Nominations Announced: British Academy Games Awards 2021

The British Academy Games Awards is the BAFTA’s celebration of the very best in games of 2020.

Today’s, Tuesday March 2, nominations highlight an outstanding level of creative excellence from a broad range of UK and international development teams.

The Awards will take place on Thursday, March 25, as a 90-minute online live stream and will be hosted by presenter and journalist Elle Osili-Wood.

The ceremony will see 17 craft areas honoured, the public-voted EE Game of the Year award, and the BAFTA Fellowship, the recipient of which to be announced shortly.

Winners’ acceptance speeches will be streamed live, shining a light on the creative talent behind the year’s biggest titles.

This year’s show format will focus on the audience at home, highlighting the role that games play in our lives and how they have kept us all connected, entertained and inspired over the past year.

The Awards will be live streamed on BAFTA’s Facebook, Twitch, Twitter, YouTube and, for the first time, Steam.

The highlights of today’s nominations are:

  • 13 nominations for The Last of Us Part II. 13 is the highest number of nominations for a game in the history of the BAFTA Games Awards (beating last year’s record of 11 by Control and Death Stranding; the first standalone games ceremony was in 2004)
  • 10 nominations for Ghost of Tsushima
  • Eight nominations for Hades
  • Seven nominations for Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales 
  • Six nominations for Dreams
  • Five nominations each for Animal Crossing: New Horizons and Fall Guys
  • Four nominations each for CYBERPUNK 2077Half-Life: Alyx and Sackboy: A Big Adventure
  • Nominations in the Game Beyond Entertainment category: Animal Crossing: New Horizons, Before I Forget, Dreams, Spiritfarer, The Last of Us Part II and Tell Me Why

Voting is now open for the EE Game of the Year, the only award voted for by the public. The shortlist is Animal Crossing: New Horizons, Call of Duty: Warzone, Ghost of Tsushima, Hades, The Last of Us Part II and VALORANT.

The host of this year’s ceremony, Elle Osili-Wood, is one of the most recognisable faces in games and a member of BAFTA’s Games Committee. A video games presenter and journalist, Elle been named by GamesIndustry.biz as one of the most influential women in gaming.

Having started her career as a political reporter for the BBC, Elle quickly gravitated towards her lifelong passion for games. Whether interviewing game designers, investigating the science of games for BBC Sounds or presenting from E3 for PlayStation, Elle is a passionate advocate for the industry and the talent it represents.

The Awards are supported by BAFTA’s official games partners Electronic Arts, PlayStation, SEGA Europe LTD, Tencent Games and Ubisoft, with EE sponsoring the only award voted for by the public.

The Awards, including the nominations, are voted for by BAFTA’s global membership, comprising experienced games industry practitioners from a range of backgrounds in game development and production.

The BAFTA Games Awards is part of the London Games Festival, which runs from 19 March to 28 March.

The London Games Festival is showcasing 40 games in its official selection and delivering a range of free content to games fans around the world. LGF is backed by the Mayor of London and delivered by Games London – an initiative from the city’s screen industries agency Film London and video game trade body Ukie (The Association for UK Interactive Entertainment) – which has generated over £60m for games businesses since 2015.

ANIMATION

DOOM ETERNAL Development Team – id Software/Bethesda Softworks

FINAL FANTASY VII REMAKE Development Team -Square Enix/Square Enix

MARVEL’S SPIDER-MAN: MILES MORALES Development Team -Insomniac Games/Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe

ORI AND THE WILL OF THE WISPS Development Team – Moon Studios/Xbox Game Studios

SPIRITFARER Development Team -Thunder Lotus/Kowloon Nights

THE LAST OF US PART II Development Team – Naughty Dog/Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe

ARTISTIC ACHIEVEMENT

CYBERPUNK 2077 Development Team – CD PROJEKT RED/CD PROJEKT x BANDAI NAMCO UK

DREAMS Development Team – Media Molecule/Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe

GHOST OF TSUSHIMA Jason Connell, Joanna Wang, Ian Jun Wei Chiew – Sucker Punch Productions/Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe

HADES Jen Zee – Supergiant Games/Supergiant Games

HALF-LIFE: ALYX Development Team – Valve/Valve

THE LAST OF US PART II Development Team – Naughty Dog/Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe

