Innovative sci-fi shooter Returnal and creative co-op platformer It Takes Two lead the nominations for the Bafta Games Awards 2022, with eight nominations each in categories ranging from Best Animation to Best Game.
Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart, a PlayStation 5 flagship game from last summer, is up for seven awards, while car-touring pilot Forza Horizon 5 and surreal psychological adventure Psychonauts 2 each have six nominations. A total of 39 games were nominated in the 16 award categories, celebrating excellence in everything from sound design and animation to storytelling.
The “living game” category is for games released before 2021 that have seen significant improvements and updates over the past year; nominees include multiplayer shooter Apex Legends and Nintendo’s hit Animal Crossing: New Horizons. The “Game Beyond Entertainment” award recognizes games that have a social, political, educational or environmental message, such as the cute conservation game Alba: A Wildlife Adventure.
The prize for EE game of the year will be chosen by the public, from a shortlist drawn up by a jury. All other awards are decided by juries made up of industry veterans and critics. Nominees for both performance categories – performer in a lead 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 April 7 and will be streamed live on Twitch. The full list of nominees follows.
Animation
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)
artistic achievement
Artistic 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
Back – Housemarque/Sony Interactive Entertainment
audio production
Artistic 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 Guardians of the Galaxy – Eidos-Montreal/Square Enix
Back – Housemarque/Sony Interactive Entertainment
best game
Deathloop – Arkane Lyon/Bethesda Softworks
Forza Horizon 5 – Playground Games / Xbox Game Studios
Registration – Daniel Mullins Games/Devolver Digital
It Takes Two – Hazelight Studios/Electronic Arts
Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart – Insomniac Games/Sony Interactive Entertainment
Back – Housemarque/Sony Interactive Entertainment
British game
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
At the sea! – Inkle/ Inkle
Sand – Shedworks/Raw Fury
First game
Artistic escape – Beethoven & Dinosaur / Annapurna Interactive
Eastbound – Pixpil / Chucklefish
The Forgotten City – Modern Storyteller/Dear Villagers
Genesis Black – Feral Cat Den / Travel Companion
Model – Graceful Decay/Annapurna Interactive
Toem – Something We Did / Something We Did
Scalable game
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
Family
Alba: A Wildlife Adventure – Ustwo Games/Ustwo Games, Plug In Digital
Chicory: A Colorful Story – 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
Unboxing – Witch Beam/Humble Games
Game beyond entertainment
Alba: A Wild 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
The design of the game
Deathloop – Arkane Lyon/Bethesda Softworks
Forza Horizon 5 – Playground Games / Xbox Game Studios
Registration – Daniel Mullins Games/Devolver Digital
It Takes Two – Hazelight Studios/Electronic Arts
Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart – Insomniac Games/Sony Interactive Entertainment
Back – Housemarque/Sony Interactive Entertainment
Multiplayer
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 – Dark Matter / Team17
It Takes Two – Hazelight Studios/Electronic Arts
The music
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
Back – Housemarque/Sony Interactive Entertainment
Story
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-Montreal/Square Enix
Psychonauts 2 – Double Fine Productions/Xbox Game Studios
Back – Housemarque/Sony Interactive Entertainment
Unboxing – Witch Beam/Humble Games
Original property
Deathloop – Arkane Lyon/Bethesda Softworks