The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) is well known for giving awards to movies, but the academy also gives awards to the best video games of the previous year in an annual ceremony.
And this year’s BAFTA Game Awards takes places on April 7 in London, and will honour top video games like The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt and Her Story, which have both been nominated for 7 awards, while the original and atmospheric adventure game Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture has garnered the most nominations, and is up for 9 awards. So without further ado, here follow the nominees for the 2016 BAFTA Game Awards.
Best Game
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (CD Projekt RED)
Heavyweights Fallout 4 and The Witcher 3 are no doubt the top contenders in this category, and of course Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture, which has garnered the most nominations. But perhaps the original episodic adventure game Life is Strange or the soccer and racing hybrid Rocket League might surprise gamers and scoop the Best Game Award this year…
Nominees:
- Life Is Strange
- Fallout 4
- The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
- Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture
- Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain
- Rocket League
British Game
Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture (The Chinese Room, SCE Santa Monica Studio)
Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture is a beautiful-looking and atmospheric adventure game and no doubt a strong contender to win this category, although indie sensation Her Story with its novel approach to storytelling shouldn’t be dismissed either.
Nominees:
- Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture
- Batman: Arkham Knight
- Prison Architect
- Tearaway Unfolded
- Until Dawn
- Her Story
Game Design
Bloodborne (FromSoftware)
Bloodborne’s challenging gameplay and clever map design will square off against The Witcher 3’s open world greatness in this category, although Her Story’s clever crime investigation story and Rocket League’s original concept also make those games top contenders for the award.
Nominees:
- Bloodborne
- The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
- Her Story
- Grow Home
- Rocket League
- Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime
Music
Fallout 4 (Bethesda Game Studios)
Composer Inon Zur’s superb score for Bethesda’s Fallout 4 is no doubt the top contender in this category, although other nominees like Assassin’s Creed Syndicate and Ori and the Blind Forest also had superb musical scores.
Nominees:
- Batman: Arkham Knight
- Assassin’s Creed Syndicate
- Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture
- Ori and the Blind Forest
- Fallout 4
- Halo 5: Guardians
Performer
Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture (The Chinese Room, SCE Santa Monica Studio)
There is no doubt that British game Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture had pretty strong voice acting, so the fact that two of that game’s voice actors were nominated in this category makes a lot of sense. But will Star Wars’ Mark Hamill bag the BAFTA Performer Award after it eluded him last year at the Game Awards or will Doug Cockle (aka Geralt of Rivia) go home with the award instead?
Nominees:
- Merle Dandridge (Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture)
- Oliver Dimsdale (Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture)
- Ashly Burch (Life Is Strange)
- Mark Hamill (Batman: Arkham Knight)
- Masasa Moyo (Broken Age)
- Doug Cockle (The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt)
Story
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (CD Projekt RED)
There is no doubt that The Witcher 3 is the game to beat in this category, as it had superb quests that dealt with mature themes, although it is up against some pretty strong competition in story-focused titles like Sam Barlow’s Her Story and the PS4’s surprise horror hit Until Dawn.
Nominees:
- Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture
- Life Is Strange
- Until Dawn
- Undertale
- Her Story
- The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
Multiplayer
Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime (Asteroid Base)
It is clear that The Taken King expansion for Destiny not only added to the game’s story but beefed up the multiplayer side of things, adding new Strike missions and maps, making Destiny a top contender for the multiplayer award no doubt. But the original space game Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime had some superb co-op and shouldn’t be overlooked, and neither should Nintendo’s original paint shooter Splatoon.
Nominees:
- Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime
- Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege
- Destiny: The Taken King
- World of Warships
- Rocket League
- Splatoon
Game Innovation
Her Story (Sam Barlow)
In an age of derivative video games, true innovation is hard to come by, and games like Life is Strange with its time-rewinding mechanic and Her Story with its clever detective plot are truly innovative titles in this category. Although Nintendo’s cool approach to the third-person multiplayer shooter with Splatoon make that game a worthy contender too.
Nominees:
- Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture
- Her Story
- Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain
- Life Is Strange
- Until Dawn
- Splatoon
Mobile & Handheld
Fallout Shelter (Bethesda Game Studios)
Fallout Shelter was an unexpected hit for American publisher Bethesda and also a great mobile game in its own right, and there’s no doubt that both it and Lara Croft Go are this category’s heavyweight titles. But perhaps The Room Three, with its great atmosphere and smart puzzles shouldn’t be overlooked either.
Nominees:
- Prune
- Fallout Shelter
- Alphabear
- Lara Croft Go
- Her Story
- The Room Three
The nominees for the remaining categories are the following:
Debut Game
- Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes
- Her Story
- Prune
- Ori and the Blind Forest
- Mini Metro
- Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime
Artistic Achievement
- Assassin’s Creed Syndicate
- Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain
- Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture
- Ori and the Blind Forest
- Batman: Arkham Knight
- The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
Persistent Game
- Destiny: The Taken King
- Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn
- Guitar Hero: Live
- Prison Architect
- The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
- LEGO Dimensions
Audio Achievement
- Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture
- Batman: Arkham Knight
- Assassin’s Creed Syndicate
- Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain
- Star Wars Battlefront
- The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
Original Property
- Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture
- Ori and the Blind Forest
- Life Is Strange
- Splatoon
- Her Story
- Until Dawn
Family and Social Game
- Disney Infinity 3.0
- Guitar Hero Live
- Super Mario Maker
- Rocket League
- FIFA 16
- Lego Dimensions
Sport
- Dirt Rally
- Football Manager 2016
- FIFA 16
- Rocket League
- Pro Evolution Soccer 2016
- Forza Motorsport 6
Ones to Watch Award
- SUNDOWN (Steven Li, Aaron Hong, Mclean Goldwhite, Theodore Park, Kenny Regan, Cynthia Cantrell, Gracie May, Jade Kim)
- The Wall Shall Stand (Edward Burton, Edward Grimes, Cameron Richards, Steven Sparkes)
- Selfienation (Zoltan Tompa, Reka Lux, Hajnalka Szanto, Ricardo Barros, Daniel Prihodko)
AMD eSports Audience Award
- Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
- Dota 2
- Call of Duty: Black Ops III
- SMITE
- Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft
- League of Legends