2019
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CONTENTS
REGUL A RS 3
Welcome Dame Pippa Harris d b e & Amanda Berry o b e
45 Officers of the Academy 46 Partners and Sponsors 47 Acknowledgements 48 End Credits
T H E N O M I N AT I O NS 7 Artistic Achievement 9 Audio Achievement 10 Best Game 13 British Game 15 Debut Game 16 Evolving Game 17 Family 18 Game Beyond Entertainment 19 Game Design 21 Game Innovation 22 Mobile Game 23 Multiplayer 25 Music 27 Narrative 28 Original Property 29 Performer 31 EE Mobile Game of the Year 32 The Juries
SPECI A L FE AT U RES 36 Fantastic Journey
Building a career in the games industry can be like embarking on an epic odyssey, replete with intimidating puzzles to solve, arduous obstacles to overcome and daunting monsters to defeat, but also moments of euphoric success. Words by Toby Weidmann 42 Game Face
A gallery of wonderful BAFTA photography featuring some of the brightest stars from the world of games.
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BRITISH
WELCOM E
TO
THE
ACA DE MY
GA M ES
AWA RDS
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his year marks the 15th annual British Academy Games Awards, where we celebrate the very best in games. Tonight we honour the achievements of the inspirational and talented nominees, from small independents to global studios. As our work in games continues to grow, we are delighted to be hosting the Awards in a new, larger venue, the Queen Elizabeth Hall. The Awards are reaching and inspiring more people than ever and will again be livestreamed across all major social platforms, including Twitter, Twitch and Facebook. We are also excited to welcome a new category this year, the EE Mobile Game of the Year award. This new publicly voted award recognises games that offer the best experience over a mobile network, using online functionality in an innovative way. BAFTA’s games activity growth has been down to our learning initiatives and we are actively increasing our games membership. From E3 and GDC in the US to Develop: Brighton and the Yorkshire Games Festival in the UK, we engage industry and public alike in our global initiatives. To be part of a BAFTA programme or to become a member is to join a growing community who share knowledge, expertise, creativity and success across film, games and television. We are proud to be able to support and celebrate talent on these journeys, from a creator’s first few steps into the industry through to honouring their work. Our annual Young Game Designers competition reached more than a thousand 10-18-year-olds across the UK, inspiring them to explore their creativity through games, pick up new skills and harness opportunity. This year, we saw a high number of design concepts set around the theme of climate change – it is amazing to witness young people express their passion to change the world for the better creatively through games. New talent can rely on BAFTA for support through our scholarships, BAFTA Games Crew and Breakthrough Brits – all of which offer development, networking and advice at key moments throughout an individual’s journey. That concept, and the potential obstacles that stand in the way, is illustrated through this brochure’s striking cover art. The image distils that journey motif, showing momentum through an epic scene of challenges towards the ultimate goal of success. Wherever you are on that journey, we encourage you to engage with all that BAFTA has to offer to help you achieve and celebrate your dreams. We wish you an enjoyable evening. •
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A M AN DA BERRY
OBE
Chief Executive of the Academy
D A M E P I P PA H A R R I S
Chair of the Academy
FOLLOW US
#BA F TAGames @BA F TAGames
DBE
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THE
N OM I NATI O NS
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6
GRIS
Development Team Nomada Studio/Devolver Digital
G O D O F WA R
M A R V E L’ S S P I D E R - M A N
Development Team Santa Monica Studio/Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe
Development Team Insomniac Games/Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe
RED DEAD REDEMPTION 2
RETURN OF THE OBRA DINN
Development Team Rockstar Games/Rockstar Games
Lucas Pope Lucas Pope/3909
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ARTISTIC ACHIEVEMENT
D E T R O I T: B E C O M E H U M A N
Guillaume de Fondaumière, David Cage, John O’Brien Quantic Dream/Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe
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D E T R O I T: B E C O M E H U M A N
Development Team EA DICE/Electronic Arts
Guillaume de Fondaumière, David Cage, John O’Brien Quantic Dream/Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe
G O D O F WA R
M A R V E L’ S S P I D E R - M A N
Mike Niederquell, Todd Piperi, Leilani Ramirez Santa Monica Studio/Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe
Paul Mudra, Phillip Kovats, Dwight Okahara Insomniac Games/Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe
RED DEAD REDEMPTION 2
TETRIS EFFECT
Development Team Rockstar Games/Rockstar Games
Hydelic, Noboru Mutoh, Takako Ishida Monstars Inc and Resonair/Enhance, Inc
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AUDIO ACHIEVEMENT
BAT T L E F I E L D V
BEST GA ME
A S SA S S I N ’S C R E E D O DYS S E Y
Development Team Ubisoft Quebec/Ubisoft
ASTRO BOT RESCUE MISSION
Development Team SIE Japan Studio/Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe
CELESTE
Development Team Matt Makes Games Inc/ Matt Makes Games Inc
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BEST GA ME
G O D O F WA R
Cory Barlog, Yumi Yang, Shannon Studstill Santa Monica Studio/Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe
RED DEAD REDEMPTION 2
Development Team Rockstar Games/Rockstar Games
RETURN OF THE OBRA DINN
Lucas Pope Lucas Pope/3909
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AVA I L A B L E N O W
NO WEAPON, VEHICLE OR GEAR MANUFACTURER IS AFFILIATED WITH OR HAS SPONSORED OR ENDORSED THIS GAME.
