Folks, I'm afraid we've gotta hand it to the BAFTA Game Awards. After a night in which prestigious, expensive Sony titan God of War: Ragnarok swept six awards and Elden Ring took home two, it felt like the Best Game trophy was a dead heat between the pair of them. But the judges went and surprised us, giving it to Vampire Survivors instead.
Vampire Survivors was one of six games that were up for top gong at last night's BAFTAs. The others were, of course, Elden Ring and GoW: Ragnarok, plus Cult of the Lamb, Stray, and Marvel Snap.
Those are some pretty good games! But VS managed to beat them all out in the eyes of the BAFTA jury, which was made up of "industry practitioners across a range of developers and publishers" and chaired by a BAFTA Games Committee member. My invitation must have been lost in the post.
VS took home another award last night, too: It nabbed the BAFTA Game Design trophy, where it was in competition with Cult of the Lamb, Elden Ring, GoW: Ragnarok, Tunic, and Horizon: Forbidden West.
Those weren't the only awards handed out last night, of course. Here's the full list of awards, nominees, and winners for your perusal:
Animation
- CALL OF DUTY: MODERN WARFARE II Mark Grigsby, Bruce Ferris, Khoa Le - Infinity Ward/Activision Publishing, Inc
- Winner - GOD OF WAR RAGNARÖK Bruno Velazquez, Erica Pinto, Mehdi Yssef - Santa Monica Studio/Sony Interactive Entertainment
- HORIZON FORBIDDEN WEST Development Team – Guerrilla/Sony Interactive Entertainment
- LEGO STAR WARS: THE SKYWALKER SAGA Development Team – TT Games/Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
- SIFU Development Team – Sloclap/Sloclap & Kepler Interactive
- STRAY Jophray Mikolajczyk, Jean-Marie Vouillon, Simon Jacquart - BlueTwelve Studio/Annapurna Interactive
Artistic Achievement
- ELDEN RING Development Team – FromSoftware/BANDAI Namco Europe
- GOD OF WAR RAGNARÖK Raf Grassetti, Dan McKim, Eric Valdes - Santa Monica Studio/Sony Interactive Entertainment
- IMMORTALITY Doug Potts, Stephanie Reese, Kerry Hennessy - Half Mermaid Productions/Half Mermaid Productions
- PENTIMENT Hannah Kennedy, Soojin Paek - Obsidian Entertainment/Xbox Game Studios
- A PLAGUE TALE: REQUIEM Development Team - Asobo Studio/Focus Entertainment
- Winner - TUNIC Development Team - TUNIC Team/FINJI
Audio Achievement
- Winner - GOD OF WAR RAGNARÖK Jodie Kupsco, Michael Kent, Sean LaValle - Santa Monica Studio/Sony Interactive Entertainment
- HORIZON FORBIDDEN WEST Development Team – Guerrilla/Sony Interactive Entertainment
- METAL: HELLSINGER Elvira Björkman, Nicklas Hjertberg - The Outsiders/Funcom Oslo AS
- A PLAGUE TALE: REQUIEM Development Team - Asobo Studio/Focus Entertainment
- STRAY Development Team - BlueTwelve Studio/Annapurna Interactive
- TUNIC Development Team - TUNIC Team/FINJI
Best Game
- CULT OF THE LAMB Development Team - Massive Monster/Devolver Digital
- ELDEN RING Development Team – FromSoftware/BANDAI Namco Europe
- GOD OF WAR RAGNARÖK Eric Williams, Chad Cox, Yumi Yang - Santa Monica Studio/Sony Interactive Entertainment
- MARVEL SNAP Development Team – Second Dinner Studios/Nuverse
