Bafta Games Awards 2019: Why this is gaming's most prestigious ceremony
It may not get the mainstream attention of its TV and film cousins, nor is its ceremony as lavish or star-studded. But for the winners and attendees of the Bafta Game Awards, it can be the most prestigious night of the year.
Tonight, developers and video game luminaries will be jetting in from around the world to celebrate the artistic achievements of the industry from the last 12 months. By the end of the evening, several will be walking away with one of the famous golden masks. No, the ceremony might not be as lavish but for the winners, the award carries the same weight.
It isn’t that the games industry is short on award ceremonies. From the Developer's Choice and Independent Game Festival awards at GDC, to the UK’s long-running Golden Joysticks, to the eye-wateringly corporate Game Awards, there are plenty of chances for developers and performers to pick up gongs for their work. But the Bafta Game Awards are arguably the most prestigious.
Most simply it is down to that association with the British Academy for Television and the Arts. There are no Oscars of the game industry as such, but Bafta is an organisation that seeks to place games alongside its screen cousins. As they should be.
Since the first Bafta Game Awards in 2003, the Academy has wrestled with the right way to do so. The goal is not to emulate the film and TV awards, but play to gaming’s strengths. This is why the awards on offer have often been in flux, regularly changing or having new categories added to best reflect gaming’s myriad disciplines.
The list of awards on offer tonight are a far cry from that original list that gave out gongs for the best game on each platform. Now they celebrate achievements in artistry and audio, innovation and games that go, according to the category, ‘beyond entertainment’. There are gongs for actors that star in the biggest narrative games and Bafta has regularly seen fit to award Academy Fellowships to luminaries such as Mario maker Shigeru Miyamoto, legendary programmer John Carmack and Rockstar Games.
It isn’t always a perfect formula (though what awards show is?), but the rigorous process that goes into deciding each category ensures there is a diversity of winners and the odd shock. First the Bafta committee decides what categories will be contested, then publishers and developers can submit their game to a long list before it is whittled down to shortlists by Bafta members with a preference for games.
Then each shortlist is taken to a jury selected from across the industry --developers, critics and more-- which will debate the merits of the shortlists before anonymously voting on a nominee list and eventual winner. Having been part of juries in the past, I can attest to the knowledgeable and often fierce debate that comes from judges chosen from a wide background. However much you may disagree with an award’s eventual victor, there is no decision taken lightly in the process.
It is this kind of setup that can lead to games like What Remains of Edith Finch, last year’s Best Game winner, triumphing against overwhelming favourite The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. It is why blockbusters God of War and Red Dead Redemption 2 --the two games most likely to compete for the biggest prize this year-- will be looking over their broad shoulders at indie darlings Celeste and Return of the Obra Dinn.
Awards are never the end goal for developer and performers and Bafta Game Awards will have as many foibles and complaints as the next. But it is a night that strives to bring together the industry’s greatest talent and celebrate the artistic achievement of games. A facet that can often feel neglected in the face of the mainstream’s obsession with the industry’s numerous controversies and record breaking revenues. It is a night to remember the creativity and talent that goes into creating a game that people love, be it the biggest blockbusters or most perfectly crafted independent work. And Bafta celebrates that better than most.
This will be the 15th Bafta Game Awards and will see the return of regular host Dara O'Briain. The awards ceremony takes place at London's Queen Elizabeth Hall from 7pm on 4 April. It will be streamed live on several online platforms including Twitch, YouTube and social media.
Bafta Game Awards 2019 nominations
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 WARCory 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
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.
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, you can cast your vote here)
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
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