The British Academy’s game awards will reward titles with a social message as well as the year’s best acting performances
Last modified on Thu 3 Mar 2022 10.55 EST
Innovative science-fiction shooter Returnal and creative co-operative platform game It Takes Two lead the nominations for Bafta’s 2022 Games Awards, with eight nominations each in categories from best animation to best game.
Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart, a flagship PlayStation 5 game from last summer, is in the running for seven awards, while driving-tourism racer Forza Horizon 5 and surreal psychological adventure Psychonauts 2 have six nominations each. In total, 39 games have been nominated across the awards’ 16 categories, celebrating excellence in everything from sound design and animation to narrative.
The “evolving game” category is for games released before 2021 that have seen significant improvements and updates during the past year; the nominees include multiplayer shooter Apex Legends and Nintendo’s smash hit Animal Crossing: New Horizons. The “game beyond entertainment” award honours games that have a social, political, educational or environmental message, such as the cute conservation game Alba: A Wildlife Adventure.
The EE Game of the Year award will be voted for by the public, from a shortlist drawn up by a jury. All other awards are decided by juries comprised of industry veterans and critics. The nominees for the two performance categories – performer in a leading role, and performer in a supporting role – will be announced later in March.
The awards will take place at Queen Elizabeth Hall in London on 7 April, and will be livestreamed on Twitch. The full list of nominees follows.
Call 0f Duty: Vanguard (Sledgehammer Games/Activision Blizzard)
It Takes Two (Hazelight Studios/Electronic Arts)
Kena: Bridge of Spirits (Ember Lab Llc/ Ember Lab Llc)
Life Is Strange: True Colors (Square Enix, Deck Nine Games/Square Enix)
Psychonauts 2 (Double Fine Productions/Xbox Game Studios)
Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart (Insomniac Games/Sony Interactive Entertainment)
The Artful Escape – Beethoven & Dinosaur/Annapurna Interactive
It Takes Two – Hazelight Studios/Electronic Arts
Psychonauts 2 – Double Fine Productions/Xbox Game Studios
Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart – Insomniac Games/Sony Interactive Entertainment
Resident Evil Village – Capcom/Capcom
Returnal – Housemarque/Sony Interactive Entertainment
The Artful Escape – Beethoven & Dinosaur/Annapurna Interactive
Call of Duty: Vanguard – Sledgehammer Games/Activision Blizzard
Deathloop – Arkane Lyon/Bethesda Softworks
Halo Infinite – 343 Industries/Xbox Game Studios
Marvel’s Guardian’s Of The Galaxy – Eidos-Montréal/Square Enix
Returnal – Housemarque/Sony Interactive Entertainment
Deathloop – Arkane Lyon/Bethesda Softworks
Forza Horizon 5 – Playground Games/Xbox Game Studios
Inscryption – Daniel Mullins Games/Devolver Digital
It Takes Two – Hazelight Studios/Electronic Arts
Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart – Insomniac Games/Sony Interactive Entertainment
Returnal – Housemarque/Sony Interactive Entertainment
Alba: A Wildlife Adventure – Ustwo Games/Ustwo Games, Plug In Digital
Death’s Door – Acid Nerve/Devolver Digital
Fights in Tight Spaces – Ground Shatter/Mode7
Forza Horizon 5 – Playground Games/Xbox Game Studios
Overboard! – Inkle/ Inkle
Sable – Shedworks/Raw Fury
Debut Game
The Artful Escape – Beethoven & Dinosaur/Annapurna Interactive
Eastward – Pixpil/Chucklefish
The Forgotten City – Modern Storyteller/Dear Villagers
Genesis Noir – Feral Cat Den/Fellow Traveller
Maquette – Graceful Decay/Annapurna Interactive
Toem – Something We Made/ Something We Made
Among Us – Innersloth/Innersloth
Animal Crossing: New Horizons – Nintendo Epd/Nintendo
Apex Legends – Respawn Entertainment/Electronic Arts
Disco Elysium – The Final Cut – Za/Um/Za/Um
Fortnite – Epic Games/Epic Games, People Can Fly
No Man’s Sky – Hello Games/Hello Games
Alba: A Wildlife Adventure – Ustwo Games/Ustwo Games, Plug In Digital
Chicory: A Colorful Tale – Greg Lobanov, A Shell In The Pit, Madeline Berger, Alexis Dean-Jones, Lena Raine/Finji
Forza Horizon 5 – Playground Games/Xbox Game Studios
Mario Party Superstars – Nintendo Epd/Nintendo
Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart – Insomniac Games/Sony Interactive Entertainment
Unpacking – Witch Beam/Humble Games
Alba: A Wildlife Adventure – Ustwo Games/Ustwo Games/Plug In Digital
Before Your Eyes – Goodbyeworld Games/Skybound Games
Chicory: A Colorful Tale- Greg Lobanov, A Shell In The Pit, Madeline Berger, Alexis Dean-Jones, Lena Raine/Finji
Game Builder Garage – Nintendo Epd/Nintendo
It Takes Two -Hazelight Studios/Electronic Arts
Psychonauts 2 -Double Fine Productions/Xbox Game Studios
Deathloop – Arkane Lyon/Bethesda Softworks
Forza Horizon 5 – Playground Games/Xbox Game Studios
Inscryption – Daniel Mullins Games/Devolver Digital
It Takes Two – Hazelight Studios/Electronic Arts
Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart – Insomniac Games/Sony Interactive Entertainment
Returnal – Housemarque/Sony Interactive Entertainment
Back 4 Blood – Turtle Rock Studios/Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
Call Of Duty: Vanguard – Sledgehammer Games/Activision Blizzard
Forza Horizon 5 – Playground Games/Xbox Game Studios
Halo Infinite – 343 Industries/Xbox Game Studios
Hell Let Loose – Black Matter/Team17
It Takes Two – Hazelight Studios/Electronic Arts
Deathloop – Arkane Lyon/Bethesda Softworks
Far Cry 6 – Ubisoft Toronto/Ubisoft
Halo Infinite – 343 Industries/Xbox Game Studios
Psychonauts 2 – Double Fine Productions/Xbox Game Studios
Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart – Insomniac Games/ Sony Interactive Entertainment
Returnal – Housemarque/Sony Interactive Entertainment
It Takes Two – Hazelight Studios/Electronic Arts
Life Is Strange: True Colors – Square Enix, Deck Nine Games/Square Enix
Marvel’s Guardians Of The Galaxy – Eidos-Montréal/Square Enix
Psychonauts 2 – Double Fine Productions/Xbox Game Studios
Returnal – Housemarque/Sony Interactive Entertainment
Unpacking – Witch Beam/Humble Games
Original Property
Deathloop – Arkane Lyon/Bethesda Softworks
