BAFTA Games have released their longlist for the 2024 awards, offering up a pretty good idea of who the biggest contenders will be.
The longlist, which is the first ever released by BAFTA, includes sixty of the year’s best games that are in the running for nominations. 257 games were entered in total, and voting for the winners will begin in January 2024; the nominations themselves will be revealed on March 7.
Top of the list is the epic roleplaying D&D game Baldur’s Gate 3, which is in the running for 15 nominations. As well as scooping Game of the Year at the 2023 Games Awards, it was also our game of the year. It was closely followed by Alan Wake II, which netted 14 nods.
It’s also been a good year for RPGs: Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, Hogwarts Legacy, Final Fantasy and the Legend of Zelda are also sweeping the board.
That said, Bethesda’s space epic Starfield fell short of expectations, with only 3 nominations, while their surprise release Hi-Fi Rush scooped six. Forza Motorsport, Xbox’s sim racing game, only clocked in one potential nomination, but on the flipside Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III scooped three: not bad, considering how badly it was reviewed.
A good number of indie games also dominated, especially watery ones. Buzzy fishing slash eldritch horror game Dredge wound up with five nods, while Cocoon (made by the same people behind last year’s smash hit Stray) and Dave the Diver scooped six each.
And of course, awards darling No Man’s Sky is also in the running for a shortlist spot, for Evolving Game.
The nominations also included a top ten list for Best Game, Best British Game, Performer In A Leading Role and Performer In A Supporting Role – the latter two of which included multiple nominations for Spider-Man 2 and Baldur’s Gate 3.
Speaking about the longlist, Jane Millichip, BAFTA’s CEO, said that “for 20 years, BAFTA has celebrated great talent in the games industry with the annual BAFTA Games Awards.
“This year, we hope to amplify that celebration by publishing our Best Games of 2023 list - the longlist for next year's Awards, as voted for by games industry professionals - just in time to inspire some festive gameplay."
Read the full list of nominations here:
Alan Wake 2 (Animation, Artistic Achievement, Audio Achievement, Best Game, Game Design, Music, Narrative, Technical Achievement, Performer in a Leading Role, Performer in a Supporting Role)
Assassin’s Creed Mirage (Animation, Audio Achievement, Music)
Atomic Heart (Debut Game)
Baldur’s Gate 3 (Animation, Artistic Achievement, Audio Achievement, Best Game, Game Design, Multiplayer, Music, Narrative, Technical Achievement, Performer in a Leading Role, Performer in a Supporting Role)
Battlefield 2042 (Evolving Game)
Bluey: The Videogame (Family)
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III (Audio Achievement, Multiplayer, Technical Achievement)
Cassette Beasts (British Game)
Chants of Sennaar (Game Beyond Entertainment, New Intellectual Property)
COCOON (Artistic Achievement, Best Game, Debut Game, Family, Game Design, New Intellectual Property)
Cyberpunk 2077 (Evolving Game, Performer in a Supporting Role)
DAVE THE DIVER (Best Game, Debut Game, Family, Game Design, Narrative, New Intellectual Property)
Dead Island 2 (British Game)
Deliver Us Mars (Game Beyond Entertainment)
Diablo IV (Artistic Achievement, Multiplayer, Music, Narrative)
Disney Illusion Island (British Game, Family, Multiplayer)
DREDGE (Best Game, Debut Game, Game Design, Narrative, New Intellectual Property)
EA SPORTS FC 24 (Family, Multiplayer)
EA SPORTS WRC (British Game)
En Garde! (Debut Game)
F1 23 (British Game)
Final Fantasy XIV: Online (Evolving Game)
FINAL FANTASY XVI (Animation, Artistic Achievement, Audio Achievement, Music, Narrative, Technical Achievement, Performer in a Leading Role, Performer in a Supporting Role)
Football Manager 2024 (British Game)
Fortnite (Evolving Game)
Forza Horizon 5 (Evolving Game)
Forza Motorsport (Multiplayer)
Genshin Impact (Evolving Game)
Goodbye Volcano High (Game Beyond Entertainment)
Hi-Fi RUSH (Animation, Artistic Achievement, Audio Achievement, Family, Music, New Intellectual Property)
Hogwarts Legacy (Animation, Artistic Achievement, Audio Achievement, Best Game, Family, Game Design, Music, Narrative, Technical Achievement)
Horizon Call of the Mountain (Technical Achievement)
Jusant (Game Beyond Entertainment, New Intellectual Property)
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (Animation, Artistic Achievement, Audio Achievement, Best Game, Game Design, Music, Narrative, Technical Achievement)
LEGO 2K Drive (Family, Multiplayer)
Lies of P (New Intellectual Property)
Lords of the Fallen (Debut Game)
The Making of Karateka (Game Beyond Entertainment)
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (Evolving Game)
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 (Animation, Artistic Achievement, Audio Achievement, Best Game, Game Design, Music, Technical Achievement, Performer in a Leading Role, Performer in a Supporting Role)
Mortal Kombat 1 (Multiplayer)
No Man’s Sky (Evolving Game)
Party Animals (Multiplayer)
Planet of Lana (Debut Game)
POWERWASH SIMULATOR (Evolving Game)
Sea of Stars (New Intellectual Property)
Sea of Thieves (Evolving Game)
Sonic Superstars (Family)
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor (Animation, Audio Achievement, Best Game, Music, Narrative, Performer in a Leading Role, Performer in a Supporting Role)
Starfield (Narrative, New Intellectual Property, Technical Achievement)
Stray Gods: The Roleplaying Musical (Debut Game)
Super Mario Bros. Wonder (Animation, Artistic Achievement, Best Game, Family, Game Design, Multiplayer)
Tchia (Game Beyond Entertainment)
Terra Nil (Game Beyond Entertainment)
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (British Game)
Thirsty Suitors (Game Beyond Entertainment)
Tron: Identity (British Game)
Venba (Debut Game, Game Beyond Entertainment)
Viewfinder (British Game, Debut Game, Game Beyond Entertainment, Game Design, New Intellectual Property, Technical Achievement)
Warhammer Age of Sigmar: Realms of Ruin (British Game)