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© 2019 Electronic Arts Inc. EA, the EA logo, the DICE logo, BATTLEFIELD, and BATTLEFIELD V are trademarks of Electronic Arts Inc.
FOR ZA HORIZON 4
Development Team Playground Games/Microsoft Studios
RED DEAD REDEMPTION 2
THE ROOM: OLD SINS
Development Team Rockstar Games/Rockstar Games
Development Team Fireproof Games/Fireproof Games
OVERCOOKED 2
T WO P O I N T H O S P I TA L
Development Team Ghost Town Games & Team 17/Team 17
Development Team Two Point Studios/SEGA
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BRITISH GA ME
11 -11: M E M O R I E S R E T O L D
Dan Efergan, Bram Ttwheam, George Rowe Digixart, Aardman & Bandai Namco Entertainment Europe/Bandai Namco Entertainment Europe
Exterion Media, proud to support the British Academy Games Awards in 2019 noel.nallen@exterionmedia.co.uk T: 020 7428 5544 @ExterionMediaUK
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www.exterionmedia.co.uk
C U LT I S T S I M U L ATO R
Alexis Kennedy, Lottie Bevan Weather Factory/Humble Bundle
DONUT COUNTY
FLORENCE
Ben Esposito Ben Esposito/Annapurna Interactive
Development Team Mountains/Annapurna Interactive
GRIS
YO KU ’S I S L A N D E X P R E S S
Development Team Nomada Studio/Devolver Digital
Development Team Villa Gorilla/Team 17
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DEBUT GA ME
B E AT SA B E R
Development Team Beat Games/Beat Games
E V O LV I N G G A M E
DESTINY 2: FORSAKEN
E L I T E DA N G E R O U S: B E YO N D
Development Team Bungie/Activision
Development Team Frontier/Frontier
FORTNITE
OV E R WAT C H
Development Team Epic Games/Epic Games
Development Team Blizzard Entertainment/ Blizzard Entertainment
SEA OF THIEVES
TOM CL ANCY’S
Development Team Rare Ltd/Microsoft Studios
R AINBOW SIX SIEGE
Development Team Ubisoft Montreal/Ubisoft
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NINTENDO LABO
THE INCREDIBLES
Development Team Nintendo EPD/Nintendo
Pete Gomer, Dan Crossley, Nicholas Ricks TT Games/WB Games
OVERCOOKED 2
P O K É M O N : L E T ’S G O, P I K AC H U !
Development Team Ghost Town Games & Team17/Team17
A N D L E T ’S G O, E E V E E !
Development Team GAME FREAK/The Pokémon Company and Nintendo
S U P E R M A R I O PA R T Y
YO KU ’S I S L A N D E X P R E S S
Development Team Nintendo EPD/Nintendo
Development Team Villa Gorilla/Team 17
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FA M I LY
LEGO DISNEY PIX AR’S
GA M E B E YO N D EN T ER TA I N M EN T
11 -11: M E M O R I E S R E T O L D
CELESTE
Yoan Fanise, Dan Efergan, Lionel Lovisa Digixart, Aardman & Bandai Namco Entertainment Europe/Bandai Namco Entertainment Europe
Development Team Matt Makes Games Inc/ Matt Makes Games Inc
FLORENCE
LIFE IS STR ANGE 2
Development Team Mountains/Annapurna Interactive
Michel Koch, Raoul Barbet DONTNOD Entertainment/Square Enix
MY CH I LD LE BE NSBO RN
NINTENDO LABO
Development Team Sarepta Studio AS/Teknopilot AS, Sarepta Studio AS
Development Team Nintendo EPD/Nintendo
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CELESTE
Development Team SIE Japan Studio/Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe
Development Team Matt Makes Games Inc/ Matt Makes Games Inc
G O D O F WA R
INTO THE BREACH
Development Team Santa Monica Studio/Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe
Justin Ma, Matthew Davis Subset Games/Subset Games
MINIT
RETURN OF THE OBRA DINN
Development Team JW, Kitty, Jukio, and Dom/ Devolver Digital
