BAFTA’s 20th Games Awards feature a variety of nominees

The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) has released the list of nominees for its 20th Game Awards in 2024. The list features several familiar games from other awards events — Baldur’s Gate 3 leads the list with ten nominations, followed by Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 with nine and Alan Wake 2 with eight. The announcement follows BAFTA’s release last year of a longlist of potential nominees. The Awards event airs live on April 11.

Tara Saunders, chair of the BAFTA Games board of trustees, spoke with GamesBeat about the nominations and what makes the 2023 slate special. “It’s become much more centered around the craft of games and honoring the skilled talent, and it’s likely this year will go down in history as one of the best years for new video game releases.” Saunders added that BAFTA wants to bring creators together to celebrate the achievements of the year. “Boy do they deserve it this year,” she added.

Saunders noted that some of the award categories lend themselves to a wide variety of stories and characters — the Games Beyond Entertainment award in particular. “What it did was to help showcase the breadth of games and that games can be serious and tell very difficult stories or give personal journeys. I think that category in itself resonates with the younger generation through the themes it raises. I think it represents some diverse and personal stories and that you can make games out of serious subjects.”

Emma Baehr, BAFTA’s executive director of awards and content, said that there have been some changes to the awards this year. “We wanted more informed voting, so we opened the entry process earlier. That meant there was more access and opportunity to play a wider range of games. We also published a longlist, which I think has effectively demonstrated the breadth of games.” She added that this is part of BAFTA’s mission. “We want to bring attention to creativity and cultural influence in games … by publishing the longlist, we’ve encouraged more people to see a wider variety and discover games they may not have come across themselves.”

BAFTA Game Awards 2024 Complete List of Nominees

Animation:

• ALAN WAKE 2 Development Team – Remedy Entertainment Plc./Epic Games
• HI-FI RUSH Development Team – Tango Gameworks/Bethesda Softworks
• HOGWARTS LEGACY Development Team – Avalanche Software/Warner Bros. Games
• MARVEL’S SPIDER-MAN 2 Development Team – Insomniac Games/Sony Interactive Entertainment
• STAR WARS JEDI: SURVIVOR Nathan Dunlap, David Nam, Thomas Cannell – Respawn Entertainment/Electronic Arts
• SUPER MARIO BROS. WONDER Development Team – Nintendo EPD/Nintendo

Artistic Achievement:

• ALAN WAKE 2 Development Team – Remedy Entertainment Plc./Epic Games
• BALDUR’S GATE 3 Development Team – Larian Studio/Larian Studio
• COCOON Development Team – Geometric Interactive/Annapurna Interactive
• DIABLO IV Development Team – Blizzard Entertainment/Blizzard Entertainment
• FINAL FANTASY XVI Hiroshi Minagawa, Kazuya Takahashi, Naoki Kurihara – SQUARE ENIX – Creative Business Unit III/SQUARE ENIX
• HI-FI RUSH Development Team – Tango Gameworks/Bethesda Softworks

Audio Achievement:

• ALAN WAKE 2 Development Team – Remedy Entertainment Plc./Epic Games
• CALL OF DUTY: MODERN WARFARE III Development Team – Sledgehammer Games/Activision
• HI-FI RUSH Development Team – Tango Gameworks/Bethesda Softworks
• THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: TEARS OF THE KINGDOM Development Team – Nintendo EPD/Nintendo
• MARVEL’S SPIDER-MAN 2 Development Team – Insomniac Games/Sony Interactive Entertainment
• STAR WARS JEDI: SURVIVOR Development Team – Respawn Entertainment/Electronic Art

Best Game:

• ALAN WAKE 2 Development Team – Remedy Entertainment Plc./Epic Games
• BALDUR’S GATE 3 Development Team – Larian Studio/Larian Studio
• DAVE THE DIVER Development Team – MINTROCKET/MINTROCKET
• THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: TEARS OF THE KINGDOM Development Team – Nintendo EPD/Nintendo
• MARVEL’S SPIDER-MAN 2 Development Team – Insomniac Games/Sony Interactive Entertainment
• SUPER MARIO BROS. WONDER Development Team – Nintendo EPD/Nintendo

