Alongside that Best Game award, Returnal came top in BAFTA’s Audio Achievement amd Music categories, while Jane Perry scored a win in the Performer in a Leading Role category for her portrayal of Returnal protagonist Selene Vassos. Returnal wasn’t the only multi-award winner, however; Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart successfully beat the competition in BAFTA’s Animation and Technical Achievement categories, while Hazelight Studios’ It Takes Two was named best Multiplayer game and best Original Property. As for Witch Beam’s Unpacking (which was named Eurogamer’s Game of 2021, you may recall), it won best Narrative and EE Game of the Year, the latter as voted by the public. Elsewhere, Hello Games’ exploratory sci-fi sim No Man’s Sky took home the prize for best Evolving Game, Forza 5 won best British Game, and plenty of smaller titles gained recognition in categories dominated by AAA nominees. Developer Beethoven & Dinosaur’s The Artful Escape secured the Artistic Achievement award, for instance - winning out against the likes of Psychonauts 2, Ratchet & Clank, and Resident Evil Village - while Daniel Mullins’ wonderfully weird deck-builder Inscryption was named as winner in the Game Design category, beating the likes of Forza Horizon 5, Returnal, and Deathloop. You’ll find the full list of this year’s BAFTA Games Awards winners (bolded among all nominees in each category) below: ANIMATION
CALL OF DUTY: VANGUARD (Sledgehammer Games) IT TAKES TWO (Hazelight Studios) KENA: BRIDGE OF SPIRITS (Hunter Schmidt) LIFE IS STRANGE: TRUE COLORS (Deck Nine Games) PSYCHONAUTS 2 (Double Fine Productions) RATCHET & CLANK: RIFT APART (Insomniac Games)
ARTISTIC ACHIEVEMENT
THE ARTFUL ESCAPE (Beethoven & Dinosaur) IT TAKES TWO (Hazelight Studios) PSYCHONAUTS 2 (Double Fine Productions) RATCHET & CLANK: RIFT APART (Insomniac Games) RESIDENT EVIL VILLAGE (Capcom) RETURNAL (Housemarque)
AUDIO ACHIEVEMENT
THE ARTFUL ESCAPE (Beethoven & Dinosaur) CALL OF DUTY: VANGUARD (Sledgehammer Games) DEATHLOOP (Arkane Lyon) HALO INFINITE (343 Industries) MARVEL’S GUARDIAN’S OF THE GALAXY (Eidos-Montréal) RETURNAL (Housemarque)
BEST GAME
DEATHLOOP (Arkane Lyon) FORZA HORIZON 5 (Playground Games) INSCRYPTION (Daniel Mullins GameS) IT TAKES TWO (Hazelight Studios) RATCHET & CLANK: RIFT APART (Insomniac Games) RETURNAL (Housemarque)
BRITISH GAME
ALBA: A WILDLIFE ADVENTURE (ustwo games) DEATH’S DOOR (Acid Nerve) FIGHTS IN TIGHT SPACES (Ground Shatter) FORZA HORIZON 5 (Playground Games) OVERBOARD! (inkle) SABLE (Shedworks)
DEBUT GAME
THE ARTFUL ESCAPE (Beethoven & Dinosaur) EASTWARD (Pixpil) THE FORGOTTEN CITY (Modern Storyteller) GENESIS NOIR (Feral Cat Den) MAQUETTE (Graceful Decay) TOEM (Something We Made)
EVOLVING GAME
AMONG US (Innersloth) ANIMAL CROSSING: NEW HORIZONS (Nintendo) APEX LEGENDS (Respawn Entertainment) DISCO ELYSIUM – THE FINAL CUT (ZA/UM) FORTNITE (Epic Games) NO MAN’S SKY (Hello Games)
FAMILY
ALBA: A WILDLIFE ADVENTURE (ustwo games) CHICORY: A COLORFUL TALE (Finji) FORZA HORIZON 5 (Playground Games) MARIO PARTY SUPERSTARS (Nintendo EPD) RATCHET & CLANK: RIFT APART (Insomniac Games) UNPACKING (Witch Beam)
GAME BEYOND ENTERTAINMENT
ALBA: A WILDLIFE ADVENTURE (ustwo games) BEFORE YOUR EYES (GoodbyeWorld Games) CHICORY: A COLORFUL TALE (Finji) GAME BUILDER GARAGE (Nintendo) IT TAKES TWO (Hazelight Studios) PSYCHONAUTS 2 (Double Fine Productions)
GAME DESIGN
DEATHLOOP (Arkane Lyon) FORZA HORIZON 5 (Playground Games) INSCRYPTION (Daniel Mullins Games) IT TAKES TWO (Hazelight Studios) RATCHET & CLANK: RIFT APART (Insomniac Games) RETURNAL (Housemarque)
MULTIPLAYER
BACK 4 BLOOD (Turtle Rock Studios) CALL OF DUTY: VANGUARD (Sledgehammer Games) FORZA HORIZON 5 (Playground Games) HALO INFINITE (343 Industries) HELL LET LOOSE (Black Matter) IT TAKES TWO (Hazelight Studios)
MUSIC
DEATHLOOP (Arkane Lyon) FAR CRY 6 (Ubisoft Toronto) HALO INFINITE (343 Industries) PSYCHONAUTS 2 (Double Fine Productions) RATCHET & CLANK: RIFT APART (Insomniac Games) RETURNAL (Housemarque)
NARRATIVE
IT TAKES TWO (Hazelight Studios) LIFE IS STRANGE: TRUE COLORS (Deck Nine Games) MARVEL’S GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY (Eidos-Montréal) PSYCHONAUTS 2 (Double Fine Productions) RETURNAL (Housemarque) UNPACKING (Witch Beam)
ORIGINAL PROPERTY
DEATHLOOP (Arkane Lyon) DEATH’S DOOR (Acid Nerve) INSCRYPTION (Daniel Mullins Games) IT TAKES TWO (Hazelight Studios) RETURNAL (Housemarque) UNPACKING (Witch Beam)
PERFORMER IN A LEADING ROLE
OZIOMA AKAGHA as Julianna Blake in DEATHLOOP JASON E KELLEY as Colt Vahn “the Captain” in DEATHLOOP JENNIFER HALE as Rivet in Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart JON MCLAREN as Star-Lord/Peter Quill in Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy ERIKA MORI as Alex Chen in Life is Strange: True Colors JANE PERRY as Selene Vassos in Returnal
PERFORMER IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
LAURA BAILEY as Polina Petrova in Call of Duty: Vanguard KIMBERLY BROOKS as Hollis Forsythe in Psychonauts 2 JASON CAVALIER as Drax in Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy MAGGIE ROBERTSON as Lady Dimitrescu in Resident Evil Village HAN SOTO as Gabe Chen in Life is Strange: True Colors ALEX WEINER as Rocket in Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy
TECHNICAL ACHIEVEMENT
FORZA HORIZON 5 (Playground Games) HITMAN 3 (IO Interactive) PSYCHONAUTS 2 (Double Fine Productions) RATCHET & CLANK: RIFT APART (Insomniac Games) RESIDENT EVIL VILLAGE (Capcom) RETURNAL (Housemarque)
EE GAME OF THE YEAR (voted for by the public)
CHICORY: A COLORFUL TALE (Finji) DEATHLOOP (Arkane Lyon) THE FORGOTTEN CITY (Modern Storyteller) IT TAKES TWO (Hazelight Studios) METROID DREAD (Nintendo & MercurySteam) UNPACKING (Witch Beam)
