| British Academy Video Games Award for Game Design | |
|---|---|
| Awarded for | The best game design that captivates and engages the player |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Presented by | BAFTA |
| First awarded | 2012 |
| Currently held by | Vampire Survivors |
| Website |
www |
The British Academy Video Games Award for Game Design is an award presented annually by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA). It is given in honor of "the best game design that captivates and engages the player", including recognition of elements such as game mechanics, use of controls, level and world structure, and pacing. [1]
The award was first given at the 8th British Academy Video Games Awards ceremony, held in 2012, to the Valve title Portal 2. [2] Since its inception, the award has been given to eleven games and, to date, no developer has won the award more than once. Nintendo EPD and Ubisoft Montreal hold the record for most nominations among developers, with four each, though the former won in 2017, leaving the latter as the developer with most nominations without a win. Sony Interactive Entertainment lead the publishing nominees, with fifteen nominations and two wins, while Ubisoft are the publisher with the most nominations without a win, with five.
The current holder of the award is Vampire Survivors by Poncle, which won at the 19th British Academy Games Awards in 2023.
Winners and nominees
In the following table, the years are listed as per BAFTA convention, and generally correspond to the year of game release in the United Kingdom.
| Indicates the winner |
Multiple nominations and wins
Developers
| Developer | Nominations | Wins |
|---|---|---|
| Nintendo EPD/EAD | 4 | 1 |
| Ubisoft Montreal | 4 | 0 |
| Arkane Studios | 3 | 0 |
| FromSoftware | 3 | 0 |
| Blizzard Entertainment | 2 | 0 |
| Guerrilla Games | 2 | 0 |
| Japan Studio | 2 | 0 |
| Media Molecule | 2 | 0 |
| Naughty Dog | 2 | 0 |
| Santa Monica Studio | 2 | 0 |
| Valve | 2 | 1 |
Publishers
| Developer | Nominations | Wins |
|---|---|---|
| Sony Computer/Interactive Entertainment | 15 | 2 |
| Ubisoft | 5 | 0 |
| Bethesda Softworks | 4 | 0 |
| Nintendo | 4 | 1 |
| Annapurna Interactive | 3 | 1 |
| Devolver Digital | 3 | 1 |
| Electronic Arts | 3 | 0 |
| 2k Games | 2 | 0 |
| 3909 | 2 | 1 |
| Activision | 2 | 0 |
| Blizzard Entertainment | 2 | 0 |
| Rockstar Games | 2 | 1 |
| Square Enix | 2 | 0 |
| Valve | 2 | 1 |
| Warner Bros Interactive | 2 | 1 |
References
- ^ "British Academy Games Awards Rules and Guidelines 2015" (PDF). British Academy of Film and Television Arts. Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 May 2015. Retrieved 15 March 2015.
- ^ a b "Games in 2012". BAFTA Awards. British Academy of Film and Television Arts. Retrieved 15 March 2015.
- ^ "Games in 2013". BAFTA Awards. British Academy of Film and Television Arts. Archived from the original on 13 April 2016. Retrieved 15 March 2015.
- ^ "Games in 2014". BAFTA Awards. British Academy of Film and Television Arts. Retrieved 15 March 2015.
- ^ "Games in 2015". BAFTA Awards. British Academy of Film and Television Arts. Retrieved 15 March 2015.
- ^ Nunneley, Stephany (7 April 2016). "Fallout 4 wins Best Game at 2016 BAFTA Game Awards". VG247. Archived from the original on 8 April 2016. Retrieved 8 April 2016.
- ^ "Games in 2017 | BAFTA Awards". awards.bafta.org. Retrieved 2017-04-10.
- ^ "What Remains of Edith Finch wins Bafta's top games award". BBC. 12 April 2018. Retrieved 12 April 2018.
- ^ Fox, Chris; Kleinman, Zoe (4 April 2019). "God of War wins best game at Bafta Awards". BBC. Retrieved 4 April 2019.
- ^ "2020 BAFTA Games Awards: The Nominations". BAFTA. 3 March 2020. Retrieved 4 March 2020.
- ^ "2021 Games Game Design". BAFTA Awards. Retrieved 10 April 2021.
- ^ "2022 BAFTA Games Awards Winners". 3 March 2022.
- ^ "2023 BAFTA Games Awards: The Winners". BAFTA Games Awards. 30 March 2023. Archived from the original on 31 March 2023. Retrieved 30 March 2023.