British Game:

• CASSETTE BEASTS Development Team – Bytten Studio/Raw Fury
• DEAD ISLAND 2 Development Team – Dambuster Studios/PLAION
• DISNEY ILLUSION ISLAND Development Team – Dlala Studios/Disney
• FOOTBALL MANAGER 2024 Development Team – Sports Interactive/SEGA Europe
• VIEWFINDER Development Team – Sad Owl Studios/Thunderful Publishing
• WARHAMMER AGE OF SIGMAR: REALMS OF RUIN Development Team – Frontier Developments/Frontier Developments

Debut Game:

• COCOON Development Team – Geometric Interactive/Annapurna Interactive
• DAVE THE DIVER Development Team – MINTROCKET/MINTROCKET
• DREDGE Development Team – Black Salt Games/Team17 Digital
• STRAY GODS: THE ROLEPLAYING MUSICAL Development Team – Summerfall Studios/Humble Games
• VENBA Abhijeeth Swaminathan, Sam Elkana, Shahrin Khan – Visai Games/Visai Games
• VIEWFINDER Development Team – Sad Owl Studios/Thunderful Publishing

Evolving Game:

• CYBERPUNK 2077 Development Team – CD PROJEKT RED/CD PROJEKT RED
• FINAL FANTASY XIV ONLINE Development Team – Creative Business Unit III/Square Enix
• FORTNITE Development Team – Epic Games/Epic Games
• FORZA HORIZON 5 Development Team – Playground Games/Xbox Game Studios
• GENSHIN IMPACT Development Team – HoYoverse/HoYoverse
• NO MAN’S SKY Development Team – Hello Games/Hello Games

Family:

• COCOON Development Team – Geometric Interactive/Annapurna Interactive
• DAVE THE DIVER Development Team – MINTROCKET/MINTROCKET
• DISNEY ILLUSION ISLAND Development Team – Dlala Studios/Disney
• HI-FI RUSH Development Team – Tango Gameworks/Bethesda Softworks
• HOGWARTS LEGACY Development Team – Avalanche Software/Warner Bros. Games
• SUPER MARIO BROS. WONDER Development Team – Nintendo EPD/Nintendo

Game Beyond Entertainment:

• CHANTS OF SENNAAR Julien Moya, Thomas Panuel – Rundisc/Focus Entertainment
• GOODBYE VOLCANO HIGH Development Team – KOOP
• TCHIA Phil Crifo, Marilou Lopez-Aguilera, Thoanë Thomadra – Awaceb/Kepler Interactive
• TERRA NIL Development Team – Free Lives/Devolver Digital
• THIRSTY SUITORS Development Team – Outerloop Games/Annapurna Interactive
• VENBA Abhijeeth Swaminathan, Sam Elkana, Shahrin Khan – Visai Games/Visai Games

Game Design:

• COCOON Development Team – Geometric Interactive/Annapurna Interactive
• DAVE THE DIVER Development Team – MINTROCKET/MINTROCKET
• DREDGE Joel Mason, Alex Ritchie, Nadia Thorn – Black Salt Games/Team17 Digital
• THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: TEARS OF THE KINGDOM Development Team – Nintendo EPD/Nintendo
• MARVEL’S SPIDER-MAN 2 Development Team – Insomniac Games/Sony Interactive Entertainment
• VIEWFINDER Development Team – Sad Owl Studios/Thunderful Publishing

Multiplayer:

• BALDUR’S GATE 3 Development Team – Larian Studio/Larian Studio
• CALL OF DUTY: MODERN WARFARE III Development Team – Sledgehammer Games/Activision
• DIABLO IV Development Team – Blizzard Entertainment/Blizzard Entertainment
• FORZA MOTORSPORT Development Team – Turn 10 Studios/Xbox Game Studios
• PARTY ANIMALS Development Team – Recreate Games/Source Technology
• SUPER MARIO BROS. WONDER Development Team – Nintendo EPD/Nintendo

Music:

