British Academy Games Awards in 2017 programme

2017

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BRITISH

WELCOM E

TO

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ACA DE MY

GA M ES

AWA RDS

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very warm welcome to the British Academy Games Awards, BAFTA’s annual celebration of the very best achievement in games of the past year.

This evening is one of the most important in the games calendar, and we congratulate all our inspirational nominees.

Spanning a range of platforms, genres and crafts, this year’s nominations demonstrate the incredible imagination and breadth of creativity within the industry. Our brochure cover powerfully illustrates the array of talent and creative collaboration behind the games we play, and how great game-making is the culmination of hundreds of ideas and countless hours of craft.

Alongside film and television, games is an essential pillar of the Academy, and supporting the next generation of talent in games is at the heart of what we do. From our Young Game Designers competition, scholarships programme, Breakthrough Brits initiative and BAFTA Crew activity, to shining a spotlight on emerging talent at our Awards, we provide access to the world’s leading games practitioners, inspiring the creative talent of tomorrow and invigorating the industry.

Our membership is crucial in all of this, which is why over the past year BAFTA has committed to growing its international influence and profile, recruiting members from across the globe. If you’re not already a member, now is the perfect time to join. This is a wonderfully exciting period for us, with our global games activity marking a renewed sense of energy for BAFTA Games.

Tonight’s Special Award recipient is Brenda Romero, one of the industry’s most valued creative minds. Throughout her career, Brenda has been a true advocate of the art and creative process behind game-making, and her commitment to encouraging the next generation of games talent is something she shares with us. We are delighted to be acknowledging her work with one of BAFTA’s highest accolades this evening.

A huge thank you to the Games Committee and its chair, Nick Button-Brown, to all our juries, to the BAFTA team and to our host, Danny Wallace. Thank you also to all our partners for your unwavering support and commitment.

We hope you have a very enjoyable evening.

FOLLOW US #BA F TAgames

/BA F TA

A M AN DA BERRY

@BA F TAgames

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OBE

Chief Executive of the Academy

JANE LUSH

Chair of the Academy

BA F TA

BA F TA

T H E S P E C I A L AWA R D

BRENDA ROMERO Words by Chris Schilling

Images supplied by the Romeros

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BAFTA Special Award for Brenda Romero not only celebrates a rich and varied career, but also a lifelong devotion and fascination towards games and all their facets. Games have played such a vital role in her life from a very early age that she can’t recall what first sparked her passion for the medium. “I genuinely have no idea,” she laughs, “because I don’t remember ever not having it.”

During her formative years, she developed a love of storytelling through games. At garage sales, Romero (née Garno) would knowingly buy incomplete board games, using the parts that remained to make up her own. At 11, she bought the original edition of Dungeons & Dragons, before going on to develop her own ruleset for tabletop RPG Rolemaster. And by 15, she had her first job in the games industry at Sir-Tech Software, publisher of the popular Wizardry series.

It was an unorthodox start by most standards. The job offer came as a result of a chance encounter with fellow 15-year-old Linda Sirotek, then co-owner of Sir-Tech, in a New York bathroom. Romero and Above and below: The many faces of Brenda Romero

“I have done pretty much every job in the industry – from playing to making to teaching.”

Sirotek (now Currie) just began talking.

“She asked me four questions,” Romero recalls. “Did I have a job? ‘No.’ Had I ever heard of Sir-Tech? ‘No.’ Had I ever heard of Wizardry? Also ‘No.’ Had I ever played Dungeons & Dragons? That answer was yes.

And with that I had my interview.”

The role involved answering questions on the Wizardry hotline, assisting players

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with tips and information about the game. It was a dream job for a role-playing obsessive: Romero was contracted to work five days a week from 4-8pm after school, but she sought ways to extend those hours, starting earlier and finishing later.

