Hosted by Elle Osili-Wood, the 2022 BAFTA Game awards was the first time the event happened in front of live audiences for 3 years. Having fourty games making up the nominations, Returnal is the only game taking home more than 2 awards.
Last night’s 2022 BAFTA Game Awards was the 18th year that BAFTA has honoured the best in their gaming industry. Ever since the pandemic started, it was revealed last week that during the two years of lockdown, Brits spent a record of £7.16bn gaming related products, up to 32% compared to 2019.
Over the lockdown period, many game developers worked on their creations and these were some of the games that won rewards.
The biggest winner of the BAFTA Game Awards was the sci-fi survival game called Returnal, taking home the Best Game, Music, and Audio Achievements. Jane Perry has also won an additional award for her best leading role as Returnal’s Selene Vassos, making this the 4th award the game has won.
The game focuses on Selene Vassos, a single mother astronaut getting stuck in a time loop after she crashes into another planet. Perry became inspired by the character’s focus to never give up in a difficult environment.
Perry said Selene was “courageous and strong and despite her considerable loss and her trauma she never gives up she hopes for a better future and I think given the very serious state of the world right now that we can all take inspiration from Selene”
Unboxing was one of the three games that has won multiple game awards, winning EE Best Game and Narrative awards, Wren Brier and her partner, Tim Dawson moved in together to create the puzzle game Unboxing. It was a block-fitting puzzle game about the player moving belongings to another house that hinted at the person’s life over the course of eight house moves.
“It’s incredible to have our little weird game recognized,” Brier said when accepting the narrative award, “We’re not telling a complicated story in Unpacking but the way we tell it is different, and it’s nice to see that that’s appreciated and resonates with people.”
Developed by Hazelight Studios, It Takes Two was another game that has won multiple awards. “This is a surprise. We’re super happy and proud.” The creator of the game, Josef Fares said as he accepted the Original Property award. He also joked about already expecting his game to win the multiplayer award when he returned on stage to pick up his second award.
Here is the complete list of the BAFTA awards and their retrospective winners.
- Best game – Returnal
- Best British game – Forza Horizon 5
- Performer in a leading role – Jane Perry as Selene Vassos in Returnal
- Performer in a supporting role – Kimberly Brooks as Hollis Forsythe in Psychonauts 2
- EE game of the year – Unpacking
- Narrative – Unpacking
- Evolving game – No Man’s Sky
- Original property – It Takes Two
- Multiplayer – It Takes Two
- Debut game – Toem
- Game beyond entertainment – Before Your Eyes
- Family – Chicory: A Colorful Tale
- Animation – Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart
- Game design – Inscryption
- Artistic achievement – The Artful Escape
- Technical achievement – Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart
- Audio achievement – Returnal
- Music – Returnal
The BAFTA was also supported by multiple of their official games partners Electronic Arts, Ubisoft, Tencent, Sega, Epic Games, Playstation, with EE sponsoring the Game of the Year Awards.