Lucas Pope Lucas Pope/3909
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GA ME DESIGN
ASTRO BOT RESCUE MISSION
2 0
CELESTE
Development Team SIE Japan Studio/Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe
Development Team Matt Makes Games Inc/ Matt Makes Games Inc
C U LT I S T S I M U L ATO R
MOSS
Alexis Kennedy, Lottie Bevan Weather Factory/Humble Bundle
Development Team Polyarc/Polyarc
NINTENDO LABO
RETURN OF THE OBRA DINN
Development Team Nintendo EPD/Nintendo
Lucas Pope Lucas Pope/3909
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GA M E I N N OVAT I O N
ASTRO BOT RESCUE MISSION
MOBILE
A LTO ’S O DYS S E Y
B R AW L S TA R S
Development Team Team Alto/Snowman
Development Team Supercell/Supercell
DONUT COUNTY
FLORENCE
Ben Esposito Ben Esposito/Annapurna Interactive
Development Team Mountains/Annapurna Interactive
REIGNS: GA ME OF THRONES
THE ROOM: OLD SINS
François Alliot, Tamara Alliot, Arnaud De Bock Nerial/Devolver Digital
Development Team Fireproof Games/Fireproof Games
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OVERCOOKED 2
Development Team EA DICE/Electronic Arts
Development Team Ghost Town Games & Team 17/Team 17
SEA OF THIEVES
S U P E R M A R I O PA R T Y
Development Team Rare Ltd/Microsoft Studios
Development Team Nintendo EPD/Nintendo
S U P E R S M A S H B R O S . U LT I M AT E
A W AY O U T
Development Team Nintendo, Sora Ltd, and Bandai Namco Studios Inc/Nintendo
Development Team Hazelight/EA Originals
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M U LT I P L AY ER
BAT T L E F I E L D V
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MUSIC
CELESTE
FA R C RY 5
Lena Raine Matt Makes Games Inc/ Matt Makes Games Inc
Development Team Ubisoft Montreal/Ubisoft
FLORENCE
G O D O F WA R
Development Team Mountains/Annapurna Interactive
Bear McCreary, Keith Leary, Peter Scaturro Santa Monica Studio/Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe
GRIS
TETRIS EFFECT
Development Team Nomada Studios/Devolver Digitial
Hydelic, Noboru Mutoh, Takako Ishida Monstars Inc and Resonair/Enhance, Inc
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NA RR ATIVE
FLORENCE
FROSTPUNK
Writing Team Mountains/Annapurna Interactive
Writing Team 11 bit studios/11 bit studios
G O D O F WA R
M A R V E L’ S S P I D E R - M A N
Cory Barlog, Matt Sophos, Richard Zangrande Gaubert Santa Monica Studio/Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe
Writing Team Insomniac Games/Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe
RED DEAD REDEMPTION 2
RETURN OF THE OBRA DINN
Dan Houser, Rupert Humphries, Michael Unsworth Rockstar Games/Rockstar Games
Lucas Pope Lucas Pope/3909
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FLORENCE
Development Team Mountains/Annapurna Interactive
INTO THE BREACH
MOSS
Development Team Subset Games/Subset Games
Development Team Polyarc/Polyarc
RETURN OF THE OBRA DINN
SUBNAUTICA
Lucas Pope Lucas Pope/3909
Development Team Unknown Worlds Entertainment/ Unknown Worlds Entertainment
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ORIGINAL PROPERTY
DEAD CELLS
Development Team Motion Twin/Motion Twin
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DANIELLE BISUT TI
Kratos God of War
Freya God of War
J E R E MY DAV I E S
MELISSANTHI MAHUT
The Stranger God of War
Kassandra of Sparta Assassin’s Creed Odyssey
ROGER CLARK
SUNNY SULJIC
Arthur Morgan Red Dead Redemption 2
Atreus God of War
All nominations correct at time of press.