AUDIO ACHIEVEMENT

ASTRO’S PLAYROOM Development Team – SIE Japan Studio/Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe

GHOST OF TSUSHIMA Rev. Dr. Bradley D. Meyer – Sucker Punch Productions/Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe

HADES Darren Korb – Supergiant Games/Supergiant Games

HALF-LIFE: ALYX Development Team – Valve/Valve

MARVEL’S SPIDER-MAN: MILES MORALES Development Team – Insomniac Games/Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe

THE LAST OF US PART II Development Team – Naughty Dog/Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe

BEST GAME

ANIMAL CROSSING: NEW HORIZONS Development Team – Nintendo EPD/Nintendo

GHOST OF TSUSHIMA Brian Fleming, Chris Zimmerman – Sucker Punch Productions/Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe

HADES Development Team – Supergiant Games/Supergiant Games

HALF-LIFE: ALYX Development Team –Valve/Valve

MARVEL’S SPIDER-MAN: MILES MORALES – Development Team – Insomniac Games/Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe

THE LAST OF US PART II Development Team – Naughty Dog/Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe

BRITISH GAME 

DREAMS Development Team – Media Molecule/Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe

F1 2020 Development Team – Codemasters/Codemasters

FALL GUYS Development Team – Mediatonic/Devolver Digital

RÖKI Development Team – Polygon Treehouse/United Label

SACKBOY: A BIG ADVENTURE Ned Waterhouse, Jess Gaskell, Pete Smith – Sumo Digital Sheffield/Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe

THE LAST CAMPFIRE Development Team – Hello Games/Hello Games

DEBUT GAME

AIRBORNE KINGDOM Development Team – The Wandering Band/The Wandering Band

CALL OF THE SEA Tatiana Delgado, Manuel Fernandez – Out of the Blue/Raw Fury

CARRION Development Team -Phobia Game Studio/Devolver Digital

FACTORIO Development Team -Wube Software/Wube Software

RÖKI Development Team – Polygon Treehouse/United Label

THE FALCONEER Development Team – Tomas Sala/ Wired Productions

EVOLVING GAME

DESTINY 2: BEYOND LIGHT Development Team – Bungie/Bungie

DREAMS Development Team – Media Molecule/Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe

FALL GUYS Development Team – Mediatonic/Devolver Digital

FORTNITE Development Team – Epic Games/Epic Games

NO MAN’S SKY Development Team – Hello Games/Hello Games

SEA OF THIEVES Development Team – Rare Ltd/Xbox Game Studios

FAMILY

ANIMAL CROSSING: NEW HORIZONS Development Team – Nintendo EPD/Nintendo 

ASTRO’S PLAYROOM Development Team – SIE Japan Studio/Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe

DREAMS Development Team – Media Molecule/Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe

FALL GUYS Development Team – Mediatonic/Devolver Digital

MINECRAFT DUNGEONS Development Team – Mojang Studios, Double Eleven Limited

SACKBOY: A BIG ADVENTURE Joel Smith, Cesar Bittar, Pete Smith – Sumo Digital Sheffield/Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe

GAME BEYOND ENTERTAINMENT

ANIMAL CROSSING: NEW HORIZONS Development Team – Nintendo EPD/Nintendo

BEFORE I FORGET Development Team – 3-Fold Games/3-Fold Games

DREAMS Development Team – Media Molecule/Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe

SPIRITFARER Development Team – Thunder Lotus/Kowloon Nights

TELL ME WHY Development Team – DONTNOD Entertainment/Xbox Game Studios

THE LAST OF US PART II Development Team -Naughty Dog/Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe

GAME DESIGN 

ANIMAL CROSSING: NEW HORIZONS Development Team – Nintendo EPD/Nintendo

ASTRO’S PLAYROOM Development Team – SIE Japan Studio/Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe

GHOST OF TSUSHIMA Development Team -Sucker Punch Productions/Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe

HADES Development Team – Supergiant Games/Supergiant Games

HALF-LIFE: ALYX Development Team –Valve/Valve

THE LAST OF US PART II Development Team -Naughty Dog/Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe

MULTIPLAYER

ANIMAL CROSSING: NEW HORIZONS Development Team – Nintendo EPD/Nintendo

DEEP ROCK GALACTIC Development Team – Ghost Ship Games/Coffee Stain Publishing

FALL GUYS Development Team –Mediatonic/Devolver Digital

GHOST OF TSUSHIMA Darren Bridges, Matt Goldhaber – Sucker Punch Productions/Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe

