The gaming industry award season is in full swing, with BAFTA doling out another set of trophies on Thursday night. The 2021 British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) Game Awards announced its list of winners, which includes multi-nominated titles such as Hades, The Last of Us Part 2, Animal Crossing: New Horizons, and many more.
Now in its second year of its livestream format due to the ongoing pandemic, the British organization announced its extensive list of 2021 BAFTA Game Awards nominees well ahead of time. The 17th annual BAFTA Games Awards have a total of 18 categories, such as Best Game, British Game, Game Design, Multiplayer Game, Music, and Narrative.
Going into the awards show, Naughty Dog's The Last of Us Part 2 was by far the most dominant title. The grim action-adventure broke the record for most BAFTA Award nominations, garnering a total of 13. The PlayStation exclusive ended up taking home BAFTAs for Animation in addition to Performer in a Leading Role. The latter award was earned by Laura Bailey, who portrayed the divisive character Abby. Other highlights include Animal Crossing: New Horizons taking home awards for Multiplayer Game and Game Beyond Entertainment, and Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales winning best music. The full list of winners for the 2021 BAFTA Games Awards are as follows:
- Best Game - Hades
- British Game - Sackboy: A Big Adventure
- Animation - The Last of Us Part 2
- Artistic Achievement - Hades
- Audio Achievement - Ghost of Tsushima
- Debut Game - Carrion
- Evolving Game - Sea of Thieves
- Family Game - Sackboy: A Big Adventure
- Game Beyond Entertainment - Animal Crossing: New Horizons
- Game Design - Hades
- Multiplayer Game - Animal Crossing: New Horizons
- Music - Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales
- Narrative - Hades
- Original Property - Kentucky Route Zero: TV Edition
- Performer in a Leading Role - Laura Bailey as Abby in The Last of Us Part 2
- Performer in a Supporting Role - Logan Cunningham as Hades, Achilles, Poseidon, Asterius, Charon, and the Storyteller in Hades
- EE Game of the Year (Voted by the Public) - The Last of Us Part 2
As somewhat expected, Hades and The Last of Us Part 2 took the lion's share of awards, accounting for half of the categories. Hades in particular has been on a hot streak, winning Game of the Year at the 2021 SXSW Awards last week in addition to taking home five BAFTAs, more than any other title.
Beyond giving accolades to video game IP, the 2021 BAFTA Games Awards also bestowed a BAFTA fellowship. Given to Media Molecule Director Siobhan Reddy, the lifetime achievement award is the highest honor conferred by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts, which is designed to recognize individuals who make major creative contributions to their field. Reddy, who oversaw the development of such titles as LittleBigPlanet, Tearaway, and Dreams, released an acceptance speech prior to the awards show's airing, calling for, "all of us to to care even more about inclusivity, diversity and building a work culture that celebrates creativity."
While BAFTA is a distinguished organization, the constantly increasing number of gaming awards makes at least some of the accolades less significant than others. Although these types of awards usually focus on aspects of video games themselves, there's quite a unique one coming up. Xbox could win an award for best use of a meme, which everyone can agree is pretty darn funny.
Source: BAFTA