Sony Santa Monica’s God of War has received 10 nominations for this year’s Bafta game awards, leading a diverse pack of nominees.
Rockstar’s Red Dead Redemption 2 also picked up six nominations, as did Florence – a game about a relationship played from the perspective of a young woman – and Return of the Obra Dinn, a lo-fi monochrome mystery set on an abandoned ship.
The contenders for best game are Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, PlayStation VR game Astro Bot: Rescue Mission, Celeste, God of War, Red Dead Redemption 2 and Return of the Obra Dinn. Last year’s winner was What Became of Edith Finch, an emotionally charged magical-realist game about the fate of an ill-fortuned family.
The games beyond entertainment category, introduced to recognise games whose impact extends into the real world, comprises Celeste, Aardman Studios’ first world war game 11-11 Memories Retold, Life is Strange 2, My Child Lebensborn, and Nintendo Labo.
The 15th Bafta games awards ceremony, hosted by comedian Dara O’Briain, will take place on 4 April at Queen Elizabeth Hall, London. It will be livestreamed via Twitch, YouTube, social media and other platforms. The full list of nominations is below.
Artistic achievement
Detroit: Become Human – Quantic Dream/Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe (SIEE)
Gris – Nomada Studio/Devolver Digital
God of War – Santa Monica Studio/SIEE
Marvel’s Spider-Man – Insomniac Games/SIEE
Red Dead Redemption 2 – Rockstar Games/Rockstar Games
Return of the Obra Dinn – Lucas Pope/3909
Audio achievement
Battlefield V – EA Dice/Electronic Arts
Detroit: Become Human – Quantic Dream/SIEE
God of War – Santa Monica Studio/SIEE
Marvel’s Spider-Man – Insomniac Games/SIEE
Red Dead Redemption 2 – Rockstar Games/Rockstar Games
Tetris Effect – Monstars Inc and Resonair/Enhance, Inc
Best game
Assassin’s Creed Odyssey – Ubisoft Quebec/Ubisoft
Astro Bot: Rescue Mission – Sie Japan Studio/SIEE
Celeste – Matt Makes Games Inc./Matt Makes Games Inc
God of War – Santa Monica Studio/SIEE
Red Dead Redemption 2 – Rockstar Games/Rockstar Games
Return of the Obra Dinn – Lucas Pope/3909
British game
11-11: Memories Retold – Digixart, Aardman & Bandai Namco Entertainment Europe/Bandai Namco Entertainment Europe
Forza Horizon 4 – Playground Games/Microsoft Studios
Red Dead Redemption 2 – Rockstar Games/Rockstar Games
The Room: Old Sins – Fireproof Games/ Fireproof Games
Overcooked! 2 – Ghost Town Games and Team 17/ Team 17
Two Point Hospital – Two Point Studios/Sega
Debut game
Beat Saber – Beat Games/Beat Games
Cultist Simulator – Weather Factory/Humble Bundle
Donut County – Ben Espositio/Annapurna Interactive
Florence – Mountains/Annapurna Interactive
Gris – Nomada Studio/Devolver Digital
Yoku’s Island Express – Villa Gorilla/Team 17
Evolving game
Destiny 2: Forsaken – Bungie/Activision
Elite Dangerous: Beyond – Frontier/Frontier
Fortnite – Epic Games/Epic Games
Overwatch – Blizzard Entertainment/Blizzard Entertainment
Sea of Thieves – Rare Ltd/Microsoft Studios
Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege – Ubisoft Montreal/Ubisoft
Family
Lego Disney Pixar’s The Incredibles – Tt Games/Wb Games
