British Academy Games Awards in 2018 programme

2018

WISHES THE BEST OF LUCK TO ALL FELLOW

BAFTA GAMES AWARDS NOMINEES

3

CONTENTS REGUL A RS 2 Cover Story

The story behind the brochure’s special cover artwork

SPECI A L FE AT U RES

3 Welcome

By Jane Lush & Amanda Berry o b e 45 Officers of the Academy 46 Partners and Supporters 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 30 The Juries

32 The Fellowship

Celebrating the wonderful contribution to the industry by game designer Tim Schafer.

Words by Chris Schilling 40 Beyond the Games

BAFTA’s year supporting and celebrating the games industry.

Words by Toby Weidmann

T H E B U I L D I N G B LO CKS O F I N D U S T RY The story behind this year’s cover artwork...

[2]

T

emerging practitioners through our extensive Learning & New Talent programme. One of our more grassroots events, BAFTA’s annual Young Game Designers Awards, seeks to inspire children and young people to create, develop and present their new game ideas to the world. Interestingly, there has been a noticeable growing trend among entries: in 2017, 53 per cent of the nominated games had a social or educational focus, almost double the 2016 figure, and represented in our artwork by the golden building blocks [fig. 2]. This included the eventual winner of the Game Concept Award in the 15-18 years old category (Guzzlesarus’s Culinary Capers, by 15-year-old Anna Carter, which aims to teach culinary skills to children).

This move has been reflected in the Games Awards itself, with the introduction of a new category for 2018, Game Beyond Entertainment.

This will recognise the game that best capitalises on the art form’s ability to deliver a transformational experience beyond pure entertainment. Through empathy and emotional impact, games can engage, educate and emotionally impact players with real world issues, often better than any other medium.

here’s meaning behind the design of this year’s Games Awards brochure cover artwork.

While the image itself may evoke any number of games, both past and present, hidden within is data that provides unique perspectives into the games industry.

According to leading market insight provider Newzoo, the UK games market is the third largest in the world per capita ($640,000, per every 10,000 of the population), behind Japan in first place ($1m per capita) and the US in second ($770,000 per capita) – as represented by the height of the three buildings in our cover art [fig. 1]. It’s estimated that the UK’s 32.4 million gamers spent $4.2bn on games in 2017.

And it’s homegrown creative talent that is helping drive that success, with industry trade body Ukie estimating there are 2,255 games companies operating in the UK (as of 12 March 2018). The UK games industry is in rude health, with the BFI’s 2015 report, Economic Contribution of the UK’s Film, High-End TV, Video Game, and Animation Programming Sectors, estimating that 9,400 full-time employees work in game development.

That makes good reading for the next generation of creative talent coming through.

BAFTA strives to nurture and support new and

Find out more on page 40 of this brochure and online: www.bafta.org

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Data sources: BAFTA, www.bfi.org.uk, newzoo.com, ukie.org.uk

[1]

BRITISH

WELCOM E

TO

THE

ACA DE MY

GA M ES

AWA RDS

T

he British Academy Games Awards is our annual celebration of the creativity, ingenuity and artistry expressed in games over the past year. We congratulate all of tonight’s inspirational nominees for their exceptional work.

We are immensely proud that our Awards are embraced by both the industry and the public allowing us to showcase your skills to a global audience and help inspire the next generation of talent. We’re delighted that for the first time the Awards will be live-streamed on all major platforms this year, including Twitch, YouTube, Twitter, Facebook Live and Mixer. And through a new partnership with IGN, it will also be streamed on an additional 12 platforms.

This wider reach reflects an industry that is booming. Figures for the UK market alone are impressively buoyant, as we have illustrated in this year’s brochure cover artwork (see opposite). The games themselves continue to evolve while, of course, still endlessly entertaining us, they also challenge our attitudes and values, provoking thought and educating us. So, reflecting the latest trends in the industry, we’ve introduced a new category this year, Game Beyond Entertainment, celebrating games that deliver transformational experiences beyond entertainment.

Game creation is more often than not a collaborative process, but sometimes the work of an individual demands celebration. The recipient of the BAFTA Fellowship – the Academy’s highest honour – is one of the industry’s most dynamic creative minds, Tim Schafer. From Monkey Island and the Land of the Dead to Whispering Rock Psychic Summer Camp and beyond, Schafer’s talent for bringing to life imaginative worlds with charismatic characters and singularly witty narratives has charmed players for decades. We are delighted to celebrate his wonderful contribution to the Games world this evening.

Alongside film and television, games is an essential pillar of the Academy, and we’ve made a dedicated effort to grow our global presence. We’ve hosted a number of events in the US – including the recent ILMxLAB event on immersive entertainment in San Francisco, around the same time as GDC – and we’ve welcomed an increase of international members into our ranks. We are constantly looking to improve and broaden our membership, so if you’re not already a member, now is the perfect time to join.

