The 2024 BAFTA Games Awards have come and gone but didn’t leave without another round of wins for Larian Studios’ Baldur’s Gate 3. The Dungeons and Dragons RPG rolled away from the show with five wins (including Best Game) while other highlights saw solid wins for projects like Alan Wake 2, Super Mario Bros. Wonder, and Viewfinder.
Larian’s night at the BAFTAs saw studio head Swen Vincke and the rest of the team taking home awards for Best Game, Music, Performer in a Supporting Role, and Narrative. It also won the public vote for EE Players’ Choice award, giving the studio that grand total of fine wins.
The total of 18 categories saw awards spread out among the nominees. Alan Wake 2 developer Remedy Entertainment nabbed awards for Artistic Achievement and Audio Achievement, while Nintendo managed to grab the Family and Multiplayer Awards for Super Mario Bros. Wonder. Viewfinder was another surprise standout, taking home awards for New Intellectual Property and British Game. Other highlights saw Venba win for Debut Game, Tchia win for Game Beyond Entertainment, and Dave the Diver win for Game Design.
The BAFTA Games Awards also took the time to honor this year’s Special Award recipient: the UK-based gaming charity, SpecialEffect. Since getting off the ground in 2007, the organization has utilized technology to allow and enhance access to video games for disabled players. As SpecialEffect explains on its website, “Whatever we do, we’re committed to making life better for the people that need us, for as long as possible.”
SpecialEffect CEO and founder Dr. Mick Donegan MBE accepted the award on the organization’s behalf. He shared a few thoughts about the recognition in a pre-ceremony interview.
“We are utterly delighted,” he said. “We’re delighted because, well, it’s great that the charity is recognized, but what we’ve achieved has been in partnership with the people who’ve helped us, who have funded us, the people we’ve worked with who’ve helped, and the industry that has collaborated with us to make their games more accessible. It’s just a lovely endorsement for accessibility all together and the effort that everybody’s made.”
BAFTA Special Award winners span across games, film, and television. Past recipients include Amy Hennig, Epic Games, Nolan North, Brenda Romero, Idris Elba, Spike Lee, The Jim Henson Company, Ridley Scott, and many more.
You can take a look at every winner and nominee from the 2024 Bafta Games Awards below. As awards season winds down, don’t forget to check out IGN’s list of the best games of 2023.
ANIMATION
ALAN WAKE 2 Development Team – Remedy Entertainment Plc./Epic GamesHI-FI RUSH Development Team – Tango Gameworks/Bethesda Softworks – WINNERHOGWARTS LEGACY Development Team – Avalanche Software/Warner Bros. GamesMARVEL’S SPIDER-MAN 2 Development Team – Insomniac Games/Sony Interactive EntertainmentSTAR WARS JEDI: SURVIVOR Nathan Dunlap, David Nam, Thomas Cannell – Respawn Entertainment/Electronic ArtsSUPER MARIO BROS. WONDER Development Team – Nintendo EPD/Nintendo
ARTISTIC ACHIEVEMENT
ALAN WAKE 2 Development Team – Remedy Entertainment Plc./Epic Games – WINNERBALDUR’S GATE 3 Development Team – Larian Studio/Larian StudioCOCOON Development Team – Geometric Interactive/Annapurna InteractiveDIABLO IV Development Team – Blizzard Entertainment/Blizzard EntertainmentFINAL FANTASY XVI Hiroshi Minagawa, Kazuya Takahashi, Naoki Kurihara – SQUARE ENIX – Creative Business Unit III/SQUARE ENIXHI-FI RUSH Development Team – Tango Gameworks/Bethesda Softworks
AUDIO ACHIEVEMENT
