BBC Newsbeat
Ninja IdeaSenua’s Saga: Hellblade II has picked up essentially the most nominations at this 12 months’s Bafta Video games Awards.
The action-adventure recreation, developed by Cambridge-based studio Ninja Idea, is up for awards in 11 out of 14 classes on the annual ceremony.
It is within the working for finest recreation alongside 3D platformer Astro Bot – up for eight awards – which clinched top prize at the US-based Game Awards in December.
The occasion, thought of probably the most prestigious within the video games trade calendar, might be held in London on 8 April.
The opposite contenders in one of the best recreation class are:
- Balatro – a poker-inspired card recreation
- Black Fable: Wukong – an action-adventure made in China and impressed by a well-liked delusion
- Helldivers II – a multiplayer co-operative shooter
- The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Knowledge – the primary recreation in Nintendo’s widespread sequence to star the princess it is named after
- Thank Goodness You are Right here! – a wacky cartoon journey recreation developed by two mates from Barnsley
Bafta fingers out prizes annually in a spread of classes, together with performing, music and recreation design.
Three of the six most-nominated video games this 12 months had been made within the UK.
Nonetheless Wakes the Deep, a horror recreation from Brighton-based studio The Chinese language Room set on a Scottish oil rig, is up for eight awards, whereas Thank Goodness You are Right here! is up for seven.
Lego Horizon Adventures, based mostly on the PlayStation sequence and largely developed by London-based Studio Gobo, is nominated in 4 classes.
Indie hits Animal Effectively and Balatro, every have 4 nominations, as does Name of Responsibility: Black Ops 6.
Coal SupperSenua’s Saga: Hellblade II is a sequel to Senua’s Sacrifice – which picked up 5 awards at 2018’s gaming Baftas.
Its 11 nominations would possibly shock some – the sport was a powerful technical showcase and obtained constructive if not excellent evaluations.
Nonetheless, like the primary recreation, it was praised for its sensitive depiction of the main character’s psychosis.
Bafta Video games committee chair Tara Saunders tells BBC Newsbeat it represents “a powerful 12 months for British-made video games”.
She says the voting panel is made up of members internationally who take the awards “very critically” and vote based mostly on a spread of options.
“It is all about excellence,” she says.
“Excellence within the crafts and possibly a few of these video games have nailed all of these craft areas.”
Bafta CEO Jane Millichip agrees, and desires to embrace the actual fact they’ve a British recreation class.
“Our members are worldwide they usually’re the individuals who select,” she says.
Most-nominated video games
Organized by variety of classes:
- Senua’s Saga: 11
- Astro Bot and Nonetheless Wakes the Deep – eight
- Thank Goodness You are Right here! – seven
- Black Fable: Wukong – 5
Learn extra in regards to the nominees:
The Bafta Video games Awards are not any stranger to the odd upset.
In 2023, Vampire Survivors – made by a tiny British studio – beat Sony’s God of War: Ragnarök to the top prize.
This 12 months’s finest recreation subject has the same mixture of big-budget blockbusters and indie hits.
“I like that Bafta can shock, I like that it is not a given and we are able to get to that evening and we do not know what is going on to come back out on prime,” Tara says.
“It is placing a highlight on some actually tiny video games that may have slipped by.”
Metaphor: Refantazio featured prominently in different awards lists however solely picked up two nominations, with one for its narrative.
And Last Fantasy VII: Rebirth was nominated within the narrative and music classes however ineligible for finest recreation resulting from Bafta guidelines on remakes.
The Chinese language RoomOccasions stay powerful for individuals working within the video games trade worldwide, with mass layoffs, studio closures and cancelled initiatives persevering with to make headlines.
Tara says awards just like the Baftas are “a beacon of sunshine at the hours of darkness instances”.
“It is actually vital to pause and have fun the groups and people which have crafted these standout video games experiences,” she says.
And Jane, who additionally oversees Bafta’s occasions throughout movie, TV and different inventive industries, says the gaming awards are a spot for individuals to assist one another.
“I’ve by no means seen a neighborhood cheer a lot after they lose, it is a good factor to behold,” she says.
“It is so fantastic to see the entire video games neighborhood being so supportive of one another and there to have fun the sector, not themselves.
“It is sort of devoid of ego and that is nice.”
You could find a full checklist of Bafta Video games Awards nominations for 2025 here.