If fortune played a part in her recruitment, her sheer drive and desire to learn was what led to her rapid rise through the ranks. Soon, she was writing manuals, hint guides and press releases, before moving onto development management and production roles. “Basically, if there was an opening and I thought I could do it, and it was higher than where I was at the time, I would ask to try it,” she says. The culmination of her efforts was a lead design role on the multi-award-winning eighth Wizardry game. Romero’s post-Sir-Tech career has been similarly unconventional. At one

BRENDA ROMERO GAMES HISTORY (SELECT) 2017 Gunman Taco Truck (Romero Games Ltd) 2015 Dangerous Dave in the Deserted Pirate’s

Hideout! (Romero Games Ltd) 2014 Techno Dash (Hammerwing Studios, Inc) 2012 Pettington Park (Zynga Game

Network Inc) 2012 Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Commander

(Ubisoft, Inc) 2010 Ravenwood Fair (Lolapps) 2009 SuperPoke Pets (Slide) 2007 Def Jam: Icon (Electronic Arts) 2005 Playboy: The Mansion (Cyberlore Studios) 2003 Dungeons & Dragons: Heroes (Atari, Inc) 1999 Jagged Alliance 2 (TalonSoft) 1995 Druid: Daemons of the Mind

(Sir-Tech Software, Inc) 1994 Jagged Alliance (Sir-Tech Software, Inc) 1991-1994 Realms of Arkania Volumes 1 and 2

(Fantasy Productions Verlags) reakin’ Funky Fuzzballs F (Sir-Tech Software, Inc) 1984 Crypt of Medea (Sir-Tech Software, Inc) 1981-2001 The Wizardry series (Sir-Tech Software, Inc) 1990

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Above (top to bottom): Dungeons & Dragons: Heroes (2003); Def Jam: Icon (2007); Train (analogue game); Jagged Alliance 2 (1999)

Left (top to bottom): Ravenwood Fair (2010); Playboy: The Mansion (2005) Below: Gunman Taco Truck (2017)

history through the Cromwellian invasion of Ireland), Romero has further explored her love of communicating ideas through systems, expanding the boundaries of what we consider ‘play’. Indeed, the latter is now housed in the US’ National Museum of Play, alongside the original notes for Dungeons & Dragons: two cornerstones of an extraordinarily diverse career in close proximity.

Her enthusiasm for games still burns as brightly as it did at 15. A Fulbright scholarship to study the Irish game industry brought her to Galway where she now lives with her family, which already boasts another successful game designer: her son, Donovan, aged nine, with whom she and John developed post-apocalyptic action game Gunman Taco Truck. The game has since made enough money to cover both its art budget and to pay its creator’s future college fees.

As she prepares to receive the Academy’s Special Award, Romero modestly reveals that she sees it as a validation of the medium rather than her own personal achievements. “To me, it puts [games] on a level pillar with other forms of entertainment,” she says, pausing briefly before considering the question anew. “I guess if there’s any reason that I feel remotely worthy of it, it’s that I stayed. I have done pretty much every job in the industry – from playing to making to teaching, from computer to console to tabletop. And I have no intention of doing anything different.”

time, her social game, Ravenwood Fair, (developed with husband John) had more monthly users than World of Warcraft. She has researched and studied the role of sex in video games, writing a thoughtful, enlightening book about the subject (born out of her research for the game Playboy: The Mansion for Cyberlore Studios).

But the work of which she’s most proud is her recent series of analogue games, entitled The Mechanic is the Message. Through the provocative Train (in which players load pieces onto carriages that are later revealed to be headed for Auschwitz) and Síochán Leat (which channels her family

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CONGRATULATES THE BAFTA NOMINATED STUDIOS

AND WISHES GOOD LUCK TO ALL FELLOW NOMINEES © 2017 Electronic Arts Inc. EA, the EA logo and the DICE logo are trademarks of Electronic Arts Inc. Respawn is a trademark of Respawn Entertainment, LLC.

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Exterion Media, proud to support the British Academy Games Awards in 2017 noel.nallen@exterionmedia.co.uk T: 020 7428 5544 www.exterionmedia.co.uk

@ExterionMediaUK

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THE

NOM I NATI

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NS

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T H E

N O M I N AT I O NS

ARTISTIC ACHIEVEMENT

ABZÛ

DISHONORED 2

Development Team Giant Squid/505 Games

Development Team Arkane Studios/Bethesda Softworks

INSIDE

THE L AST GUARDIAN

Development Team Playdead/Playdead

Development Team SIE Japan Studio, genDESIGN/ Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe

UNCHARTED 4

U N R AV E L

Development Team Naughty Dog LLC/ Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe

Development Team Coldwood Interactive/Electronic Arts

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CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL BRITISH ACADEMY GAMES AWARDS NOMINEES!