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PERFORMER
CHRISTOPHER JUDGE
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C L A S H R O YA L E
FORTNITE
Supercell/Supercell
Epic Games/Epic Games
OLD SCHOOL RUNESCAPE
POKÉMON GO
ROBLOX
Jagex/Jagex
The Pokémon Company, Niantic/ Nintendo
Roblox Corporation/ Roblox Corporation
(VOTED FO R BY TH E PU BLI C)
MEET THE SPONSOR EE’s long-running partnership with BAFTA is moving into the realm of gaming with the first ever EE Mobile Game of the Year Award. The mobile games industry is an exciting space with an exciting future, powered by fast moving, innovative technology. And, as the UK’s number one network (and home to a tonne of great devices), we’re the best place to enjoy gaming on-the-go. Pete Jeavons, EE’s head of brand marketing, summarises the award’s importance: “The EE Mobile Game of the Year is a natural way for us to champion the mobile games scene, and connect our customers to the things they love the most.” As the only award voted for by the public, we’re handing the decision of who wins Mobile Game of the Year over to the people who have played them the most. Good luck to the nominees! • 3 1
EE MOBILE GA ME OF THE YEAR
B R AW L S TA R S
Supercell/Supercell
THE
A RT IST I C ACH I E V E M EN T Charles Cecil chair Angela Bermúdez Roberto Fera Chelsea Hash Kevin McDowell Riana McKeith Lu Nascimento Jane Ng Jason Roberts Jonathan Venables
J URIES
AUDIO ACH I E V E M EN T Dave Ranyard chair Alex Crouzen Grace Docksey Mark Estdale Matt Jeffery Rory McCutcheon Chris Murray Andrew Quinn Paola Velasquez Kenneth Young
B R I T ISH GA M E Noirin Carmody chair Des Gayle Russell Harding Imre Jele Alexis Kennedy Caryn Krakauer Peter Loveridge Simon Mann Kristen McGorry Rebecca Parnell Midas Whittaker Xu Xiaojun
E VO LV I N G GA M E Mark Turpin chair Malin Arvidsson Michael French Clive Gratton Alexis Guariguata Jim Jagger Paul MacGillivray Timothy Mines Xandra van Wijk
B EST GA M E Nick Button-Brown chair Alejandro Arque Gallardo Lottie Bevan James Brooksby Ian Dallas Julia Hardy Rasmus Højengaard Tim Schafer
D EB U T GA M E Moo Yu chair Mike Bithell Zoe Brown Adam Campbell Charles Griffiths Ricky Haggett Alex Perry Holly Pickering Alex Taylor Tom Vian Philippa Warr
FA M I LY Anna Rafferty chair James Allsopp Alexia Christofi Adele Cutting Dan Efergan Will Freeman Adrienne Law Tara Mustapha Simon Oliver Davide Soliani
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GA M E B E YO N D EN T ERTA I N M EN T Dr Jo Twist chair Rex Crowle Rob Davis Charu Desodt Alysia Judge Callum Langstroth Florent Maurin Danny O’Dwyer Dominique Starr Imran Yusuf
THE
GA M E D ESI G N Callum Underwood chair Amanda Allen Chris Ball Chris Bell Cassia Curran Laura Kate Dale Joy Dey Dan Gray Anna Hollinrake John Romero
J URIES
GA M E I N N OVAT I O N Mike Simpson chair Andre Arsenault Renaud Charpentier Katrin Darolle Caspar Field Alistair Hope Liz Mercuri Sam Millen Brad Porter Mária Rakušanová Elena Siegman Adam Vian
M USI C Georg Backer chair Rich Aitken Nick Arundel Nainita Desai David Garcia Sophie Knowles Joe Thwaites Austin Wintory Lana Zgombić
M U LT I PL AYER Harvey Elliott chair Thomas Bidaux James Binns Jen Bolton Anna Jasinski Daniel Leaver Michael Lojko Will Lowther Andrew Roper Anisa Sanusi
N A R R AT I V E Tara Saunders chair Giles Armstrong Jack Attridge Sarah Baylus Greg Buchanan Cara Ellison Ben Furneaux Dan Griliopoulos Olivia Wood Rob Yescombe
M O B I L E GA M E Carolin Krenzer chair Mat Baker Hayley Brant Sabrina Carmona Adrian Hon Callum Lawson Nick Mansdorf Jack Schulze Bart van den Berg Steven Yau
O R I G I N A L PRO PERT Y Catherine Woolley chair Korina Abbott Jodie Azhar Mark Backler Joel Beardshaw Prakash Choraria Phil Duncan Robert McLachlan Cassie Morgan Chris Payne Kirsty Rigden Jan-Bart van Beek
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PER FO R M ER Sanjay Mistry chair Troy Baker Doug Cockle Kish Hirani Mark Inman Melina Juergens Geoff Keighley Rick Porras Abubakar Salim Frankie Ward
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FA N TA S T I C J O U R N E Y Building a career in the games industry can be like embarking on an epic odyssey, replete with intimidating puzzles to solve, arduous obstacles to overcome and daunting monsters to defeat, but also moments of euphoric success. Wherever you are on that journey, BAFTA is here to help. Interviews & words by Toby Weidmann | Images: Tameem Antoniades (BAFTA/Ricky Darko; BAFTA/Rex/Shutterstock); Prithvi Kohli (BAFTA/Danny Cozens; BAFTA/Jamie Simmonds); Adrienne Law (BAFTA/Phil Fisk); Rory McCutcheon (BAFTA/Jordan Anderson)
T
he best games are the ones that challenge the player. They can come in many shapes and forms – from solving puzzles and competing in sports sims to battling through waves of opponents and testing moral dilemmas – but, if the nominations at BAFTA’s Games Awards prove anything, they must always be engaging. “Games are the perfect combination of art, entertainment, science and technology,” says Tameem Antoniades, co-founder and chief creative director of Ninja Theory, the British indie that scored big at last year’s Games Awards with Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice, winning five BAFTAs. “I can’t think of any other medium or area that’s quite that mix and is progressing at such a rapid rate. The vast majority of the world isn’t aware of the impact games are going to have on media, entertainment, art and science. It’s