ALAN WAKE 2 Development Team – Remedy Entertainment Plc./Epic Games – WINNERCALL OF DUTY: MODERN WARFARE III Matt Grimm, Eric Wedemeyer, Robbie Elias – SledgehammerGames/ActivisionHI-FI RUSH Development Team – Tango Gameworks/Bethesda SoftworksTHE LEGEND OF ZELDA: TEARS OF THE KINGDOM Development Team – Nintendo EPD/NintendoMARVEL’S SPIDER-MAN 2 Development Team – Insomniac Games/Sony Interactive EntertainmentSTAR WARS JEDI: SURVIVOR Development Team – Respawn Entertainment/Electronic Arts
BEST GAME
ALAN WAKE 2 Development Team – Remedy Entertainment Plc./Epic GamesBALDUR’S GATE 3 Development Team – Larian Studio/Larian Studio – WINNERDAVE THE DIVER Development Team – MINTROCKET/MINTROCKETTHE LEGEND OF ZELDA: TEARS OF THE KINGDOM Development Team – Nintendo EPD/NintendoMARVEL’S SPIDER-MAN 2 Development Team – Insomniac Games/Sony Interactive EntertainmentSUPER MARIO BROS. WONDER Development Team – Nintendo EPD/Nintendo
BRITISH GAME
CASSETTE BEASTS Development Team – Bytten Studio/Raw FuryDEAD ISLAND 2 Development Team – Dambuster Studios/PLAIONDISNEY ILLUSION ISLAND Development Team – Dlala Studios/DisneyFOOTBALL MANAGER 2024 Development Team – Sports Interactive/SEGA EuropeVIEWFINDER Development Team – Sad Owl Studios/Thunderful Publishing – WINNERWARHAMMER AGE OF SIGMAR: REALMS OF RUIN Development Team – Frontier Developments/Frontier Developments
DEBUT GAME
COCOON Development Team – Geometric Interactive/Annapurna InteractiveDAVE THE DIVER Development Team – MINTROCKET/MINTROCKETDREDGE Development Team – Black Salt Games/Team17 DigitalSTRAY GODS: THE ROLEPLAYING MUSICAL Development Team – Summerfall Studios/Humble GamesVENBA Abhijeeth Swaminathan, Sam Elkana, Shahrin Khan – Visai Games/Visai Games – WINNERVIEWFINDER Development Team – Sad Owl Studios/Thunderful Publishing
EVOLVING GAME
CYBERPUNK 2077 Development Team – CD PROJEKT RED/CD PROJEKT RED – WINNERFINAL FANTASY XIV ONLINE Development Team – Creative Business Unit III/Square EnixFORTNITE Development Team – Epic Games/Epic GamesFORZA HORIZON 5 Development Team – Playground Games/Xbox Game StudiosGENSHIN IMPACT Development Team – HoYoverse/HoYoverseNO MAN’S SKY Development Team – Hello Games/Hello Games
FAMILY
COCOON Development Team – Geometric Interactive/Annapurna InteractiveDAVE THE DIVER Development Team – MINTROCKET/MINTROCKETDISNEY ILLUSION ISLAND Development Team – Dlala Studios/DisneyHI-FI RUSH Development Team – Tango Gameworks/Bethesda SoftworksHOGWARTS LEGACY Development Team – Avalanche Software/Warner Bros. GamesSUPER MARIO BROS. WONDER Development Team – Nintendo EPD/Nintendo – WINNER
GAME BEYOND ENTERTAINMENT
CHANTS OF SENNAAR Julien Moya, Thomas Panuel – Rundisc/Focus EntertainmentGOODBYE VOLCANO HIGH Development Team – KO_OP/KO_OPTCHIA Phil Crifo, Marilou Lopez-Aguilera, Thoanë Thomadra – Awaceb/Kepler Interactive – WINNERTERRA NIL Development Team – Free Lives/Devolver DigitalTHIRSTY SUITORS Development Team – Outerloop Games/Annapurna InteractiveVENBA Abhijeeth Swaminathan, Sam Elkana, Shahrin Khan – Visai Games/Visai Games
GAME DESIGN
COCOON Development Team – Geometric Interactive/Annapurna InteractiveDAVE THE DIVER Development Team – MINTROCKET/MINTROCKET – WINNERDREDGE Joel Mason, Alex Ritchie, Nadia Thorn – Black Salt Games/Team17 DigitalTHE LEGEND OF ZELDA: TEARS OF THE KINGDOM Development Team – Nintendo EPD/NintendoMARVEL’S SPIDER-MAN 2 Development Team – Insomniac Games/Sony Interactive EntertainmentVIEWFINDER Development Team – Sad Owl Studios/Thunderful Publishing
MULTIPLAYER