© SEGA. SEGA, the SEGA logo and Sonic The Hedgehog are either registered trademarks or trademarks of SEGA Holdings Co., Ltd. or its affiliates. All rights reserved. SEGA is registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. All other trademarks, logos and copyrights are property of their respective owners.

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T H E

N O M I N AT I O NS

AUDIO ACHIEVEMENT

BAT T L E F I E L D 1

DOOM

Development Team DICE/Electronic Arts

Development Team id Software/Bethesda Softworks

INSIDE

THE L AST GUARDIAN

Martin Stig Andersen Playdead/Playdead

Development Team SIE Japan Studio, genDESIGN/ Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe

REZ INFINITE

UNCHARTED 4

Tetsuya Mizuguchi, Takako Ishida, Noboru Mutoh Enhance Games, Monstars Inc, Resonair/Enhance Games

Development Team Naughty Dog LLC/ Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe

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T H E

N O M I N AT I O NS

BEST F I R E WAT C H

Development Team Campo Santo Productions/ Camp Santo Productions, Panic Inc

INSIDE

Development Team Playdead/Playdead

OV E R WAT C H

Development Team Blizzard Entertainment/ Blizzard Entertainment

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T H E

N O M I N AT I O NS

GA ME S T A R D E W VA L L E Y

Eric Barone ConcernedApe/Chucklefish

T I TA N FA L L 2

Development Team Respawn Entertainment/ Electronic Arts

UNCHARTED 4

Development Team Naughty Dog LLC/Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe

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T H E

N O M I N AT I O NS

BRITISH GA ME

BATM A N : A R K H A M V R

FOR ZA HORIZON 3

Development Team Rocksteady Studios/WB Games

Development Team Playground Games/Microsoft Studios

NO M AN’S SKY

OVERCOOKED

Development Team Hello Games/Hello Games, Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe

Development Team Ghost Town Games/Team17 Digital Ltd

PL ANET COASTER

VIRGINIA

Development Team Frontier Developments/ Frontier Developments

Development Team Variable State/505 Games

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T H E

N O M I N AT I O NS

DEBUT GA ME

F I R E WAT C H

OVERCOOKED

Development Team Campo Santo Productions/ Campo Santo Productions, Panic Inc

Development Team Ghost Town Games/Team17 Digital Ltd

OXEN FREE

T H AT D R AG O N, C A N C E R

Development Team Night School Studio/Night School Studio

Development Team Numinous Games/Numinous Games

VIRGINIA

THE WITNESS

Development Team Variable State/505 Games

Development Team Thekla, Inc/Thekla, Inc

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T H E

N O M I N AT I O NS

E V O LV I N G G A M E

D E S T I N Y: R I S E O F I R O N

ELITE DAN GEROUS: HORIZONS

Development Team Bungie/Activision

Development Team Frontier Developments/ Frontier Developments

EVE ONLINE

F I N A L FA N TA S Y X I V: O N L I N E

Development Team CCP Games/CCP Games

Development Team Square Enix/Square Enix

H ITM AN

ROCKET LEAGUE

Development Team IO Interactive/Square Enix

Dave Hagewood, Jeremy Dunham, Corey Davis Psyonix/Psyonix

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T H E

N O M I N AT I O NS

FA M I LY

L E G O S TA R WA R S :

OVERCOOKED

T H E F O R C E AWA K E N S

Development Team Ghost Town Games/Team17 Digital Ltd

Mike Taylor, Jamie Eden, James Norton TT Games/WB Games

T H E P L AY R O O M V R

POKÉMON GO

Development Team SIE Japan Studio, Team ASOBI!/ Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe

Development Team Niantic Inc/Niantic Inc

R ATC H E T & C L A N K

TOCA HAIR SALON 3

Development Team Insomniac Games/Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe

Development Team Toca Boca/Toca Boca

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©2016 Ubisoft Entertainment. All Rights Reserved. Tom Clancy’s, The Division logo, the soldier icon, Snowdrop, Ubisoft and the Ubisoft logo are trademarks of Ubisoft Entertainment in the US and/or other countries. “2“ and “PlayStation” are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. “Ø“ is a trademark of the same company. Xbox, Xbox One, Xbox LIVE, and the Xbox logos are trademarks of the Microsoft group of companies and are used under license from Microsoft.