the future. The design technology that goes into this arms race of games could change the world, which is why I feel compelled to put my all into it.” Hellblade is more than just a thrilling third-person action adventure, interweaving themes of psychosis and mental illness into its engaging narrative through ingenious use of audio and visual cues. It was a worthy winner of BAFTA’s inaugural Game Beyond Entertainment category. Its success, both commercially and critically, was the culmination of years of trial and effort, since the company’s launch in 2004, although Antoniades’ journey began as a programmer at Millennium Interactive (which became SCE Cambridge). The challenges met to get to where the company is today were not unlike those faced by players when they switch on their favourite game, albeit with
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ÒTHE DESIGN TECHNOLOGY THAT GOES INTO THIS ARMS RACE OF GAMES COULD CHANGE THE WORLD, WHICH IS WHY I FEEL COMPELLED TO PUT MY ALL INTO IT.Ó Tameem Antoniades real-life consequences. Overcoming obstacles, resolving problems and finding a way to best your own expectations – essentially beating the game – are fundamentals of the journey from industry novice to veteran. “Hellblade was an amazing success, but it took 18 years of ups and a lot of downs to get to the point where we had the experience, skill and luck to make it work,” notes Antoniades. “Looking back, I don’t see those challenges as negatives. I don’t subscribe to the idea that failure should be celebrated either. I think the underlying thing is you have to keep growing and learning, and the only way to do that is to do things that are unfamiliar, that hurt to do. Sometimes that expresses itself as success, sometimes it expresses itself as failure, but it’s the challenge that makes you grow and growing is never without some kind of pain. As long as you know that and you’re OK Opposite page: Tameem Antoniades talks to journalist Philippa Warr at a BAFTA Games Crew masterclass. Below: YGD winner Prithvi Kohli with YouTube stars Ellen Rose and Amazing Arabella
with it, you don’t have to treat it as a negative. Success isn’t the destination and failure isn’t a setback; they are both products of learning.” Antoniades’ advice to those about to embark on their games odyssey is: “Don’t try to make that massive hit off the bat. You have no control over that. Do small, interesting steps that make you learn specific things along the way. Naturally, hope and plan for each one to be a success, but you don’t have to go for the jugular at the start of your 20-year journey.”
YOUNG BLOOD Eighteen-year-old Prithvi Kohli, from Surrey, is very much at the beginning of his experience, but he’s set his stall early, winning the Game Making Award (in the 15-18 years category) at BAFTA’s Young Game Designers Awards (YGD) in 2018 for his engaging action puzzler, Super Boson. He describes it as “an energetic and mind-bending game about particle physics, which aims to inspire scientific curiosity and interest in physics and other STEM fields among younger audiences.” Unlike Antoniades, whose introduction to games as a youngster was playing coin-ops in the arcades before moving to a ZX Spectrum (his first console), Kohli has grown up in an age when gaming has very much been a part of everyday home life – his first interaction was with the Nintendo DS when he was seven years old, before receiving a PlayStation 3 for Christmas. He has been designing games for a few years but wanted to make something a little different for his YGD entry.
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ÒYGD HAS BEEN VERY ENCOURAGING AND CONFIDENCE BOOSTING... ITÔS BEEN HELPFUL AND INSIGHTFUL.Ó Prithvi Kohli “I spent a really long time trying to come up with an idea,” he states. “Some were a bit too ambitious, but I wanted to find something that was unique. I was studying particle physics at school and I felt that fit very well with a fast-paced puzzler type of game... Science is very important generally and it’s essential to engage younger generations with it. A lot of the time, science can seem quite daunting or complicated or even boring. My game seemed like a good opportunity to make science more fun and raise interest in it.” At the Awards, Kohli was shocked when he was announced as a winner. “I was really nervous,” he says. “It was very daunting. I remember people playing my game beforehand and finding it really hard, so I made up my mind that I wasn’t going to win. So, to actually win was surprising. It’s been really encouraging and confidence boosting. It’s introduced me to the games industry through different events [the YGD’s prize package included a studio tour of Jagex, invitations to Guru Live and other BAFTA games events and one-to-one sessions with various developers]. It’s been helpful and insightful.” THE NEXT RUNG Antoniades was one of the presenters at the YGD Awards, and he described the experience as “incredible and so positive to see categories celebrating young game designers”. The previous year Adrienne Law, a producer at ustwo, presented at YGD.