BALDUR’S GATE 3 Development Team – Larian Studio/Larian StudioCALL OF DUTY: MODERN WARFARE III Development Team – Sledgehammer Games/ActivisionDIABLO IV Development Team – Blizzard Entertainment/Blizzard EntertainmentFORZA MOTORSPORT Development Team – Turn 10 Studios/Xbox Game StudiosPARTY ANIMALS Development Team – Recreate Games/Source TechnologySUPER MARIO BROS. WONDER Development Team – Nintendo EPD/Nintendo – WINNER
MUSIC
ALAN WAKE 2 Development Team – Remedy Entertainment Plc./Epic GamesASSASSIN’S CREED MIRAGE Development Team – Ubisoft/UbisoftBALDUR’S GATE 3 Borislav Slavov – Larian Studio/Larian Studio – WINNERTHE LEGEND OF ZELDA: TEARS OF THE KINGDOM Development Team – Nintendo EPD/NintendoMARVEL’S SPIDER-MAN 2 John Paesano, Scott Hanau, Keith Leary – Insomniac Games/Sony Interactive EntertainmentSTAR WARS JEDI: SURVIVOR Gordy Haab, Stephen Barton – Respawn Entertainment/Electronic Arts
NARRATIVE
ALAN WAKE 2 Development Team – Remedy Entertainment Plc./Epic GamesBALDUR’S GATE 3 Development Team – Larian Studio/Larian Studio – WINNERDREDGE Joel Mason, Alex Ritchie, Nadia Thorne – Black Salt Games/Team17 DigitalFINAL FANTASY XVI Kazutoyo Maehiro, Michael-Christopher Koji Fox – SQUARE ENIX – Creative Business Unit III/SQUARE ENIXTHE LEGEND OF ZELDA: TEARS OF THE KINGDOM Development Team – Nintendo EPD/NintendoSTAR WARS JEDI: SURVIVOR Stig Asmussen, Aaron Contreras, Dori Arazi – Respawn Entertainment/Electronic Arts
NEW INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
CHANTS OF SENNAAR Julien Moya, Thomas Panuel – Rundisc/Focus EntertainmentDAVE THE DIVER Development Team – MINTROCKET/MINTROCKETDREDGE Development Team – Black Salt Games/Team17 DigitalHI-FI RUSH Development Team – Tango Gameworks/Bethesda SoftworksJUSANT Development Team – DON’T NOD/DON’T NODVIEWFINDER Development Team – Sad Owl Studios/Thunderful Publishing – WINNER
PERFORMER IN A LEADING ROLE
AMELIA TYLER as Narrator in Baldur’s Gate 3CAMERON MONAGHAN as Cal Kestis in Star Wars Jedi: SurvivorNADJI JETER as Miles Morales in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 – WINNERNEIL NEWBON as Astarion in Baldur’s Gate 3SAMANTHA BÉART as Karlach in Baldur’s Gate 3YURI LOWENTHAL as Peter Parker in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2
PERFORMER IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
ANDREW WINCOTT as Raphael in Baldur’s Gate 3 – WINNERDEBRA WILSON as Cere Junda in Star Wars Jedi: SurvivorRALPH INESON as Cidolfus “Cid” Telamon in Final Fantasy XVISAM LAKE as Alex Casey in Alan Wake 2TONY TODD as Venom in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2TRACY WILES as Jaheira in Baldur’s Gate 3
TECHNICAL ACHIEVEMENT
ALAN WAKE 2 Development Team – Remedy Entertainment Plc./Epic GamesFINAL FANTASY XVI Ryota Suzuki, Yasuhiro Yanamoto, Kei Honda – SQUARE ENIX – Creative Business Unit III/SQUARE ENIXHORIZON CALL OF THE MOUNTAIN Development Team – Guerrilla and Firesprite/Sony Interactive EntertainmentTHE LEGEND OF ZELDA: TEARS OF THE KINGDOM Development Team – Nintendo EPD/Nintendo – WINNERMARVEL’S SPIDER-MAN 2 Development Team – Insomniac Games/Sony Interactive EntertainmentSTARFIELD Development Team – Bethesda Game Studios/Bethesda Softworks
EE PLAYERS’ CHOICE
BALDUR’S GATE 3 Larian Studio/Larian Studio – WINNERCYBERPUNK 2077 CD PROJEKT RED/CD PROJEKT REDFORTNITE Epic Games/Epic GamesTHE LEGEND OF ZELDA: TEARS OF THE KINGDOM Nintendo EPD/NintendoLETHAL COMPANY Zeekerss/ZeekerssMARVEL’S SPIDER-MAN 2 Insomniac Games/Sony Interactive Entertainment
Michael Cripe is a freelance contributor with IGN. He started writing in the industry in 2017 and is best known for his work at outlets such as The Pitch, The Escapist, OnlySP, and Gameranx.
Be sure to give him a follow on Twitter @MikeCripe.
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