T H E

N O M I N AT I O NS

GA ME DESIGN

BAT T L E F I E L D 1

DISHONORED 2

Development Team DICE/Electronic Arts

Development Team Arkane Studios/Bethesda Softworks

INSIDE

OV E R WAT C H

Development Team Playdead/Playdead

Development Team Blizzard Entertainment/ Blizzard Entertainment

T I TA N FA L L 2

THE WITNESS

Development Team Respawn Entertainment/ Electronic Arts

Development Team Thekla, Inc/Thekla, Inc

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T H E

N O M I N AT I O NS

GA M E I N N OVAT I O N

BATM A N : A R K H A M V R

F I R E WAT C H

Development Team Rocksteady Studios/WB Games

Development Team Campo Santo Productions/ Campo Santo Productions, Panic Inc

POKÉMON GO

T H AT D R AG O N, C A N C E R

Development Team Niantic Inc/Niantic Inc

Development Team Numinous Games/Numinous Games

UNSEEN DIPLOM ACY

THE WITNESS

Development Team Triangular Pixels/Triangular Pixels

Development Team Thekla, Inc/Thekla, Inc

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T H E

N O M I N AT I O NS

MOBILE

THE BANNER SAGA 2

DAW N O F T I TA N S

Development Team Stoic/Versus Evil

Development Team Natural Motion/Zynga

DEUS EX GO

POKÉMON GO

Development Team Square Enix Montreal/Square Enix

Development Team Niantic Inc/Niantic Inc

POKÉMON SUN AND

REIGNS

POKÉMON MOON

Development Team Nerial/Devolver Digital

Development Team Game Freak/The Pokémon Company International

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T H E

N O M I N AT I O NS

M U LT I P L AY ER

BAT T L E F I E L D 1

FOR ZA HORIZON 3

Development Team DICE/Electronic Arts

Development Team Playground Games/Microsoft Studios

OVERCOOKED

OV E R WAT C H

Development Team Ghost Town Games/Team17 Digital Ltd

Development Team Blizzard Entertainment/ Blizzard Entertainment

T I TA N FA L L 2

TOM CL ANCY’S THE DIVISION

Development Team Respawn Entertainment/Electronic Arts

Development Team Ubisoft Massive/Ubisoft

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T H E

N O M I N AT I O NS

MUSIC

ABZÛ

DOOM

Austin Wintory Giant Squid/505 Games

Mick Gordon, Chris Hite, Chad Mossholder id Software/Bethesda Softworks

INSIDE

THE L AST GUARDIAN

Martin Stig Andersen, SØS Gunver Ryberg Playdead/Playdead

Takeshi Furukawa SIE Japan Studio, genDESIGN/ Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe

UNCHARTED 4

VIRGINIA

Henry Jackman, Jonathan Mayer, Scott Hanau Naughty Dog LLC/ Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe

Lyndon Holland Variable State/505 Games

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PROUD PARTNER OF THE BRITISH ACADEMY GAMES AWARDS

www.games.london 2 4

T H E

N O M I N AT I O NS

NA RR ATIVE

DISHONORED 2

F I R E WAT C H

Development Team Arkane Studios/Bethesda Softworks

Development Team Campo Santo Productions/ Campo Santo Productions, Panic Inc

INSIDE

MAFIA III

Arnt Jensen Playdead/Playdead

Development Team Hangar 13/2K

OXEN FREE

UNCHARTED 4

Development Team Night School Studio/Night School Studio

Neil Druckmann, Josh Scherr Naughty Dog LLC/ Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe

