At last year’s Bafta Game Awards, the developer of Her Story, Sam Barlow, famously so struggled with his three awards that he carried them around in a champagne bucket. This year, indie developer Playdead went one better by winning four for their dystopian puzzle platformer Inside: artistic achievement, game design, narrative, and original property.
After their previous game, Limbo, won none from four in 2011, the team at Playdead were delighted to take home so many this year: “We kind of expected to continue the clean slate, so we’re very happy.”
Inside just missed out on the award for best game which went to Uncharted 4, continuing a tradition of big-budget titles walking away with the top prize (Fallout 4 in 2016 and Destiny in 2015). It was the second best game win in five years for Uncharted 4’s developer Naughty Dog after The Last of Us won in 2013. On stage, Naughty Dog director of communications Arne Meyer thanked the cast of voice actors including Nolan North (Nathan Drake), Emily Rose (Elena Fisher), and Troy Baker (Sam Drake) – but none of them took home the award for Best Performer.
That honour went to Cissy Jones, the voice of Delilah in Firewatch, which also won the award for debut game. Jones appeared to fight back tears as she thanked Bafta for “recognising everything that goes into the video game industry”. After the ceremony she was still in shock: “I can’t even. I feel like I’m in a waking dream.”
“Bafta raises the bar,” she said. “I mean, look at this event. There is nothing like this anywhere. I mean, getting game devs in tuxes, come on guys. They make it something that is not only mainstream but it’s acceptable. Everyone wants to be a nerd now, it’s great.”
The team behind autobiographical game That Dragon, Cancer, which won the award for game innovation, also praised Bafta for accepting video games. Composer Jon Hillman referred to the speech given by Brenda Romero, who accepted the special award: “It’s the most prestigious award ceremony there is in games. Brenda was just saying that it made games art. They’ve accepted it as art. I think that’s what they’re doing. They’re elevating games to that level,” he said.
Writer Amy Green said after the win: “We’d love to see more stories made by people who are just desperate to tell people what it’s like to be them in this world.”
The award for British game went to Overcooked, which also won the family category, apparently to the surprise of the developers, who admitted to not having prepared a speech in either case. Perhaps they thought British game would go instead to the more artsy Virginia, which ended up with just one award for music. The audience cheered as composer Lyndon Holland shyly thanked his mum and dad.
Other winners included The Last Guardian for audio achievement, Rocket League for evolving game, Overwatch for multiplayer, and last summer’s huge success Pokémon Go for mobile.Bafta games awards results in full
SPECIAL AWARD
Brenda Romero
ARTISTIC ACHIEVEMENT
Abzû development team – Giant Squid/505 Games
Dishonored 2 development team - Arkane Studios/Bethesda Softworks
WINNER: Inside development team – Playdead/Playdead
The Last Guardian development team – SIE Japan Studio, genDesign/Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe
Uncharted 4 development team – Naughty Dog LLC/Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe
Unravel development team – Coldwood Interactive/Electronic Arts
AUDIO ACHIEVEMENT
Battlefield 1 development team – DICE/Electronic Arts
Doom development team – id Software/Bethesda Softworks
Inside Martin Stig Andersen – Playdead/Playdead
WINNER: The Last Guardian development team – SIE Japan Studio, genDesign/Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe
Rez Infinite Tetsuya Mizuguchi, Takako Ishida, Noboru Mutoh – Enhance Games, Monstars Inc., Resonair/Enhance Games
Uncharted 4 development team – Naughty Dog LLC/Sony Interactive Entertainment Europs
BEST GAME
Firewatch development team – Campo Santo Productions/Camp Santo Productions, Panic Inc.
Inside development team – Playdead/Playdead
Overwatch development team – Blizzard Entertainment/Blizzard Entertainment
Stardew Valley Eric Barone – ConcernedApe/Chucklefish
Titanfall 2 development team – Respawn Entertainment/Electronic Arts
WINNER: Uncharted 4 development team – Naughty Dog LLC/Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe
BRITISH GAME
Batman: Arkham development team – Rocksteady Studios/WB Games
Forza Horizon 3 development team – Playground Games/Microsoft Studios
No Man’s Sky development team – Hello Games/Hello Games, Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe
WINNER: Overcooked development team – Ghost Town Games/Team17 Digital Ltd
Planet Coaster development team – Frontier Developments/Frontier Developments
Virginia development team – Variable State/505 Games
DEBUT GAME
WINNER: Firewatch development team – Campo Santo Productions/Campo Santo Productions, Panic Inc.
Overcooked development team – Ghost Town Games/Team17 Digital inc.
Oxenfree development team – Night School Studio/Night School Studio
That Dragon, Cancer development team – Numinous Games/Numinous Games
The Witness development team – Thekla, Inc./Thekla, Inc.
Virginia development team – Variable State/505 Games
EVOLVING GAME
Destiny: Rise of Iron development team – Bungie/Activision
Elite Dangerous: Horizons development team – Frontier Developments/Frontier Developments
Eve Online development team – CCP Games/CCP Games
Final Fantasy XIV: Online development team – Square Enix/Square Enix
Hitman development team – IO Interactive/Square Enix
WINNER: Rocket League Dave Hagewood, Jeremy Dunham, Corey Davis – Psyonix/Psyonix
FAMILY
Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens Mike Taylor, Jamie Eden, James Norton – TT Games/WB Games
WINNER: Overcooked development team – Ghost Town Games/Team17 Digital Ltd
The Playroom VR development team – SIE Japan Studio, Team ASOBI!/Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe
Pokémon Go development team – Niantic Inc./Niantic Inc.
