Nominees have been announced for the 2019 British Academy Games Awards, 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 U.K. and international development teams. The Awards, hosted by comedian and TV personality Dara O’Brien, will be held Thursday, April 4 as part of the London Games Festival (April 2-14) and live-streamed on social, online and gaming platforms.
Leading the pack is action-adventure game God of War — the franchise’s eighth installment scored 10 nominations. Red Dead Redemption 2, Return of the Obra Dinn and Florence all received 6. Celeste, which explores the struggles faced by people with mental illness, was given five nominations including in the Game Beyond Entertainment category — the other nominees being 11-11: Memories Retold, Florence, Life Is Strange 2, My Child Lebensborn and Nintendo Labo.
Voting opened on Tuesday, March 12 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 British Academy Game 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 Mobile Game award.
View the full list of nominees here.
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
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
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
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