Nintendo Labo – Nintendo Epd/Nintendo
Overcooked! 2 – Ghost Town Games & Team17/Team17
Pokémon: Let’s Go, Pikachu! and Let’s Go, Eevee! – Game Freak/The Pokémon Company and Nintendo
Super Mario Party – Ndcube/Nintendo
Yoku’s Island Express – Villa Gorilla/Team 17
Game beyond entertainment
11-11: Memories Retold – Digixart, Aardman and Bandai Namco Entertainment Europe/Bandai Namco Entertainment
Celeste – Matt Makes Games Inc/Matt Makes Games Inc
Florence – Mountains/Annapurna Interactive
Life Is Strange 2 – Dontnod Entertainment/Square Enix
My Child Lebensborn – Sarepta Studio As/Teknopilot As, Sarepta Studio As
Nintendo Labo – Nintendo Epd/Nintendo
Game design
Astro Bot: Rescue Mission – Sie Japan Studio/SIEE
Celeste – Matt Makes Games Inc/Matt Makes Games Inc
God of War – Santa Monica Studio/SIEE
Into the Breach – Subset Games/Subset Games
Minit – Jw, Kitty, Jukio, And Dom/Devolver Digital
Return of the Obra Dinn – Lucas Pope/3909
Game innovation
Astro Bot: Rescue Mission – Sie Japan Studio/SIEE
Celeste – Matt Makes Games Inc/Matt Makes Games Inc
Cultist Simulator – Weather Factory/Humble Bundle
Moss – Polyarc/Polyarc
Nintendo Labo – Nintendo Epd/Nintendo
Return of the Obra Dinn – Lucas Pope/3909
Mobile game
Alto’s Odyssey – Team Alto/Snowman
Brawl Stars – Supercell/Supercell
Donut County – Ben Esposito/Annapurna Interactive
Florence – Mountains/Annapurna Interactive
Reigns: Game of Thrones – Nerial/Devolver Digital
The Room: Old Sins – Fireproof Games/Fireproof Games
Multiplayer
A Way Out – Hazelight/Ea Originals
Battlefield V – Ea Dice/Electronic Arts
Overcooked! 2 – Ghost Town Games and Team 17/Team 17
Sea of Thieves – Rare Ltd/Microsoft Studios
Super Mario Party – Ndcube/Nintendo
Super Smash Bros Ultimate – Nintendo, Bandai Namco Studios and Sora Ltd/Nintendo
Music
Celeste – Matt Makes Games Inc/Matt Makes Games Inc
Far Cry 5 – Ubisoft Montreal/Ubisoft
Florence – Mountains/Annapurna Interactive
God of War – Santa Monica Studio/SIEE
Gris – Nomada Studios/Devolver Digital
Tetris Effect – Monstars Inc And Resonair/Enhance, Inc
Narrative
Florence – Mountains/Annapurna Interactive
Frostpunk – 11 Bit Studios/11 Bit Studios
God of War – Santa Monica Studio/SIEE
Marvel’s Spider-Man – Insomniac Games/SIEE
Red Dead Redemption 2 – Rockstar Games/Rockstar Games
Return of the Obra Dinn – Lucas Pope/3909
Original property
Dead Cells – Motion Twin/Motion Twin
Florence – Mountains/Annapurna Interactive
Into the Breach – Subset Games/Subset Games
Moss – Polyarc/Polyarc
Return of the Obra Dinn – Lucas Pope/3909
Subnautica – Unknown Worlds Entertainment/Unknown Worlds Entertainment
Performer
Christopher Judge as Kratos in God of War
Danielle Bisutti as Freya in God of War
Jeremy Davies as The Stranger in God of War
Melissanthi Mahut as Kassandra of Sparta in Assassin’s Creed Odyssey
Roger Clark as Arthur Morgan in Red Dead Redemption 2
Sunny Suljic as Atreus in God of War
Brawl Stars – Supercell/Supercell
Clash Royale – Supercell/Supercell
Fortnite – Epic Games/Epic Games
Old School Runescape – Jagex/Jagex
Pokémon Go – The Pokémon Company, Niantic/Nintendo
Roblox – Roblox Corporation/Roblox Corporation