – Supercell/Supercell
FORTNITE - Epic Games/Epic Games
OLD SCHOOL RUNESCAPE – Jagex/Jagex
POKÉMON GO – The Pokémon Company, Niantic/Nintendo
ROBLOX – Roblox Corporation/Roblox Corporation
14 March 2019: Nominations are correct at the time of going to print. BAFTA reserves the right to make changes to the names listed at any time up until 4 April 2019
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gamezplay on Twitter - https://twitter.com/gamezplayorg
gamezplay on YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/user/gameboyuk