So there we have it: the BAFTA Games Awards are over for another year.
Over the course of a two-hour long ceremony at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, we got to see familiar faces (including those from the upcoming season of The Last Of Us) present awards, celebrate the hard work of the industry and pay tribute to the musical legend that is Yoko Shimomura, as she picked up a BAFTA Fellowship.
As the winners cart their heavy trophies home and people wake up with bleary heads from all the champagne, here are the highlights from the night itself.
Astro Bot won big… of course
Was it ever in doubt? Sony’s tiny team mascot – who finally got his own game at the end of last year – won big at the awards last night, scooping not one, but a ridiculous five trophies, for animation, family game, game design, and audio achievement. And Astro Bot, which follows the tiny, cute Astro as he goes about a series of different platforming levels to save his friends, really is a gem of a game: it scooped all manner of 5-star reviews when it launched, and is deservedly reaping the rewards of its success.
The crowning glory for the Astro team was when they managed to cart away the trophy for Best Game. They looked slightly perplexed to be standing on stage for the fifth time – no wonder the speeches got gradually shorter and shorter.
It was a well-deserved moment, if a slightly anticlimactic one. The BAFTAs have a habit of making left-field choices for Best Game and have previously given the title to indie games like Vampire Survivors – but ultimately, Balatro lost out.
But so did British gaming
That said, it was a great night for Britain. While Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II, which led the pack with a whopping 11 nominations, only managed to clinch one gong, it was rather eclipsed by the rousing success of horror game Still Wakes the Deep.
Set on a malfunctioning oil rig off the coast of Scotland, it’s a psychological horror that follows around an electrician as he’s pursued by monsters. That managed to nab the awards for best new intellectual property and for the prestigious best supporting and leading role awards.
And let’s not forget Thank Goodness You’re Here! The irreverent, slapstick comedy game set (which follows a tiny travelling salesman as he goes about solving problems) in the fictional Yorkshire town of Barnsworth has already gained a cult following.
That won the gong for Best British Game – and may be the only time the word “knobhead” has been used on the BAFTA stage, by its creators James Carbutt and Will Todd. It’s a nice moment (promise) that underlines how far British gaming has come. And hopefully, how far we still have to go.
And Balatro got its moment in the sun (kind of)
No, we didn’t get to find out who the game’s mysterious developer, LocalThunk, was. Boo. But the roguelike deckbuilding game Balatro did manage to scoop one award (for best Debut Game), which meant that Ben Starr (aka the star of the viral Friends of Jimbo advert) got to ascend the stage.
Yes, he was dressed as Jimbo, the game’s Joker mascot, and read out a speech on behalf of the developer: “he has shoes made of gold and he thanks you for making him that way.” And, more importantly, “play more independent games like Animal Well, they are the lifeblood of this industry and they deserve your respect.”
Not as many awards as you’d expect, for a game that’s shifted 5 million copies and won several big prizes. But there you go.
Most of the AAA titles didn’t get a look-in
Interestingly, this wasn’t a night for AAA titles. Or at least, it mostly wasn’t (Astro Bot being the exception). Games like Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, Black Myth: Wukong and Star Wars: Outlaws all lost out here. Black Myth: Wukong, in fact, was nominated for six awards, and won absolutely none.
Apart from Astro, the only huge game to clinch an award was the satirical sci-fi shooter Helldivers II (basic premise: shoot aliens with friends), which scooped best multiplayer. It’s a slightly worrying sign for the AAA industry, which is already struggling to convince players to buy its £75-plus titles – looking at you, Mario Kart World.
Looking ahead…
Next year is set to be a big one for gaming, thanks to the juggernaut that is Grand Theft Auto VI, which will be heading to consoles (we think) sometime later this year. That, of course, is the most hotly anticipated title of the year, if not the decade. But given the massive success of Hazelight’s new co-op player Split Fiction – which has been picking up 5-star reviews like they’re going out of fashion – don’t be surprised to see a two-way battle for the crown commence next year.
Until then!
