It might be March, but award season is not over yet. The British Academy of Film and Television Arts has announced the nominees for its 2023 BAFTA Games Awards.
Leading the pack are God of War Ragnarok and Stray, each with nine nominations including Best Game, Best Animation, and Best Narrative. However, God of War also boasts an impressive number of cast member nominations, with six of its performers nominated across two categories. This makes God of War the most-nominated game since the BAFTA Games Awards first began in 2004.
GameSpot’s own 2022 Game of the Year, Elden Ring, trails only slightly behind, with eight nominations across the award show’s 18 categories. Other notable nominees are Horizon Forbidden West, Tunic, Vampire Survivors, and A Plague Tale: Requiem, each with five nominations, and the psychological thriller Immortality with four.
The BAFTA Games Awards will take place Thursday, March 30 live at the Southbank Centre’s Queen Elizabeth Hall, and will be livestreamed exclusively on BAFTA’s Twitch channel starting at 9:50 AM PT /12:50 PM ET. Games and esports host Frankie Ward is slated to host the awards ceremony, with various Twitch streamers offering commentary on the official BAFTA Twitch channel.
In an exclusive interview with GameSpot, BAFTA CEO Jane Millichip and Chair of the Games Committee, Tara Saunders, stated this year’s awards are the results of a group of more than 1,000 BAFTA jurors and industry experts splitting into smaller panels to create a shortlist of which games made the biggest impact in 2022. These lists were then deliberated upon further until they narrowed it down to six nominees for each category. They also shared that this year’s jury is the most diverse yet, with over 40% of the jurors being women and over 30% coming from diverse backgrounds. Millichip stated the organization plans to only grow more inclusive, with its goal to grow these numbers even more by 2025.
“It’s fantastic to see such a broad and diverse range of games celebrated in this year’s BAFTA Games Awards nominations–with indie titles, mobile games and triple-A blockbusters all represented and competing across multiple categories,” Saunders said in a press release published earlier today. “I firmly believe that all these nominees represent the very best in their craft and, whether deep and meaningful or just good honest fun, show us just how essential games are in our lives, culture and society.”
Below is a list of all the nominees:
Animation
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II
- God of War Ragnarok
- Horizon Forbidden West
- Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga
- Sifu
- Stray
Artistic Achievement
- A Plague Tale: Requiem
- Elden Ring
- God of War Ragnarok
- Immortality
- Pentiment
- Tunic
Audio Achievement
- A Plague Tale: Requiem
- God of War Ragnarok
- Horizon Forbidden West
- Metal: Hellsinger
- Stray
- Tunic
Best Game
- Cult of the Lamb
- Elden Ring
- God of War Ragnarok
- Marvel Snap
- Stray
- Vampire Survivors
British Game
- Citizen Sleeper
- OlliOlli World
- Rollerdrome
- Total War: Warhammer III
- Two Point Campus
- Vampire Survivors
Debut Game
- As Dusk Falls
- The Case of the Golden Idol
- Stray
- Trombone Champ
- Tunic
- Vampire Survivors
Evolving Game
- Apex Legends
- Dreams
- The Elder Scrolls Online
- Final Fantasy XIV
- Forza Horizon 5
- No Man’s Sky
Family
- Disney Dreamlight Valley
- Kirby and the Forgotten Land
- Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga
- Mario + Rabbids: Spark of Hope
- Nintendo Switch Sports
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge
Game Beyond Entertainment
- Citizen Sleeper
- Endling – Extinction is Forever
- Gibbon: Beyond the Trees
- I Was a Teenage Exocolonist
- Not For Broadcast
- We’ll Always Have Paris
Game Design
- Cult of the Lamb
- Elden Ring
- God of War Ragnarok
- Horizon Forbidden West
- Tunic
- Vampire Survivors
Multiplayer
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II
- FIFA 23
- Elden Ring
- Overwatch 2
- Splatoon 3
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge
Music
- A Plague Tale: Requiem
- Cuphead: The Delicious Last Course
- Elden Ring
- God of War Ragnarok
- Stray
- Tunic
Narrative
- A Plague Tale: Requiem
- Citizen Sleeper
- God of War Ragnarok
- Immortality
- Pentiment
- Stray
Original Property
- Citizen Sleeper
- Cult of the Lamb
- Elden Ring
- Sifu
- Stray
- Vampire Survivors
Performer in a Leading Role
- Alain Mesa as Alejandro Vargas in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II
- Charlotte McBurney as Amicia in A Plague Tale: Requiem
- Christopher Judge as Kratos in God of War Ragnarok
- Manon Gage as Marissa Marcel in Immortality
- Siobhan Williams as Laura in The Quarry
- Sunny Suljic as Atreus in God of War Ragnarok
Performer in a Supporting Role
- Adam J. Harrington as Sindri in God of War Ragnarok
- Alison Jaye as Alva in Horizon Forbidden West
- Charlotta Mohlin as The One in Immortality
- Danielle Bisutti as Freya in God of War Ragnarok
- Layla Deleon Hayes as Angrboda in God of War Ragnarok
- Ryan Hurst as Thor in God of War Ragnarok
Technical Achievement
- Elden Ring
- God of War Ragnarok
- Horizon Forbidden West
- Immortality
- The Last of Us Part I
- Stray
EE Game of the Year
- Elden Ring
- God of War Ragnarok
- Horizon Forbidden West
- Immortality
- Marvel Snap
- Stray
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