SACKBOY: A BIG ADVENTURE Jack Houghton, Tom Sampson, Jason Stewart – Sumo Digital Sheffield/Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe

VALORANT Development Team – Riot Games/Riot Games

MUSIC

GHOST OF TSUSHIMA Ilan Eshkeri, Shigeru Umebayashi, Peter Scaturro – Sucker Punch Productions/ Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe

HADES Darren Korb – Supergiant Games/Supergiant Games

MARVEL’S SPIDER-MAN: MILES MORALES John Paesano, Scott Hanau, Alex Hackford – Insomniac Games/Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe

ORI AND THE WILL OF THE WISPS Gareth Coker – Moon Studios/Xbox Game Studios

SACKBOY: A BIG ADVENTURE Jay Waters, Joe Thwaites, Joanna Skorupa – Sumo Digital Sheffield/Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe

THE LAST OF US PART II Gustavo Santaolalla, Mac Quayle, Scott Hanau – Naughty Dog/ Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe

NARRATIVE

ASSASSIN’S CREED VALHALLA Writing Team – Ubisoft Montreal/Ubisoft

CYBERPUNK 2077 Writing Team – CD PROJEKT RED/CD PROJEKT x BANDAI NAMCO UK

GHOST OF TSUSHIMA Nate Fox, Ian Ryan – Sucker Punch Productions/Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe

HADES Greg Kasavin – Supergiant Games/Supergiant Games

KENTUCKY ROUTE ZERO: TV EDITION Writing Team – Cardboard Computer/Annapurna Interactive

MARVEL’S SPIDER-MAN: MILES MORALES Writing Team – Insomniac Games/Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe

ORIGINAL PROPERTY

CARRION Development Team -Phobia Game Studio/Devolver Digital

FALL GUYS Development Team –Mediatonic/Devolver Digital

GHOST OF TSUSHIMA Development Team – Sucker Punch Productions/Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe

HADES Development Team – Supergiant Games/Supergiant Games

KENTUCKY ROUTE ZERO: TV EDITION Development Team -Cardboard Computer/Annapurna Interactive

SPIRITFARER Development Team- Thunder Lotus/Kowloon Nights

PERFORMER IN A LEADING ROLE

ASHLEY JOHNSON as Ellie in The Last of Us Part II

CHERAMI LEIGH as Female V in Cyberpunk 2077

CODY CHRISTIAN as Cloud Strife in Final Fantasy VII Remake 

DAISUKE TSUJI as Jin Sakai in Ghost of Tsushima

LAURA BAILEY as Abby in The Last of Us Part II

NADJI JETER as Miles Morales in Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales

PERFORMER IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

CARLA TASSARA as Judy Alvarez in CYBERPUNK 2077

JEFFREY PIERCE as Tommy in The Last of Us Part II

LOGAN CUNNINGHAM as Hades, Achilles, Poseidon, Asterius, Charon, and the Storyteller in Hades 

PATRICK GALLAGHER as Khotun Khan in Ghost of Tsushima

SHANNON WOODWARD as Dina in The Last of Us Part II

TROY BAKER as Joel in The Last of Us Part II

TECHNICAL ACHIEVEMENT 

DEMON’S SOULS Development Team – SIE Japan Studio/Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe

DOOM ETERNAL Development Team – id Software/Bethesda Softworks

DREAMS Development Team – Media Molecule/Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe

FLIGHT SIMULATOR Sebastian Wloch, Duncan Lawler, Pavel Kuksa – Asobo Studio/ Xbox Game Studios

MARVEL’S SPIDER-MAN: MILES MORALES Development Team – Insomniac Games/Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe

THE LAST OF US PART II Development Team – Naughty Dog/Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe

EE GAME OF THE YEAR (voted for by the public) 

ANIMAL CROSSING: NEW HORIZONS Nintendo EPD/Nintendo

CALL OF DUTY: WARZONE Raven Software, Infinity Ward/Activision 

GHOST OF TSUSHIMA Sucker Punch Productions/Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe

HADES Supergiant Games/Supergiant Games

THE LAST OF US PART II Naughty Dog/Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe

VALORANT Riot Games/Riot Games

VOTE NOW