Ratchet & Clank development team – Insomniac Games/Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe
Toca Hair Salon development team – Toca Boca/Toca Boca
GAME DESIGN
Battlfield 1 development team – DICE/Electronic Arts
Dishonored 2 development team – Arkane Studios/Bethesda Softworks
WINNER: Inside development team – Playdead/Playdead
Overwatch development team – Blizzard Entertainment/Blizzard Entertainment
Titanfall 2 development team – Respawn Entertainment/Electronic Arts
The Witness development team – Thekla,Inc./Thekla, Inc.
GAME INNOVATION
Batman: Arkham VR development team – Rocksteady Studios/WB Games
Firewatch development team – Campo Santo Productions/Campo Santo Productions, Panic Inc.,
Pokeémon Go development team – Niantic Inc./Niantic Inc.
WINNER: That Dragon, Cancer development team – Numinous Games/Numinous Games
Uunseen Diplomacy development team – Triangular Pixels/ Triangular Pixels
The Witness development team – Thekla, Inc./Thekla, Inc.
MOBILE
The Banner Saga 2 development team – Stoic/Versus Evil
Dawn of Titans development team – Natural Motion/Zynga
Deus Ex Go development team - Square Enix Montreal/Square Enix
WINNER: Pokémon Go development team – Niantic Inc./Niantic Inc.
Pokémon Sun and Pokémon Moon development team – Game Freak/The Pokémon Company International
Reigns development team – Nerial/Devolver Digital
MULTIPLAYER
Battlefield 1 development team – DICE/Electronic Arts
Forza Horizon 3 development team – Playground Games/Microsoft Studios
Overcooked development team – Ghost Town Games/Team17 Digital Ltd
WINNER: Overwatch development team – Blizzard Entertainment/Blizzard Entertainment
Titanfall 2 development team – Respawn Entertainment/Electronic Arts
Tom Clancy’s The Division development team – Ubisoft Massive/Ubisoft
MUSIC
Abzû Austin Wintory – Giant Squid/505 Games
Doom Mick Gordon, Chris Hite, Chad Mossholder – id Software/Bethesda Softworks
Inside Martin Stig Andersen, SØS Gunver Ryberg – Playdead/Playdead
The Last Guardian Takeshi Furukawa – SIE Japan Studio, genDesign/Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe
Uncharted 4 Henry Jackman, Jonathan Mayer, Scott Hanau – Naughty Dog LLC/Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe
WINNER: Virginia Lyndon Holland – Variable State/505 Games
NARRATIVE
Dishonored 2 Development Team – Arkane Studios/Bethesda Softworks
Firewatch Development Team – Campo Santo Productions/Campo Santo Productions, Panic Inc.
WINNER: Inside Arnt Jensen – Playdead/Playdead
Mafia III development Team – Hangar 13/2K
Oxenfree development team – Night School Studio/Night School Studio
Uncharted 4 Neil Druckmann, Josh Scherr – Naughty Dog LLC/Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe
ORIGINAL PROPERTY
Firewatch Development Team – Campo Santo Productions/Campo Santo Productions, Panic Inc.
WINNER: Inside development team – Playdead/Playdead
The Last Guardian development team – SIE Japan Studio, genDesign/Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe
Overwatch development team – Blizzard Entertainment/Blizzard Entertainment
Unravel development team – Coldwood Interactive/Electronic Arts
The Witness development team – Thekla, Inc./Thekla, Inc.
PERFORMER
Alex Hernandez as Lincoln Clay in Mafia III
WINNER: Cissy Jones as Delilah in Firewatch
Emily Rose as Elena Fisher in Uncharted 4
Navid Negahban as ‘Hajj Agha’ in 1979 Revolution: Black Friday
Nolan North as Nathan Drake in Uncharted 4
Troy Baker as Sam Drake in Uncharted 4
BAFTA ONES TO WATCH AWARD IN ASSOCIATION WITH DARE TO BE DIGITAL
WINNER:
Among The Stones Lukasz Gomula, Alberto Taiuti, James Wood, Roberto Macken, Kevin McKenna, Rory Sweeney – Bluedoor Games
Pentagrab Andrew Fullarton, Thomas Slade, Nick Kondylis, Cari Watterton, Dale Smith - Ludico
Rebound Kieran Gallagher, Isaac Pringle, Mark Tempini, Andrew Graham, Alexander MacDiarmid, Vladislav Veselinov, Craig Russell, Alexandra Donaldson - Hexterion
AMD ESPORTS AUDIENCE AWARD
WINNER: Clash Royale Supercell/Supercell
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Hidden Path Entertainment/Valve
Dota2 Valve/Valve
League of Legends Riot Games/Riot Games
Overwatch Blizzard Entertainment/Blizzard Entertainment
Street Fighter V Capcom, Dimps/Capcom
Disqus comments