- STRAY Development Team - BlueTwelve Studio/Annapurna Interactive
- Winner - VAMPIRE SURVIVORS Development Team – poncle/poncle
British Game
- CITIZEN SLEEPER Gareth Damian Martin, Guillaume Singelin, Amos Roddy - Jump Over the Age/Fellow Traveller
- OLLIOLLI WORLD Development Team - Roll7/Private Division
- Winner - ROLLERDROME Development Team - Roll7/Private Division
- TOTAL WAR: WARHAMMER III Development Team - Creative Assembly/SEGA
- TWO POINT CAMPUS Development Team - Two Point Studios/SEGA
- VAMPIRE SURVIVORS Development Team – poncle/poncle
Debut Game
- AS DUSK FALLS Caroline Marchal, Charu Desodt - INTERIOR/NIGHT/Xbox Game Studios
- THE CASE OF THE GOLDEN IDOL Andrejs Kļaviņš, Ernests Kļaviņš - Color Gray Games/Playstack
- STRAY Development Team - BlueTwelve Studio/Annapurna Interactive
- TROMBONE CHAMP Development Team - Holy Wow Studios/ Holy Wow Studios
- Winner - TUNIC Development Team - TUNIC Team/FINJI
- VAMPIRE SURVIVORS Development Team – poncle/poncle
Evolving Game
- APEX LEGENDS Development Team – Respawn/Electronic Arts
- DREAMS Development Team - Media Molecule/Sony Interactive Entertainment
- THE ELDER SCROLLS ONLINE Development Team - ZeniMax Online Studios/Bethesda Softworks
- Winner - FINAL FANTASY XIV ONLINE Development Team - Creative Business Unit III/Square Enix
- FORZA HORIZON 5 Development Team - Playground Games/Xbox Game Studios
- NO MAN’S SKY Development Team - Hello Games/Hello Games
Family
- DISNEY DREAMLIGHT VALLEY Development Team - Gameloft/ Gameloft
- Winner - KIRBY AND THE FORGOTTEN LAND Development Team - HAL Laboratory/Nintendo
- LEGO STAR WARS: THE SKYWALKER SAGA Development Team - TT Games/Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
- MARIO + RABBIDS SPARKS OF HOPE Development Team - Ubisoft Milan; Ubisoft Paris/Ubisoft
- NINTENDO SWITCH SPORTS Development Team - Nintendo EPD/Nintendo
- TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES: SHREDDER’S REVENGE Development Team - Tribute Games/Dotemu
Game Beyond Entertainment
- CITIZEN SLEEPER Gareth Damian Martin, Guillaume Singelin, Amos Roddy - Jump Over the Age/Fellow Traveller
- Winner - ENDLING – EXTINCTION IS FOREVER Development Team - Herobeat Studios/HandyGames
- GIBBON: BEYOND THE TREES Development Team - Broken Rules/Broken Rules
- I WAS A TEENAGE EXOCOLONIST Development Team - Northway Games/FINJI
- NOT FOR BROADCAST Development Team – NotGames/tinyBuild
- WE’LL ALWAYS HAVE PARIS Marina Sciberras, Duncan Steele - Cowleyfornia Studios/Cowleyfornia Studios
Game Design
- CULT OF THE LAMB Development Team - Massive Monster/Devolver Digital
- ELDEN RING Development Team – FromSoftware/BANDAI NAMCO Europe
- GOD OF WAR RAGNARÖK Jason McDonald, Andrew Chrysafidis, Luis Sanchez - Santa Monica Studio/Sony Interactive Entertainment
- HORIZON FORBIDDEN WEST Development Team – Guerrilla/Sony Interactive Entertainment
- TUNIC Development Team - TUNIC Team/FINJI
- Winner - VAMPIRE SURVIVORS Development Team – poncle/poncle
Multiplayer
- CALL OF DUTY: MODERN WARFARE II Development Team -Infinity WardActivision Publishing, Inc.