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A relative newcomer to the industry herself, Law’s first job was working on the BAFTAnominated Monument Valley 2. Law followed in the footsteps of ustwo’s Dan Gray by successfully applying to become a BAFTA Breakthrough Brit in 2018, our initiative to showcase and support the next generation of creative talent in the UK. Although she had been playing games since a young age (on her dad’s old Commodore 64 and Atari, no less), Law’s journey into the industry was remarkably fast, as was her introduction to BAFTA. Within a couple of weeks of starting at ustwo in 2015, she accompanied Gray,
Above: Super Boson (2018). Below: Prithvi Kohli collects his Game Making Award. Opposite page: 2018 Breakthrough Brit Adrienne Law
a Breakthrough Brit himself at the time, to a BAFTA event. “I was introduced to BAFTA almost simultaneously to joining the industry,” she says. “BAFTA’s involvement with games has been very prominent to me. It gave me something to aspire to.” For Law, a good story is the key to games’ charm as a medium. “I am a massive reader and watch a lot of television, films and so on. Anything with a story has me gripped... When I came out of university, I made a short film and did a screenwriting course and was very focused on getting into film and television. I was searching for a production assistant job when I discovered you could be a producer in games as well. It was like a lightbulb moment. I applied to ustwo and was lucky that it was an open-minded company, which was looking for people who weren’t solely focused on games, but had broader interests in interactivity, storytelling and how people express emotions in different forms.” She continues: “I’ve always loved hearing stories and telling them. For me the power of games comes
ÒIÔVE ALWAYS LOVED HEARING STORIES AND TELLING THEM. FOR ME, THE POWER OF GAMES COMES FROM IT BEING A STORYTELLING MEDIUM.Ó Adrienne Law
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from it being a storytelling medium. There are amazing games that are more focused on gameplay and skill and so on, and they are great too, but why I’m passionate about games is the wealth of storytelling that use that interaction to make things more meaningful. Games have the potential to make people not only empathise with the character but make choices for them and see the consequences of those decisions. That side of it is really interesting to me.” Law says the biggest challenges she’s faced on the way to becoming a talented producer come part and parcel with working for a smaller studio. The main hurdle when working in a small company, she says, is having to think on your feet, with no two days being the same. “With the games that we make, there’s no formula,” Law notes. “That can be really hard. You have to be
prepared to make creative decisions at different stages in the process and be critical about what you’re doing. There’s a constant challenge to come in and do your best work and know that what you’re doing is going to be worth it at the end. [But] when you’re making something that feels like there’s nothing else out there like it yet, that’s really exciting. Knowing that you are widening the pool of games that people can play because of your contribution is a great feeling.” STUDENT LIFE While YGD spotlights the next generation of talent and Breakthrough Brits showcases emerging creatives who have already made a significant contribution to their art, BAFTA’s Scholarships programme is there to help bridge that gap. Our scholarships support those in need of financial assistance to take eligible undergraduate and postgraduate courses. In 2018, Rory McCutcheon, a 37-year-old from North Yorkshire, was awarded a BAFTA Reuben Scholarship, receiving £6,500 to study for an MSc Sound and Music for Interactive Games degree at Leeds Beckett University. He is being mentored by Ninja Theory’s David Garcia Diaz, who won Hellblade’s BAFTA for Audio Achievement last year. However, McCutcheon’s journey into the industry has been fraught with complications. “Games was purely a fun pastime when I was younger,” he explains. “It wasn’t until I was in my early 20s that I decided that games was an option as a career. At college, I studied music and music production, because I had very clear goals to either be in a band or be a record producer. Then when I went to university, I did a
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module on sound for games and really liked it. Immediately after I finished the course, I moved to Leamington Spa and worked at Codemasters as a QA. Then I went to Ubisoft Reflections and did audio testing, so I got more knowledge about how audio design works, before moving to Creative Assembly, where I was lead audio tester.” Things were going well when things happened in his private life that saw him return to Yorkshire and give up his job. He spent the next few years freelancing for any audio jobs he could find. “I started to move further away from games. It was all voiceover work for e-learning or short commercial stuff.” His decision to apply to the Masters course and request for BAFTA’s financial support was driven by a desire to move back towards working in game audio design. Thankfully, he states, “it seems to have worked... I wanted to expand my knowledge and gauge where I was compared with other people. I had become quite isolated, only using my own judgement. I had no real feedback. That was one of
ÒBAFTA CAN SEEM LIKE A SCARY ENTITY AND INTIMIDATING, BUT MY EXPERIENCE OF IT HAS BEEN NOTHING LIKE THAT.Ò Rory McCutcheon
Having that kind of broad scope knowledge of sounds is as important as the making and recording of them.”
