Video Game BAFTAs 2013 Winners

The British Academy Game Award winners of 2013 were revealed last night in a fancy black-tie ceremony. I very much like the video game BAFTAs. They don’t stop the ceremony to run promotional trailers like the Golden Joysticks and the Spike VGA awards, and each award is deliberated by a specialist jury. Also, they have fancy BAFTA chocolates in the media room.

The awards themselves were swept by small teams with little marketing budget – mostly Santa Monica Studios. I love that the juries consider games like Dear Esther against the likes of Far Cry 3 and Borderlands 2 – you can see the full list of 2013 BAFTA Game nominees and the judging process in the announcement back in December.

Here are the winners, along with the jury members for each BAFTA game category. If you want to blame someone for your pick not winning, these are the people.

Action: Far Cry 3 – Dan Hay, Patrick Plourde, Patrik Methé of
Ubisoft Montreal/Ubisoft.

Jury: Johnny Minkley (Chair), Mike Bithell, James Brooksby, Rory Buckeridge, Richard Jolly, Nick Marshall, Matt Martin, Chris Viggers, Andy Wallace.

Artistic Achievement: Journey – Development Team at That Game Company, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe.

Jury: Jon Weinbren (Chair), Michel Cassius, Barclay Deeming, Sean Dromgoole, Chris Hill, James Shepard, Magali Stretton, Phil Stuart, Siobhan Thomas, Jolyon Webb.

Audio Achievement: Journey – Steve Johnson, Austin Wintory, Keith Leary, That Game Company, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe.

Jury: Ray Maguire (Chair), Nick Arundel, Paul Bennun, John Broomhall, Michael French, Darren Potter, Ciaran Rooney, Graeme Struthers, Kenny Young.

Best Game: Dishonored, Development Team at Arkane Studios, Bethesda Softworks.

Jury: David Braben (Chair), Katherine Bidwell, Simon Harris, Andrew Parsons, Elaine Reynolds, Roger Walkden, Jonny Watts, Alex Wiltshire.

British Game: The Room, Development Team, Fireproof Games.

Jury: Andy Payne (Chair), Byron Atkinson-Jones, Barn Cleave, Rob Crossley, Dan Griliopoulous, Aaron Ludlow, Kristan Reed, Ella Romanos, Andrew Smith, Keith Stuart, Pete Williamson.

Debut Game: The Unfinished Swan – Ian Dallas, Nathan Gary, Giant Sparrow/Sony Computer Entertainment Europe.

Jury: Imre Jele (Chair), Andy Brammall, Will Freeman, Jim Greer, Sefton Hill, Martin Hollis, Dan Marshall, Henrique Olifiers.

Family: LEGO Batman 2: DC Super Heroes, Jon Burton, Jonathan Smith, John Hodskinson, TT Games/Warner Brothers Interactive Entertainment.

Jury: Jon Hare (Chair), Ortis Deley, Linda James, Jim Mummery, Gary Penn, Simin Prytherch, Bert Purchese, Jo Twist.

Game Design: Journey, Development Team, That Game Company/Sony Computer Entertainment Europe.

Jury: Noirin Carmody (Chair), Simon Barratt, Ali Bergstrom-Allen, Ian Bowden, Kevin Carthew, Charles Cecil, Charles Griffiths, Sean Millard, John Nash.

Game Innovation: The Unfinished Swan, Ian Dallas, Nathan Gary Giant Sparrow/Sony Computer Entertainment Europe.

Jury: Mark Maslowicz (Chair), Jonnie Bryant, Ian Chambers, Daniel Da Rocha, Chris Dring, Adam Lay, Andrew Oliver, Lauren Pears, Alex Ward.

Mobile & Handheld: The Walking Dead, Dan Connors, Kevin Bruner, Kevin Boyle, Telltale Games/Telltale.

Jury: Pauline Bozek (Chair), Keith Andrew, Stuart Dredge, Tak Fung, Will Luton, Renate Nyborg, Simon Oliver, Fani Sazaklidou, Matthew Wiggins, Anthony Yu.

Online – Browser: SongPop, Olivier Michon, Thibaut Crenn, Daouna Jeong, FreshPlanet.

Jury: Georg Backer, Paul Filby, Alexis Kennedy, Ian Masters, Neil McKenna, Simon Parkin, Guy Simmons, Jody Smith.

Online Multiplayer: Journey, Development Team, That Game Company/Sony Computer Entertainment Europe.

Jury: Georg Backer (Chair), Matt Broughton, Miles Jacobson, Neil Postlethwaite, Kris Skellorn, Jeremy Thomas, Sarach Wellock, Andrew Willmot.

Original Music: Journey, Austin Wintory, Keith Leary, Mony Mudd That Game Company/Sony Computer Entertainment Europe.

Jury: Paul Jackson (Chair) Clive Arundell, Joris De Man, Mark Green, Paul Max, Chris Mann, Jason Page, Jon Rissik, Adam Sawkins.

Performer: Danny Wallace in Thomas Was Alone

Jury: Harvey Elliot (Chair), Mark Backler, Will Byles, Adele Cutting, Brynley Gibson, Sam Hart, Daniel Leaver, Peter Ranson.

(In celebration, creator Mike Bithell is selling Thomas Was Alone at a 50% discount today only)

Sports/Fitness: New Star Soccer, Simon Read, New Star Games.

Jury: Andy Nuttall (Chair), John Beech, Ben Board, Griff Jenkins, Steve Malpass, Mark Parry, Ollie Purkiss, Matt Spall, Steve Watt.

Story: The Walking Dead, Development Team, Telltale Games.

Jury: Rob Lowe (Chair), Richard Cobbett, Simon Harris, Adam Rosser, James Swallow, Justin Villiers, Marek Walton, Rob Yescombe

Strategy: XCOM: Enemy Unknown, Development Team, Firaxis/2K Games.

Jury: Sanjay Mistry (Chair), Guy Cocker, Ralph Ferneyhough, Trang Ho, Daniel Leaver, Stuart Morton, Roger Schembri, Alex Simmons, Stuart Whyte.

BAFTA Ones to Watch Award in association with Dare to Be Digital: Starcrossed – Kimi Sulopuisto, Vili Viitaniemi, Minttu Meriläinen, Petri Liuska, Andrew MacLean (Kind of a Big Deal).

Jury: Johnny Minkley (Chair), Martin Korda, Ella Romanos, Andrew Smith, Matt Southern, Alice Taylor.