• ALAN WAKE 2 Development Team – Remedy Entertainment Plc./Epic Games
• ASSASSIN’S CREED MIRAGE Development Team – Ubisoft/Ubisoft
• BALDUR’S GATE 3 Borislav Slavov – Larian Studio/Larian Studio
• THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: TEARS OF THE KINGDOM Development Team – Nintendo EPD/Nintendo
• MARVEL’S SPIDER-MAN 2 John Paesano, Scott Hanau, Keith Leary – Insomniac Games/Sony Interactive Entertainment
• STAR WARS JEDI: SURVIVOR Gordy Haab, Stephen Barton – Respawn Entertainment/Electronic Arts

Narrative:

• ALAN WAKE 2 Development Team – Remedy Entertainment Plc./Epic Games
• BALDUR’S GATE 3 Development Team – Larian Studio/Larian Studio
• DREDGE Joel Mason, Alex Ritchie, Nadia Thorne – Black Salt Games/Team17 Digital
• FINAL FANTASY XVI Kazutoyo Maehiro, Michael-Christopher Koji Fox – SQUARE ENIX – Creative Business Unit III/SQUARE ENIX
• THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: TEARS OF THE KINGDOM Development Team – Nintendo EPD/Nintendo
• STAR WARS JEDI: SURVIVOR Stig Asmussen, Aaron Contreras, Dori Arazi – Respawn Entertainment/Electronic Arts

New Intellectual Property:

• CHANTS OF SENNAAR Julien Moya, Thomas Panuel – Rundisc/Focus Entertainment
• DAVE THE DIVER Development Team – MINTROCKET/MINTROCKET
• DREDGE Development Team – Black Salt Games/Team17 Digital
• HI-FI RUSH Development Team – Tango Gameworks/Bethesda Softworks
• JUSANT Development Team – DON’T NOD/DON’T NOD
• VIEWFINDER Development Team – Sad Owl Studios/Thunderful Publishing

Performer in a Leading Role:

• AMELIA TYLER as Narrator in Baldur’s Gate 3
• CAMERON MONAGHAN as Cal Kestis in Star Wars Jedi: Survivor
• NADJI JETER as Miles Morales in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2
• NEIL NEWBON as Astarion in Baldur’s Gate 3
• SAMANTHA Béart as Karlach in Baldur’s Gate 3
• YURI LOWENTHAL as Peter Parker in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2

Performer in a Supporting Role:

• ANDREW WINCOTT as Raphael in Baldur’s Gate 3
• DEBRA WILSON as Cere Junda in Star Wars Jedi: Survivor
• RALPH INESON as Cidolfus “Cid” Telamon in Final Fantasy XVI
• SAM LAKE as Alex Casey in Alan Wake 2
• TONY TODD as Venom in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2
• TRACY WILES as Jaheira in Baldur’s Gate 3

Technical Achievement:

• ALAN WAKE 2 Development Team – Remedy Entertainment Plc./Epic Games
• FINAL FANTASY XVI Ryota Suzuki, Yasuhiro Yanamoto, Kei Honda – SQUARE ENIX – Creative Business Unit III/SQUARE ENIX
• HORIZON CALL OF THE MOUNTAIN Development Team – Guerrilla and Firesprite/Sony Interactive Entertainment
• THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: TEARS OF THE KINGDOM Development Team – Nintendo EPD/Nintendo
• MARVEL’S SPIDER-MAN 2 Development Team – Insomniac Games/Sony Interactive Entertainment
• STARFIELD Development Team – Bethesda Game Studios/Bethesda Softworks

EE Players’ Choice:

• BALDUR’S GATE 3 Larian Studio/Larian Studio
• CYBERPUNK 2077 CD PROJEKT RED/CD PROJEKT RED
• FORTNITE Epic Games/Epic Games
• THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: TEARS OF THE KINGDOM Nintendo EPD/Nintendo
• LETHAL COMPANY Zeekerss/Zeekerss
• MARVEL’S SPIDER-MAN 2 Insomniac Games/Sony Interactive Entertainment