Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice was the big winner at tonight's British Academy Games Awards, the UK's annual BAFTA ceremony celebrating outstanding achievement in videogames. Hellblade claimed victory in five categories, including Artistic Achievement, Best Performer, and Best British Game—but the Best Game nod went to What Remains of Edith Finch.
Edith Finch beat out Assassin's Creed: Origins, Hellblade, Horizon Zero Dawn, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, and Super Mario Odyssey to take the big crown. This is actually the second win for developer Giant Sparrow; its previous game, The Unfinished Swan, won the Best Debut Game award in 2013.
Double Fine Entertainment boss Tim Schaer was this year's BAFTA Fellowship winner, awarded "in recognition of an outstanding and exceptional contribution to film, games or television." Previous Fellowship winners include John Carmack, Gabe Newell, Peter Molyneux, Shigeru Miyamoto, David Braben, and Will Wright.
"Tim Schafer is a true pioneer of game design, who has pushed the boundaries of the medium through his extraordinary talents," BAFTA CEO Amanda Berry said. "With a career spanning three decades, his diverse body of work includes some of the most iconic and best-loved adventure games, all characterised by his powerful storytelling and distinctive comedic writing style. We are honored to be presenting him with the BAFTA Fellowship."
The full list of categories and winners is below.
- Artistic Achievement – Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice - Ninja Theory Ltd/ Ninja Theory Ltd
- Audio Achievement – Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice - David Garcia Diaz - Ninja Theory Ltd/ Ninja Theory Ltd
- Best Game – What Remains of Edith Finch - Giant Sparrow/Annapurna Interactive
- British Game - Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice - Ninja Theory Ltd/ Ninja Theory Ltd
- Debut Game – Gorogoa - Jason Roberts, Buried Signal/Annapurna Interactive
- Evolving Game – Overwatch - Blizzard Entertainment/ Blizzard Entertainment
- Family – Super Mario Odyssey - Nintendo EPD/Nintendo
- Game Beyond Entertainment - Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice - Ninja Theory Ltd/ Ninja Theory Ltd
- Game Design - Super Mario Odyssey - Nintendo EPD/Nintendo
- Game Innovation – The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild - Nintendo EPD/Nintendo
- Mobile Game – Golf Clash - Paul Gouge, Alex Rigby, Gareth Jones – Playdemic/Playdemic
- Multiplayer – Divinity: Original Sin 2 - Larian Studios/ Larian Studios Games
- Music – Cuphead - StudioMDHR Entertainment Inc./StudioMDHR Entertainment Inc.
- Narrative – Night in the Woods - Scott Benson, Alec Holowka, Bethany Hockenberry – InfiniteFall/ Finji
- Original Property – Horizon Zero Dawn – Guerrilla/Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe
- Performer – Melina Juergens as Senua – Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice
The full list of nominees and winners is available at bafta.org.
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