the major things that pushed me towards applying... BAFTA can seem like a scary entity and intimidating, but my experience of being around people involved in BAFTA has been nothing like that. It’s been more real and down-to-earth than I could have imagined.” A game’s sound design is so important in not only telling its story but also engaging the player in the action, whatever the genre. Often audio works on a subliminal level, helping the player to imagine the scene without really fully noticing it. “There are lots of different ways to get from A to B,” remarks McCutcheon. “It’s partly about understanding the psychological side of getting to those points. It’s also about the different creative ways of doing things, associations people have with certain sounds and so on.
JOURNEYÔS END The ultimate goal of any games practitioner, no matter what level they are at, is to create something that is enjoyed by as many people as possible. Financial and critical success are always rewarding too, but it’s the quality of the games themselves that really matter and is the foundation that BAFTA’s Games Awards have been built upon. Creating art is rarely easy, and the journey to get there can be filled with unseen perils and seemingly insurmountable barriers, but as any creator (or, indeed, anyone who plays the games) will tell you, the end result can be life-changing. “The Games Awards was one of the best days of my life,” concludes Antoniades. “A lot of it was because of the team we had there – it was incredible to share it with the people I felt deserved it. Beyond that night, I didn’t know if anything would change, but everything has changed enormously. It’s opened up doors for us that I never thought possible. We have the respect of people in the wider world outside of games and that means we can work with organisations like Parliament or the NHS. I feel like it’s given us so much responsibility to make good on this opportunity to grow. It really is a wonderful gift.” •
Join BAFTA on your own journey. Visit: www.bafta.org/about/membership Opposite page: Rory McCutcheon with some of his fellow 2018 BAFTA scholars. This page, above: McCutcheon at the Scholarships reception at BAFTA 195. Right: Antoniades with three of Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice’s five BAFTAs
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G A M E FA C E S BAFTA Games Photography Putting on your game face generally has three meanings: getting ready to do some tough business (tackling something tricky); or preparing for some imminent partying hard. As BAFTA’s Games Awards is a heady celebration of the past year’s worth of fierce industry endeavor, here’s a mix of new BAFTA photography capturing both sides of games’ face...
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Opposite page, clockwise from top left: 2018 Special Award recipient Nolan North (BAFTA Los Angeles/ Vince Bucci); 2018 Performer winner Melina Juergens (Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice) (BAFTA/Laura Palmer); Nintendo’s Shinya Takahashi (2018 double winner for Super Mario Odyssey) (BAFTA/Thomas Alexander). This page, from top right: Firewatch’s Cissy Jones, winner of Performer in 2017 (BAFTA/Jamie Simonds); Debut Game winner Jason Roberts (Gorogoa) (BAFTA/ Jamie Simonds); 2018 Fellowship recipient Tim Schafer (BAFTA/James Gourley/Rex/Shutterstock); 2018 Performer nominee Abubakar Salim (Assassin’s Creed Origins) (BAFTA/Laura Palmer); 2018 Multiplayer winners Jan Van Dosselaer and Sarah Baylus (Divinity: Original Sin 2) (BAFTA/Jamie Simonds)
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OFFICERS
O FFI CERS HRH The Duke of Cambridge, KG Academy President
THE
O F
ACA DE MY
Barbara Broccoli obe Vice President, Film COM M IT TEES
Greg Dyke Vice President, Television David Gardner obe Vice President, Games
ELECTED MEMBERS OF THE FILM COMMITTEE
BOARD OF TRUSTEES
Marc Samuelson ‒ Chair Alison Thompson ‒ Deputy Chair Isabel Begg Simon Chinn Noel Clarke Alexandra Ferguson Derbyshire * Gillian Hawser Anna Higgs Pippa Markham David Thompson
Dame Pippa Harris dbe Chair of the Academy Jane Lush Deputy Chair of the Academy Dr Jo Twist obe Chair, Games Committee Krishnendu Majumdar Chair, Television Committee Sara Putt Chair, Learning & New Talent Committee Marc Samuelson Chair, Film Committee
ELECTED MEMBERS