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T H E

N O M I N AT I O NS

ORIGINAL PROPERTY

F I R E WAT C H

INSIDE

Development Team Campo Santo Productions/ Campo Santo Productions, Panic Inc

Development Team Playdead/Playdead

THE L AST GUARDIAN

OV E R WAT C H

Development Team SIE Japan Studio, genDESIGN/ Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe

Development Team Blizzard Entertainment/ Blizzard Entertainment

U N R AV E L

THE WITNESS

Development Team Coldwood Interactive/Electronic Arts

Development Team Thekla, Inc/Thekla, Inc

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T H E

N O M I N AT I O NS

PERFORMER

ALEX HERNANDEZ

CISSY JONES

Lincoln Clay Mafia III

Delilah Firewatch

E M I LY R O S E

N AV I D N E G A H B A N

Elena Fisher Uncharted 4

‘Hajj Agha’ 1979 Revolution: Black Friday

NOLAN NORTH

T R OY BA K E R

Nathan Drake Uncharted 4

Sam Drake Uncharted 4

All nominations correct at time of press.

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Thanks for the lack of sleep, strained eyes, sore thumbs, heated arguments, and missing love lives.

Congratulations to the 2017 nominees.

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T H E

N O M I N AT I O NS

ES P O RTS A U D I EN CE AWA R D

C L A S H R O YA L E

COUNTER STRIKE:

D OTA 2

Supercell/Supercell

GLOBAL OFFENSIVE

Valve/Valve

Hidden Path Entertainment/Valve

LEAGUE OF LEGENDS

OV E R WAT C H

STREET FIGHTER V

Riot Games/Riot Games

Blizzard Entertainment/ Blizzard Entertainment

Capcom, Dimps/Capcom

M EE T

THE

AMD has driven innovation in high-performance computing, graphics and visualisation technologies for more than 45 years. It designs and integrates technology that powers millions of intelligent devices, from PCs to cloud servers. This is the second year the AMD eSports Audience Award has been recognized at the Games Awards, the only award voted for by the public. It recognises and acknowledges the games that captured the imaginations of players and audiences this past year, with the nominations selected by a panel of leading media, gaming and esports industry experts.

AMD says: “This award captures two things very close to our heart: gaming and the community that surrounds it. We wanted to bring those two things even closer together and focus the voices of the community on deciding their favourite esports title.

BAFTA’s mission to support, develop and promote the art forms of the moving image go hand-in-hand

SPO NSO R with our own aims. We strive to bring the best technology to market to enable those art forms to truly reach their peak potential. Whether that’s behind the scenes, in rendering the pixels and powering the servers, or at the forefront, in giving the end customer the best visual quality and playback experience in games or film.

“AMD is very proud to sponsor this award.

It’s special because it gives the enthusiastic esports community a chance to be heard. Our goal is to continue to produce great technology that lets more people experience the thrill of esports. AMD is a proud sponsor of the Evil Geniuses, Fnatic and Splyce Overwatch professional esports teams, who rely on AMD processors and graphics cards to play in competitions and tournaments. AMD gives careful consideration to our products’ performance on the most popular esports titles with these sponsorships in mind.”

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THE

A RT IST I C ACH I E V E M EN T Tara Saunders chair Jodie Azhar Lee Carus Liam Cullen Alex Grahame Mark Lintott Joel Smith Robert Stoneman Alessandro Taini Jan-Bart van Beek Jolyon Webb

J URIES

AUDIO ACH I E V E M EN T Harvey Elliott chair Nick Arundel John Broomhall Adele Cutting Justin French Charlie Hasdell Rob Lord Stephen Lord Patrick O’Luanaigh Barney Pratt

B R I T ISH GA M E Catherine Woolley chair Mark Brown Michelle Ducker Charles Griffiths Carl Keeler Dan Leaver Gary Napper Holly Pickering Ann Scantlebury

E VO LV I N G GA M E Harvey Elliott chair Tom Beardsmore Dan Brewer Ben Furneaux Kish Hirani Matt Jeffery Timothy Mines Dan Pearson Shannon Plante Mike Ress Callum Underwood James Vaughan

