It has been a great twelve months for videogames.
And this has clearly been reflected in the nominations for the 2018 British Academy Games Awards, with both big AAA titles and indie innovators getting the recognition they deserve. Action-adventure Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice, which straddles both of those categories, leads the pack with nine nominations, with Horizon Zero Dawn just behind that with eight.
Indie adventure What Remains of Edith Finch has seven nods, and the incredible Zelda: Breath of the Wild has five.
Nominated for Best Game 👏
Assassin's Creed Origins
Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice
Horizon Zero Dawn
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Super Mario Odyssey
What Remains of Edith Finch#BAFTAGames pic.twitter.com/rJ6xhB5bvp— BAFTA Games (@BAFTAGames) March 15, 2018
Super Mario Odysseys and Assassin’s Creed Origins also compete for Best Game, and the Best Evolving Game is dominated by those multiplayer FPS games that are so popular right now – Fortnite, Overwatch and Playerunknown’s Battlegrounds. Plenty of great indie games also get much deserved multiple nominations, including puzzler Gorogoa, animation homage Cuphead, and animal adventure Night in the Woods.
The awards will take place on April 12th, at Troxy in London. They’ll be hosted by stand-up Dara O’Briain, who takes presenting duties for the eighth time.
Here is the full list of nominations:
ARTISTIC ACHIEVEMENT
CUPHEAD Development Team – StudioMDHR Entertainment Inc./StudioMDHR Entertainment Inc.
GOROGOA Development Team – Jason Roberts, Buried Signal/Annapurna Interactive
HELLBLADE: SENUA’S SACRIFICE Development Team – Ninja Theory Ltd/ Ninja Theory Ltd
HORIZON ZERO DAWN Development Team – Guerrilla/Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe
THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: BREATH OF THE WILD Development Team – Nintendo EPD/Nintendo
UNCHARTED: THE LOST LEGACY Development Team – Naughty Dog/Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe
AUDIO ACHIEVEMENT
CALL OF DUTY: WORLD WAR II Development Team – Sledgehammer Games/Activision
DESTINY 2 Development Team – Bungie/Activision
HELLBLADE: SENUA’S SACRIFICE David Garcia Diaz – Ninja Theory Ltd/ Ninja Theory Ltd
HORIZON ZERO DAWN Development Team – Guerrilla/Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe
STAR WARS BATTLEFRONT II Development Team – DICE/Electronic Arts
UNCHARTED: THE LOST LEGACY Development Team – Naughty Dog/Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe
BEST GAME
ASSASSIN’S CREED ORIGINS Development Team – Ubisoft Montreal/ Ubisoft
HELLBLADE: SENUA’S SACRIFICE Development Team – Ninja Theory Ltd/ Ninja Theory Ltd
HORIZON ZERO DAWN Development Team – Guerrilla/Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe
THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: BREATH OF THE WILD Development Team – Nintendo EPD/Nintendo
SUPER MARIO ODYSSEY Development Team – Nintendo EPD/Nintendo
WHAT REMAINS OF EDITH FINCH Development Team – Giant Sparrow/Annapurna Interactive
BRITISH GAME
HELLBLADE: SENUA’S SACRIFICE Development Team – Ninja Theory Ltd/ Ninja Theory Ltd
MONUMENT VALLEY 2 Development Team – ustwo games/ustwo games
REIGNS: HER MAJESTY Leigh Alexander, François Alliot, Arnaud De Bock – Nerial Ltd/ Devolver Digital
THE SEXY BRUTALE Charles Griffiths, James Griffiths, Tom Lansdale – Cavalier Game Studios and Tequila Works/ Tequila Works
SNIPER ELITE 4 Development Team – Rebellion/ Rebellion
TOTAL WAR: WARHAMMER II Development Team – Creative Assembly/ SEGA
DEBUT GAME
CUPHEAD Development Team – StudioMDHR Entertainment Inc./StudioMDHR Entertainment Inc.
GOROGOA Development Team – Jason Roberts, Buried Signal/Annapurna Interactive
HOLLOW KNIGHT Development Team – Team Cherry/Team Cherry
NIGHT IN THE WOODS Scott Benson, Alec Holowka, Bethany Hockenberry – InfiniteFall/Finji
THE SEXY BRUTALE Charles Griffiths, James Griffiths, Tom Lansdale – Cavalier Game Studios and Tequila Works/Tequila Works
SLIME RANCHER Development Team – Monomi Park/Monomi Park
EVOLVING GAME
CLASH ROYALE Development Team – Supercell/ Supercell
FINAL FANTASY XV Hajime Tabata – Square Enix/ Square Enix
FORTNITE Development Team – Epic Games/ Epic Games
OVERWATCH Development Team – Blizzard Entertainment/ Blizzard Entertainment
PLAYERUNKNOWN’S BATTLEGROUNDS Development Team – PUBG Corp/ Bluehole, Inc.