Alison Thompson Deputy Chair, Film Committee
Dr Jo Twist obe ‒ Chair Nick Button-Brown Dave Ranyard * Tara Saunders Mike Simpson
OF THE GA MES COMMIT TEE
Hannah Wyatt Deputy Chair, Television Committee John Smith Co-optee and Chair, Commercial Committee Paul Taiano obe Co-optee and Chair, Finance and Audit Committee
ELECTED MEMBERS OF THE TELEVISION COMMITTEE
Krishnendu Majumdar ‒ Chair Hannah Wyatt ‒ Deputy Chair Richard Boden Phillippa Giles Laurence Marks Elizabeth McIntyre Emma Morgan Sara Putt Beryl Richards * Liz Trubridge
Arianna Bocco Co-optee Kieran Breen Co-optee Sir Lloyd Dorfman cbe Co-optee Paul Morrell obe Co-optee Amanda Berry obe Chief Executive
*Children’s
Kevin Price Chief Operating Officer
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Representatives
ACKNOWLEDGE M ENTS O F F I C I A L AU D I E N C E AWA R D S P O N S O R
O F F I C I A L GA M E S PA R T N E R S
AC A D E MY PA R T N E R S
GA M E S AWA R D S PA R T N E R S
Official Outdoor Media
Official Photobooth
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ACKNOWLEDGE M ENTS
Venue Queen Elizabeth Hall | Southbank Centre Host Dara Ó Briain
Sound PA Plus4Audio
Producer Chris Kearsey
Projection Creative Technology
Script Steve McNeil
Video Graphics DMI Productions Post Production Partner The Farm Group
Musical Performance London Oriana Choir
Prompting Facilities Portaprompt
Editor Daniel Dalton
Outside Broadcast Facilities CTV Outside Broadcasts
Director Ben Hardy
Live Streaming Facilities Jackshoot
Vision Mixer David Fitzpatrick
Red Carpet Producer Stuart McFeat
Floor Manager Mark Harrison Greg Frost
Photographers Thomas Alexander Jamie Simonds Danny Cozens Laura Palmer
Production Design Paul Houston Lighting Designer Vince Foster
PR WDW Entertainment
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WITH
THA NKS
FO R BA F TA
GA M ES CO M M I T T EE Dr Jo Twist obe (Chair) Callum Underwood Catherine Woolley Carolin Krenzer Dave Ranyard Tara Saunders Karl Stewart Phil Stuart Mark Turpin Mike Simpson Moo Yu Nick Button-Brown Sanjay Mistry Veronique Lallier Awards & Membership Team Imogen Faris, Natalie Gurney, Deirdre Hopkins, Timothy Hughes, Harriet Humphries, Jessica Rogers, Ada Kotowska, David Lortal BAFTA Productions & Events Stuart McFeat, Judith Morgan, Georgina Cunningham, Rosie Wilson, Brogan Wallace, Jamie Rowland, Olivia Comer Director of Partnerships Louise Robertson Partnerships Team Natalie Moss, Amy Elton, Charlie Perkin, Georgi Taroni Director of Communications Ellen Johnson
TOÉ
Director of Production Clare Brown Head of Production Cassandra Hybel Awards Event Producer Amy Wilson Assistant Awards Event Producer Ciara Teggart
Director of Awards & Membership Emma Baehr Head of Games, Children’s & Acting Head of Television Kelly Smith Games & Children’s Awards Officer Sam D’Elia Games & Children’s Coordinator Lewis Peet
Communications Team Nick Williams, Clare Isaacs, Sophie Dudhill, Dave Hudson, Shani Reid, Fiona Simpson, Ben Smart, Dana Thompson
Published by British Academy of Film and Television Arts 195 Piccadilly London W1J 9LN
Photography Director Claire Rees
T 020 7734 0022 e reception@bafta.org www.bafta.org
Photography Coordinator Jordan Anderson Brochure Design Russell Seal, Lucy Shephard
Chair Dame Pippa Harris DBE
Brochure Editor Toby Weidmann
Chief Executive Amanda Berry OBE
Brochure Cover Illustration Gramafilm info@gramafilm.com +44 (0)203 051 8619 www.gramafilm.com
Chief Operating Officer Kevin Price
The Academy chooses Garda, supporting excellence in print. Printed on Garda Satin 300gsm (cover) and 150gsm (text). Supplied and printed by Taylor Bloxham Group. taylorbloxham.co.uk
Ticket & Brochure Printing Taylor Bloxham www.taylorbloxham.co.uk
The carbon impact of this paper has been measured and balanced through the World Land Trust, an ecological charity.
All nominees imagery used with kind permission from the developers/distributors. Executive portraits: James Gourley/BAFTA/Rex/Shutterstock (Pippa Harris), BAFTA/Jonathan Birch (Amanda Berry). Although every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information contained in this publication, the Publishers cannot accept liability for errors or omissions. No part of this publication may be reproduced without the written permission of BAFTA. © BAFTA 2019 4 8
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