B EST GA M E Keza MacDonald chair Shahid Kamal Ahmad Barclay Deeming Jane Douglas Will Freeman Richard Kemp Owen O’Brien Kristina Rothe Karen Stanley Richard Stanton Alex Wiltshire

D EB U T GA M E Jo Twist chair Paul Callaghan Rex Crowle Michael French Simon Hade Véronique Lallier Callum Lawson Romana Ramzan

FA M I LY Lee Schuneman chair James Batchelor Russell Harding Jackie Myburgh Mark Owen Philip Roberts Anisa Sanusi Liz Wyle Barbara Zambrini

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GA M E D ESI G N Georg Backer chair Ollie Clarke Jennifer Clixby Lilly Devon Mike Green Dave Hagewood Lucy James Adam Kramarzewski Cassie Morgan Brenda Romero Jennifer Schneidereit Ted Timmins

GA M E I N N OVAT I O N Phil Stuart chair Toby Allen Charu Desodt Caspar Field Brynley Gibson Adrian Hon James Norwood Siobhan Reddy Sol Rogers Jon Weinbren

M U LT I PL AYER Dave Ranyard chair Tom Bennett James Brooksby Marc Canham James Dobrowski Tom Gillo Bea Gonzalez Alexis Guariguata Alex Moyet Matt Southern

M O B I L E GA M E Carolin Krenzer chair Andy Bass Tone Brennan Ed Chin Des Gayle Regis Geoffrion Dan Gray Andy Payne Amy Phillips James Russell Salone Seghal Rob Small

M USI C Paul Topping chair Andrew Barnabas Richard Bates Nick Gillett Marie Havemann Niamh Houston Ian Livingstone Ian Masters Joe Thwaites

N A R R AT I V E Rhianna Pratchett chair Charles Cecil James Griffiths Adrian Hon Meg Jayanth Richard Morgan Rob Morgan Chris Payne Alice Rendell Jessica Saunders Ed Stern Ian Thomas Jordan Webber

PER FO R M ER Mark Maslowicz chair Jonnie Bryant Cara Ellison Chris Dring Piers Harding-Rolls Melissa Hutchison Iain MacIntyre Kristen McGorry Ben O’Donnell Nicholas Rooke

O R I G I N A L PRO PERT Y Imre Jele chair Dan Ayoub Troy Baker Rob Crossley Chet Faliszek Amy Hennig Colin Macdonald Marina Mello Helana Santos Siobhan Thomas Xandra van Wijk

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BREAKTHROUGH

BRITS Do you know someone about to breakthrough?

BAFTA is looking for the brightest up-and-coming talent in the games industry for our flagship new talent programme.

If you know someone new to the games industry who is making a real impact, with their own projects or as part of a team, recommend them as a Breakthrough Brit now.

Email breakthrough@bafta.org and we will invite them to apply.

#BreakthroughBrits 3 2

BA F TA

O NES

TO

WATCH

AWA RD

I N A S S O CI AT I O N WI T H DA R E TO B E D I G I TA L

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he Ones to Watch award was launched in 2007 to encourage and reward innovation from emerging game designers. This year, 16 teams, all consisting of university students from across the world, competed for the award, with their prototypes first showcased at Dare To Be Digital’s Dare ProtoPlay event, held in Dundee last August.

Three of those games were then shortlisted by a panel of industry experts to contest the BAFTA Ones to Watch trophy, based on their innovation, creativity, market potential and best use of technology.

The teams were given a short time to finesse their game before the final jury panel selected the winner.

T H E BA F TA O N ES TO WATCH J U RY Catherine Woolley chair Giles Armstrong Jodie Azhar Albert Bentall Pete Bottomley Kaye Elling Keith Linares Liz Mercuri Andrew Oliver Timea Tabori

In association with

THE NOM INATIONS

AMONG THE STONES

P E N TAG R A B

REBOUND

by Bluedoor Games

by Ludico

by Hexterion

Lukasz Gomula, Alberto Taiuti, James Wood, Roberto Macken, Kevin McKenna, Rory Sweeney

Andrew Fullarton, Thomas Slade, Nick Kondylis, Cari Watterton, Dale Smith

Among the Stones is a beautiful 3D puzzle platformer following a young adventurer, Lya, as she explores a mysterious island inhabited by rock people. Able to manipulate the ground, the player can build stone structures to overcome obstacles and complete puzzles along the way.

