Video Game BAFTAs 2013: Nominees Announced

The glitzy film BAFTAs aired over the weekend and soon it will be time for their less glamorous but just as important cousin, the video games BAFTAs. The 2013 nominees were announced today and I’m please to see it filled with plenty of my favourite titles. Over in the Innovation category, Wonderbook: Books of Spells, Journey and The Unfinished Swan are making a strong showing for Sony, battling against Kinect Sesame Street TV, Fez and… Call of Duty Black Ops 2?

Indie game Thomas was Alone has nominations in 3 BAFTA categories, rubbing shoulders with Mass Effect 3 for Story, with narrator Danny Wallace up for Performer and composer David Housden for Original Music. Not bad for a game made in the developer’s spare time.

The Nomination Process

For a game to be eligible, it must have been released in the UK between 1st January 2012 and 31st December 2012.

The main group of entries are grouped into categories and voted on by the games-voting BAFTA members. The ten games which receive the most votes in each category then qualify for the next stage – a jury specialising in that category. The second group of entries are games released after 3rd December 2012. These are selected by jury only.

Each jury comprises between seven and nine industry practitioners across a range of developers and publishers and is chaired by a member of the BAFTA Video Games committee. Juries are balanced in age and experience, with a track record of achievement in the field. No juror will be permitted to sit on the jury if he/she has had any direct association with a short-listed game. Chairs are mindful of the jury’s diversity, and jurors will not be exclusively from one discipline. After discussion, the jury selects the nominations and winner by secret ballot.

See the BAFTA website to learn more about the BAFTA video game awards.

The winners will be announced at the awards ceremony, which will be held on 5th March 2013. Here’s the full list of nominees for the Video Game BAFTAs 2013:

Action

Far Cry 3 Dan Hay, Patrick Plourde, Patrik Methe
Hitman: Absolution Development Team
Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 Development Team
Halo 4 Development Team
Borderlands 2 Development Team
Mass Effect 3 Development Team

Artistic Achievement

Journey Development Team
Far Cry 3 Jean Alexis Doyan, Genseki Tanaka, Vincent Jean
The Room Mark Hamilton, Rob Dodd, Barry Meade
Halo 4 Development Team
Dear Esther
Borderlands 2 Randy Pitchford, Paul Hellquist, Jeramy Cooke

Audio Achievement

Journey Development Team
Far Cry 3 Dan Hay, Tony Gronick, Brian Tyler
Beat Sneak Bandit Simon Flesser, Magnus “Gordon” Gardebäck
Halo 4 Development Team
Assassin’s Creed III Mathieu Jeanson
Dear Esther Jessica Curry

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)
Pixel Story Martin Cosens, Thomas McParland, Ashley Hayes, Benhamin Rushton, Luke Harrison (Loan Wolf Games)
Project Thanatos Hugh Laird, Andrew Coles, Thomas Laird, Alexandra Shapland, Thomas Kemp (Raptor Games)

Best Game

Far Cry 3 Dan Hay, Patrick Plourde, Patrik Methè
FIFA 13 David Rutter, Nick Channon, Aaron McHardy
Journey Development Team
Mass Effect 3 Casey Hudson
Dishonored Development Team
The Walking Dead Dan Connors, Kevin Bruner, Kevin Boyle

British Game

Need for Speed Most Wanted Development Team
The Room Mark Hamilton, Rob Dodd, Barry Meade
LEGO: The Lord of the Rings Development Team
Forza Horizon Development Team
Dear Esther Daniel Pinchbeck, Robert Briscoe, Jessica Curry
Super Hexagon Terry Cavanagh, Niamh Houston, Jenn Frank

Debut Game

Deadlight Raul Rubio, Luz Sancho, Oscar Cuesta
The Unfinished Swan Ian Dallas, Nathan Gary
Forza Horizon Development Team
Dear Esther Daniel Pinchbeck, Robert Briscoe, Jessica Curry
The Room Mark Hamilton, Rob Dodd, Barry Meade
Proteus Ed Key, David Kanaga

Family

LEGO Batman 2: DC Super Heroes Jon Burton, Jonathan Smith, John Hodskinson
Minecraft: XBOX 360 Edition Development Team
LEGO the Lord of the Rings Development Team
Just Dance 4 Alkis Argyriadis, Matthew Tomkinson, Veronique Halbrey
Skylanders Giants Paul Reiche, Fred Ford, Scott Krager
Clay Jam Chris Roe Iain Gilfeather, Michael Movel

Game Design

Dishonored Development Team
Far Cry 3 Patrick Methè, Jamie Keen
Journey Development Team
XCOM: Enemy Unknown Development Team
Borderlands 2 Randy Pitchford, Paul Hellquist, Jeramy Cooke
The Walking Dead Dan Connors, Kevin Bruner, Kevin Boyle

Game Innovation

Fez Development Team
Call of Duty: Black Ops II Development Team
Wonderbook: Books of Spells Development Team
Journey Development Team
Kinect Sesame Street TV Development Team
The Unfinished Swan Ian Dallas, Nathan Gary, Development Team

Mobile & Handheld

LittleBigPlanet (Vita) Tom O’Connor, Mattias Nygren, Lee Hutchinson
Super Monsters Ate My Condo Development Team
The Room Mark Hamilton, Rob Dodd, Barry Meade
New Star Soccer Simon Read
Incoboto Dene Carter
The Walking Dead Dan Connors, Kevin Bruner, Kevin Boyle

Online – Browser

The Settlers Online Christopher Schmitz, Guido Schmidt, Rainer Reber
Amateur Surgeon Hospital Development Team
SongPop Olivier Michon, Thibaut Crenn, Daouna Jeong
Merlin: The Game Development Team
Runescape Development Team
Dick and Dom’s HOOPLA! Adam Clay, Russell Stearman

Online – Multiplayer

Assassin’s Creed III Damien Kieken, Mathieu Granjon, Yann Le Guyader
Call of Duty: Black Ops II Development Team
Journey Development Team
Need For Speed Most Wanted Development Team
Halo 4 Development Team
Borderlands 2 Randy Pitchford, Paul Hellquist, Jeramy Cooke

Original Music

The Unfinished Swan Joel Corlitz, Ian Dallas, Peter Scaturro
Journey Austin Wintory
Diablo III Development Team
Assassin’s Creed III Lorne Balfe
The Walking Dead Development Team
Thomas Was Alone David Housden

Performer

Nolan North (Nathan Drake) Uncharted: Golden Abyss
Danny Wallace (The Narrator) Thomas Was Alone
Melissa Hutchinson (Clementine) The Walking Dead
Dave Fennoy (Lee Everett) The Walking Dead
Adrian Hough (Haytham) Assassin’s Creed III
Nigel Carrington (The Narrator) Dear Esther

Sports/Fitness

Forza Horizon Development Team
F1 2012 Development Team
FIFA 13 David Rutter, Nick Channon, Aaron McHardy
Nike+ Kinect Training Development Team
New Star Soccer Simon Read
Trials Evolution Development Team, Antti llvessup, Kim Lahti

Story

Journey Development Team
Far Cry 3 Jeffrey Yohalem, Lucien Soulban, Jeffrey Yohalem
The Walking Dead Development Team
Thomas was Alone Mike Bithell
Mass Effect 3 Mac Walters
Dishonored Development Team

Strategy

Dark Souls: Prepare To Die Development Team
Diablo III Development Team
Great Big War Game David Moss, Steve Venezia, Paul Johnson
Total War Shogun 2: Fall of the Samurai Development Team
Football Manager 2013 Development Team
XCOM: Enemy Unknown Development Team