- EA SPORTS FIFA 23 Development Team -EA Vancouver, EA Romania/EA SPORTS
- Winner - ELDEN RING Development Team – FromSoftware/BANDAI Namco Europe
- OVERWATCH 2 Development Team - Blizzard Entertainment/Blizzard Entertainment
- SPLATOON 3 Development Team – Nintendo/Nintendo
- TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES: SHREDDER’S REVENGE Development Team - Tribute Games/Dotemu
Music
- CUPHEAD - THE DELICIOUS LAST COURSE Kristofer Maddigan - Studio MDHR/Studio MDHR
- ELDEN RING Development Team – FromSoftware/BANDAI Namco Europe
- Winner - GOD OF WAR RAGNARÖK Bear McCreary, Keith Leary, Peter Scaturro - Santa Monica Studio/Sony Interactive Entertainment
- A PLAGUE TALE: REQUIEM Olivier Derivière - Asobo Studio/Focus Entertainment
- STRAY Development Team -BlueTwelve Studio/Annapurna Interactive
- TUNIC Lifeformed, Janice Kwan - TUNIC Team/FINJI
Narrative
- CITIZEN SLEEPER Gareth Damian Martin - Jump Over the Age/Fellow Traveller
- GOD OF WAR RAGNARÖK Matt Sophos, Richard Gaubert - Santa Monica Studio/Sony Interactive Entertainment
- Winner - IMMORTALITY Sam Barlow, Amelia Gray, Allan Scott - Half Mermaid Productions/Half Mermaid Productions
- PENTIMENT Josh Sawyer, Kate Dollarhyde, Zoe Franznick - Obsidian Entertainment/Xbox Game Studio
- A PLAGUE TALE: REQUIEM Writing Team - Asobo Studio/Focus Entertainment
- STRAY Writing Team - BlueTwelve Studio/Annapurna Interactive
Original Property
- CITIZEN SLEEPER Gareth Damian Martin, Guillaume Singelin, Amos Roddy - Jump Over the Age/Fellow Traveller
- CULT OF THE LAMB Development Team - Massive Monster/Devolver Digital
- Winner - ELDEN RING Development Team – FromSoftware/BANDAI Namco Europe
- SIFU Development Team – Sloclap/Sloclap & Kepler Interactive
- STRAY Development Team - BlueTwelve Studio/Annapurna Interactive
- VAMPIRE SURVIVORS Development Team – poncle/poncle
Performer in a Leading Role
- ALAIN MESA as Alejandro Vargas in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II
- CHARLOTTE MCBURNEY as Amicia de Rune in A Plague Tale: Requiem
- Winner - CHRISTOPHER JUDGE as Kratos in God of War Ragnarök
- MANON GAGE as Marissa Marcel in Immortality
- SIOBHAN WILLIAMS as Laura in The Quarry
- SUNNY SULJIC as Atreus in God of War Ragnarök
Performer in a Supporting Role
- ADAM J. HARRINGTON as Sindri in God of War Ragnarök
- ALISON JAYE as Alva in Horizon Forbidden West
- CHARLOTTA MOHLIN as The One in Immortality
- DANIELLE BISUTTI as Freya in God of War Ragnarök
- Winner - LAYA DELEON HAYES as Angrboða in God of War Ragnarök
- RYAN HURST as Thor in God of War Ragnarök
Technical Achievement
- ELDEN RING Development Team – FromSoftware/BANDAI NAMCO Europe
- GOD OF WAR RAGNARÖK Josh Hobson, Jon Burke - Santa Monica Studio/Sony Interactive Entertainment
- Winner - HORIZON FORBIDDEN WEST Development Team - Guerrilla/Sony Interactive Entertainment
- IMMORTALITY Connor Carson, Lizi Attwood, Dylan Nelkin - Half Mermaid Productions/Half Mermaid Productions
- THE LAST OF US PART I Development Team - Naughty Dog/Sony Interactive Entertainment
- STRAY Development Team - BlueTwelve Studio/Annapurna Interactive
EE Game of the Year (Voted for by the Public)
- ELDEN RING FromSoftware/BANDAI NAMCO Europe
- Winner - GOD OF WAR RAGNARÖK Santa Monica Studio/Sony Interactive Entertainment
- HORIZON FORBIDDEN WEST Guerrilla/Sony Interactive Entertainment
- IMMORTALITY Half Mermaid Productions/Half Mermaid Productions
- MARVEL SNAP Second Dinner Studios/Nuverse
- STRAY BlueTwelve Studio/Annapurna Interactive
And that's your lot. I have to say, I'm happy Vampire Survivors won out. We gave Elden Ring our game of the year award last year, so I'd hardly be one to criticise if the BAFTAs had opted to award FromSoft's wide-open opus, and hey, I'm sure GoW: Ragnarok is pretty good too. But nevertheless, Vampire Survivors is a special and tightly-designed thing. It's good to see it get the accolades it deserves on a big and glitzy stage.
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