Ever needed to summon a demon but didn’t know how? Pentagrab provides the answer in a fun, fast and furiously slapstick way. This 2D arcade thriller sees up to four players compete to finish sacrificing items to their pentagrams, while at the same time sabotaging their rivals’ work.

Kieran Gallagher, Isaac Pringle, Mark Tempini, Andrew Graham, Alexander MacDiarmid, Vladislav Veselinov, Craig Russell, Alexandra Donaldson

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Lightning fast reactions, shrewd anticipation and a head for working out angles is the key to success in Rebound, an intense local multiplayer dodgeball game given a futuristic twist. Two to four players compete in free-for-all deathmatch arenas, where one slip could end in elimination.

GA ME CHANGERS Compared to film and television, the games industry is still in its infancy as an art form. But the craft behind the creation of games has certainly come of age and BAFTA is at its vanguard...

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he legitimacy of working in the games industry has been hindered by the argument over whether games can be considered an art form. Experts have been debating this almost since the medium’s inception (critic Roger Ebert had plenty to say on the matter, for instance), with games too easily dismissed as throwaway entertainment. The dated caricature of a solitary young male living in his parents’ basement is too often perpetuated by the mass media, but games are beloved by a much wider audience now.

At BAFTA, we know that the best games can be every bit as revelatory, meaningful, provocative and entertaining as film and television. It’s our mission to bring great work to public attention and support the growth of our industries.

We do this by celebrating and rewarding excellence, through our Awards (natch!); discovering and nurturing talent, through our year-round Learning and New Talent programme; and enabling creative and cultural exchange through our global activity.

More so than ever before, this past year BAFTA has been working hard to ensure games are considered in the same breath as the two other great cultural art forms of this generation, films and television. At the forefront of this has been the implementation of a new games strategy, with an overarching ambition to make our industry representation a truly international affair, across our Awards, membership and Learning and New Talent activities.

We are looking to expand our presence in North America further, and are currently planning an active programme of monthly events in the US. Our strategy was kickstarted in June last year when we celebrated the amazing work of award-winning game director and scriptwriter, Amy Hennig, presenting her with a Special Award at an event in Los Angeles. We are also ensuring we have visibility at all the major annual games events, to promote the far-reaching benefits of supporting BAFTA, and we have Above: Ilkka Paananen delivers the annual Games Lecture in 2016 Below: Special Award recipient Amy Hennig

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Clockwise from top left: 2016 Guru Live games panel; the BAFTA Young Game Designers winners and nominees; 2016 Breakthrough Brit Jodie Azhar has fun at the BAFTA photoshoot

been steadily building our membership base over the past year to better reflect the international nature of the industry.

Further examples of our progressive approach to supporting the games industry can be found throughout our events and initiatives. For instance, in May 2016, we launched our Guru Live festival.

Building on the awareness of our online content hub for career starters, BAFTA Guru, we dedicated a whole day to celebrating, discussing and demystifying the games industry through Q&As, lectures, forums and masterclasses, with 98 per cent of attendees stating they found it professionally useful.

We’ve also tackled and shone the spotlight on a broad array of games crafts and genres. Our annual Games Lecture was delivered by Ilkka Paananen, CEO and co-founder of mobile games developer, Supercell. BAFTA Breakthrough Brit alumni Catherine Woolley delivered BAFTA Cymru’s annual Games Keynote speech, now named the Dewi Vaughan Owen Keynote, as part of the Wales Games Development Show in June.

In October, we launched the Virtual Reality Advisory Group, created to explore and help articulate the impact that VR will have on the landscape of the film, television and games industries. This newly formed, independent group comprises of individuals representing both the

technology and creative sectors, and will host events to examine the opportunities presented by VR. Earlier in the year, BAFTA Cymru hosted a Doing Digital, Thinking Digital event, providing an opportunity to learn more from local Welsh companies working in augmented reality and virtual reality.

Our new and emerging talent activities have continued on apace over the past 12 months, too.

