Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II, Astro Bot and Still Wakes the Deep are leading the pack for BAFTA Games Awards nominations this year, it has been revealed.
The nominations, which were released on March 4, show a different gaming landscape to the one of last year, with fewer AAA titles and more indie and British games taking the lead.
However, there are clear frontrunners. Senua’s Saga – which tells the story of Pictish warrior Senua, who fights a constant battle against her own psychosis – has scooped eleven nominations, for categories including Animation, British Game and Narrative.
The other contenders for Best Game are:
- Balatro
- Black Myth: Wukong
- Helldivers II
- The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom
- Thank Goodness You're Here!
Astro Bot has eight nominations, for categories including Best Game and Game Design – as does horror game Still Wakes the Deep. The Chinese studio game Black Myth: Wukong has also netted six.
“There's a huge amount of breadth. There's big budget games going up against games that are made by tiny teams. And I think it's really great that the Baftas has that opportunity for that,” says Tara Saunders, chair of the BAFTA Games Committee.
“We definitely feel at BAFTAs it’s important to celebrate homegrown talent and I think it's a particularly strong year for British made games as well.”
Those include Thank Goodness You’re Here!, Lego Horizon Adventures and Balatro, the card-building roguelike poker game (which is also up for Best Game) – and many other indies.
“I think we always get some years where a little indie title put its head from the others and I think the games awards actually gives a really good opportunity to showcase those,” Saunders says.
“Those games that could quite often get lost in the sea of all of the content out there, it puts a shining light onto them and allows them to stand shoulder to shoulder with some really big titles. And, we know how the awards go. Sometimes you do get surprises.”
There’s also the Games Beyond Entertainment category, which features Vampire Therapist, Botany Manor and Tales of Kenzera: Zau, the title developed by Assassin’s Creed actor Abubakar Salim after the death of his father.
“There's a lot of personal stories being told in that Beyond Entertainment,” Saunders says. “There's some deep subjects like grief being tackled. It’s a really important celebration for Bafta, for that category.”
The awards themselves will be announced and presented at the Bafta Games Awards on April 8 at the Southbank Centre.
The full list of nominations are as follows:
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2
Thank Goodness You’re Here!
Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2
Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2
Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2
The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom
Thank Goodness You’re Here!
Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2
Thank Goodness You’re Here!
Thank Goodness You’re Here!
Super Mario Party Jamboree
Game Beyond Entertainment
Kind Words 2 (Lofi City Pop)
Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2
The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
Super Mario Party Jamboree
Warhammer 40,000: Spare Marine 2
Final Fantasy VII Rebirth
Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2
Dragon Age: The Veilguard
Final Fantasy VII Rebirth
Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2
New Intellectual Property
Thank Goodness You’re Here!
Performer in a Leading Role
Alec Newman as Cameron ‘Caz’ Mcleary in Still Wakes the Deep
Humberley Gonzalez as Kay Vess in Star Wars Outlaws
Isabella Inchbald as Indika in Indika
Luke Roberts as James Sunderland in Silent Hill 2
Melina Juergens as Senua in Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II
Y’lan Noel as Troy Marshall in Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
Performer in a Supporting Role
Abbi Greenland and Helen Goalen as The Furies in Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II
Aldis Amah Hamilton as Ástríðr in Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II
Jon Blyth as Big Ron in Thank Goodness You’re Here!
Karen Dunbar as Finlay in Still Wakes the Deep
Matt Berry as Herbert the Gardner in Thank Goodness You’re Here!
Michael Abubakar as Brodie in Still Wakes the Deep
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2