TOM CLANCY’S RAINBOW SIX SIEGE Development Team – Ubisoft Montreal/ Ubisoft
FAMILY
JUST DANCE 2018 Development Team – Ubisoft Paris/ Ubisoft
LEGO WORLDS Development Team – TT Games/ WB Games
MARIO + RABBIDS KINGDOM BATTLE Development Team – Ubisoft/ Ubisoft
MONUMENT VALLEY 2 Development Team – ustwo games/ustwo games
SNIPPERCLIPS Development Team – SFB Games/ Nintendo
SUPER MARIO ODYSSEY Development Team – Nintendo EPD/Nintendo
GAME BEYOND ENTERTAINMENT
BURY ME, MY LOVE Development Team – The Pixel Hunt & Fig/ ARTE & Playdius
HELLBLADE: SENUA’S SACRIFICE Development Team – Ninja Theory Ltd/ Ninja Theory Ltd
LAST DAY OF JUNE Massimo Guarini, Elia Randon, Andrew Thompson – Ovosonico/505 Games
LIFE IS STRANGE: BEFORE THE STORM Development Team – Deck Nine Games, Square Enix/Square Enix
NIGHT IN THE WOODS Scott Benson, Alec Holowka, Bethany Hockenberry – InfiniteFall/ Finji
SEA HERO QUEST VR Matthew Hyde, Max Scott-Slade, Hugo Scott-Slade – Glitchers/ Glitchers
GAME DESIGN
ASSASSIN’S CREED ORIGINS Development Team – Ubisoft Montreal/ Ubisoft
HORIZON ZERO DAWN Development Team – Guerrilla/Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe
THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: BREATH OF THE WILD Development Team – Nintendo EPD/Nintendo
NIER AUTOMATA Development Team – Platinum Games; Square Enix/ Square Enix
SUPER MARIO ODYSSEY Development Team – Nintendo EPD/Nintendo
WHAT REMAINS OF EDITH FINCH Development Team – Giant Sparrow/Annapurna Interactive
GAME INNOVATION
GOROGOA Development Team – Jason Roberts, Buried Signal/Annapurna Interactive
HELLBLADE: SENUA’S SACRIFICE Development Team – Ninja Theory Ltd/ Ninja Theory Ltd
THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: BREATH OF THE WILD Development Team – Nintendo EPD/Nintendo
NIER AUTOMATA Development Team – Platinum Games; Square Enix/Square Enix
SNIPPERCLIPS Development Team – SFB Games/Nintendo
WHAT REMAINS OF EDITH FINCH Development Team – Giant Sparrow/Annapurna Interactive
MOBILE GAME
BURY ME, MY LOVE Development Team – The Pixel Hunt & Fig/ ARTE & Playdius
GOLF CLASH Paul Gouge, Alex Rigby, Gareth Jones – Playdemic/Playdemic
GOROGOA Development Team – Jason Roberts, Buried Signal/Annapurna Interactive
KAMI 2 Development Team – State of Play/State of Play
MONUMENT VALLEY 2 Development Team – ustwo games/ustwo games
STRANGER THINGS: THE GAME Development Team – BonusXP, Inc./BonusXP, Inc.
MULTIPLAYER
DIVINITY: ORIGINAL SIN 2 Development Team – Larian Studios/ Larian Studios Games
FORTNITE Development Team – Epic Games/ Epic Games
GANG BEASTS Development Team – Boneloaf/ Double Fine Productions
PLAYERUNKNOWN’S BATTLEGROUNDS Development Team – PUBG Corp/ Bluehole, Inc.
SPLATOON 2 Development Team – Nintendo EPD/Nintendo
STAR TREK BRIDGE CREW Development Team – Red Storm Entertainment/ Ubisoft
MUSIC
CUPHEAD Development Team – StudioMDHR Entertainment Inc./StudioMDHR Entertainment Inc.
GET EVEN Development Team – The Farm 51/ Bandai Namco Entertainment Europe
HELLBLADE: SENUA’S SACRIFICE David Garcia Diaz, Andy LaPlegua – Ninja Theory Ltd/ Ninja Theory Ltd
HORIZON ZERO DAWN Development Team – Guerrilla/Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe
THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: BREATH OF THE WILD Development Team – Nintendo EPD/Nintendo
WHAT REMAINS OF EDITH FINCH Jeff Russo – Giant Sparrow/Annapurna Interactive
NARRATIVE
HELLBLADE: SENUA’S SACRIFICE Tameem Antoniades – Ninja Theory Ltd/ Ninja Theory Ltd
HORIZON ZERO DAWN Development Team – Guerrilla/Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe
NIGHT IN THE WOODS Scott Benson, Alec Holowka, Bethany Hockenberry – InfiniteFall/ Finji
TACOMA Steve Gaynor, Karla Zimonja – Fullbright/ Fullbright
WHAT REMAINS OF EDITH FINCH Development Team – Giant Sparrow/Annapurna Interactive
WOLFENSTEIN II: THE NEW COLOSSUS Jens Matthies, Tommy Tordsson Björk, Tom Keegan – Machine Games/ Bethesda
ORIGINAL PROPERTY
CUPHEAD Chad Moldenhauer, Jared Moldenhauer – StudioMDHR Entertainment Inc./StudioMDHR Entertainment Inc.
GOROGOA Development Team – Jason Roberts, Buried Signal/Annapurna Interactive
HORIZON ZERO DAWN Development Team – Guerrilla/Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe
NIGHT IN THE WOODS Scott Benson, Alec Holowka, Bethany Hockenberry – InfiniteFall/ Finji
PLAYERUNKNOWN’S BATTLEGROUNDS Development Team – PUBG Corp/ Bluehole, Inc.
WHAT REMAINS OF EDITH FINCH Development Team – Giant Sparrow/Annapurna Interactive
PERFORMER
ABUBAKAR SALIM as Bayek in Assassin’s Creed Origins
ASHLY BURCH as Aloy in Horizon Zero Dawn
CLAUDIA BLACK as Chloe Frazer in Uncharted: The Lost Legacy
LAURA BAILEY as Nadine Ross in Uncharted: The Lost Legacy
MELINA JUERGENS as Senua in Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice
VALERIE ROSE LOHMAN as Edith Finch in What Remains of Edith Finch