Last year, five games practitioners were chosen to become a Breakthrough Brit, our tent pole initiative to support emerging talent. Meanwhile, our BAFTA Young Game Designers competition selected four winners between the ages of 10 and 18 across its two main categories, the Game Concept Award, for a written idea for a new game; and the Game Making Award, for a game made using computer software. The awards were presented at a special ceremony hosted at BAFTA 195 Piccadilly, which also saw the presentation of a Mentor Award and Hero Award (the latter won by Media Molecule).

While the Games Awards remains the highlight of our calendar, beyond the red carpet BAFTA is continuing to support, develop and promote this remarkable art form. To join our ranks and ensure a bright future for games, visit: bafta.org

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ACK N OWL ED G E M EN TS

O F F I C I A L GA M E S PA R T N E R S

GA M E S AWA R D S PA R T N E R S

Audience Award

Official Hotel

Official After Party

Official Livestream

AC A D E MY PA R T N E R S

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Official Outdoor Media

ACK N OWL ED G E M EN TS

Host Danny Wallace

Projection Visual Elements Ltd

Producer Trey Farley

Video Graphics DMI Productions

Script Anthony Richardson

Post Production Partner The Farm Group

Musical Performance Pippa Langhorne

Prompting Facilities Portaprompt

Editor Amy Hounsell

Teleprompter Roz Roux

Director Eleanor Ward

Outside Broadcast Facilities CTV Outside Broadcasts

Vision Mixer Morag McIntosh

Technical Facilities Visual Elements Ltd

Floor Manager Siobhan O’Donnell

Live Streaming Facility Twitch

Production Design Denning.Design

Photographers Thomas Alexander Jamie Simonds Danny Cozens Laura Palmer

Lighting Designer Stuart Gain

PR Johanna Hatch White Ltd PR

Lighting Operator Alex Mead Sound PA Plus4Audio

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WITH

THA NKS

FO R BA F TA

GA M ES CO M M I T T EE Nick Button-Brown (chair), Georg Backer Imre Jele Carolin Krenzer Keza MacDonald Rhianna Pratchett Dave Ranyard Tara Saunders Lee Schuneman Phil Stewart Paul Topping Jo Twist Catherine Woolley

Awards & Membership Team Jim Bradshaw, Dale Ellis, Imogen Faris, Natalie Gurney, Timothy Hughes, David Lortal, Pruthvi Pandit, Ollie Ship, Gemma Thomas Production & Event Team Georgina Cunningham, Daniel Dalton, Jamie Ryan, Emily Mazzeo Director of Partnerships Louise Robertson Partnerships Team Natalie Moss, Amy Elton, Georgi Taroni, Charlie Perkin

TOÉ

Director of Production Clare Brown Awards Event Producer Lucy Waller Awards Event Coordinator Ciara Teggart Head of Production Cassandra Hybel

Head of Games and Children’s Kelly Smith Games & Children’s Awards Officer Sam D’Elia Games & Children’s Coordinator Serena Deakin

BAFTA Producer Ryan Doherty

Published by British Academy of Film and Television Arts 195 Piccadilly London W1J 9LN

Brochure Design Joe Lawrence Brochure Editor Toby Weidmann Cover Artwork Creative Direction AKQA www.akqa.com +44 (0) 207 780 4786 info@akqa.com Illustration Shotopop c/o Bernstein & Andriulli shotopop.com

Communications Team Nick Williams, Clare Isaacs, Jess Lenten, Emma Raczkowski, Abi Fiedler

Director of Awards & Membership Emma Baehr

T 020 7734 0022 F 020 7292 5869 www.bafta.org Chair Jane Lush Chief Executive Amanda Berry OBE Chief Operating Officer Kevin Price

Photography Manager Claire Rees

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

Photography Assistant Hannah Hutchins

The carbon impact of this paper has been measured and balanced through the World Land Trust, an ecological charity.

All nominations correct at time of going to press.

All nominees imagery used with kind permission from the developers/distributors.

No part of this publication may be reproduced without the written permission of BAFTA. © BAFTA 2017 4 0

Gaming can take us to another world.

With a single sip, we bring you to ours.

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