This year’s BAFTA Game Awards celebrated amazing wins from a wide range of games including Elden Ring and God of War: Ragnarok, with Vampire Survivors taking home the Best Game title. Immortality claimed the victory for Best Narrative, and its availability for both Android and iOS through Netflix Games played a major role in its success.
Submissions for the 2024 Awards Open Early
In a surprising move, submissions for the BAFTA Game Awards 2024 are open earlier than anticipated. Developers and publishers can now submit entries from the same year, with the longlist expected to be announced in December treated as an event to celebrate a host of games from different genres. Winners have been selected based on a jury in the past, but the upcoming awards have members vote instead. This change aims to reflect the fact that the number of voting memberships has exceeded 1,000, including an increase over the last couple of years.
Changes Afoot
To ensure that voting members have enough time to play and evaluate the games thoroughly, BAFTA encourages submissions within a month of release. Late entries attract a fee, which has been introduced to support the indie developers and give them an equal opportunity to compete with mainstream titles. The Original Property category has also been renamed as New Intellectual Property, and the criteria for eligibility remain the same.
BAFTA intends to reveal the longlist of selected titles before the shortlist comes out to make the process more interesting. The following year’s Game Awards will break new ground, as more steps will be taken to accommodate indie developers.
Mobile Games Dominate the Scene
As the gaming industry evolves at an unprecedented rate, developers have come up with titles that appeal to different audiences. This includes games that can be played on mobile devices, such as the standouts that shone at the Mobile Game Awards in 2023. The winners ranged from the ever-popular Candy Crush to Marvel Snap.