One final message: it is our belief that everyone has the right to work in a safe, professional environment. Following the revelations of sexual assault and workplace harassment that hit our industries at the end of 2017, we have worked closely with the BFI, Ukie, Equity and around 40 other organisations to develop before a Set of Principles and Guidance that can be adopted by the screen industries. It is essential that there is a shared understanding of respectful, inclusive working practices that enable everyone to succeed.

We wish you all a very enjoyable evening.

FOLLOW US #BA F TAgames

/BA F TA

@BA F TAgames

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A M AN DA BERRY

OBE

Chief Executive of the Academy

JANE LUSH

Chair of the Academy

BA F TA

BA F TA

4

THE

N OM I NATI O NS 5

BAFTA YOUNG GAME DESIGNERS Inspiring the next generation of games designers

Workshops Support for teachers in the classroom

Opportunity Competition An insight into the world of game making

Offers young people a chance to take their game to the next level

BAFTA Young Game Designers is an initiative and competition that inspires 10-18 year-olds to create, develop and present their new game idea to the world.

If you know someone who loves to make games as much as you do the competition is now open for entries – winners will get access to support and mentoring from the games industry, tools to develop their game design skills and more amazing prizes.

Find out more and enter at ygd.bafta.org Competition closing date: 17.00, Wednesday 25 April 2018

@BAFTAGames #YGD 6

ARTISTIC ACHIEVEMENT

CUPHEAD

GOROGOA

Development Team StudioMDHR Entertainment Inc/ StudioMDHR Entertainment Inc

Development Team Jason Roberts, Buried Signal/ Annapurna Interactive

H E L L B L A D E : S E N U A’ S S A C R I F I C E

H O R I ZO N Z E R O DAW N

Development Team Ninja Theory Ltd/Ninja Theory Ltd

Development Team Guerrilla/Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe

THE LEGEND OF ZELDA:

UNCHARTED: THE LOST LEGACY

B R E AT H O F T H E W I L D

Development Team Naughty Dog/Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe

Development Team Nintendo EPD/Nintendo

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CONGRATULATES THE BAFTA NOMINATED STUDIOS

AND WISHES GOOD LUCK TO ALL FELLOW NOMINEES! STAR WARS © & TM 2018 Lucasfilm Ltd. All rights reserved. Game code and certain audio and/or visual material ©2018 Electronic Arts Inc. EA, the EA logo, and the DICE logo are trademarks of Electronic Arts Inc.

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AUDIO ACHIEVEMENT

C A L L O F D U T Y: W O R L D W A R I I

DESTINY 2

Development Team Sledgehammer Games/Activision

Development Team Bungie/Activision

H E L L B L A D E : S E N U A’ S S A C R I F I C E

H O R I ZO N Z E R O DAW N

David García Díaz Ninja Theory Ltd/Ninja Theory Ltd

Development Team Guerrilla/Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe

S TA R WA R S B AT T L E F R O N T I I

UNCHARTED: THE LOST LEGACY

Development Team DICE/Electronic Arts

Development Team Naughty Dog/Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe

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BEST GA ME

ASSASSIN’S CREED ORIGINS

Development Team Ubisoft Montreal/Ubisoft

H E L L B L A D E : S E N U A’ S S A C R I F I C E

Development Team Ninja Theory Ltd/Ninja Theory Ltd

H O R I ZO N Z E R O DAW N

Development Team Guerrilla/Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe

1 0

BEST GA ME

THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: B R E AT H O F T H E W I L D

Development Team Nintendo EPD/Nintendo

S U P E R M A R I O O DYS S E Y

Development Team Nintendo EPD/Nintendo

W H AT R E M A I N S O F E D I T H F I N C H

Development Team Giant Sparrow/Annapurna Interactive

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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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BRITISH GA ME

H E L L B L A D E : S E N U A’ S S A C R I F I C E

M O N U M E N T VA L L E Y 2

Development Team Ninja Theory Ltd/Ninja Theory Ltd

Development Team ustwo games/ustwo games

REIGNS: HER MA JESTY

T H E S E X Y B R U TA L E

Leigh Alexander, François Alliot, Arnaud De Bock Nerial Ltd/Devolver Digital

Charles Griffiths, James Griffiths, Tom Lansdale Cavalier Game Studios and Tequila Works/ Tequila Works

SNIPER ELITE 4

T O TA L WA R : WA R H A M M E R I I

Development Team Rebellion/Rebellion

Development Team Creative Assembly/SEGA

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DEBUT GA ME

CUPHEAD

GOROGOA

Development Team StudioMDHR Entertainment Inc/ StudioMDHR Entertainment Inc

Development Team Jason Roberts, Buried Signal/ Annapurna Interactive

HOLLOW KNIGHT

NIGHT IN THE WOODS

Development Team Team Cherry/Team Cherry

Scott Benson, Alec Holowka, Bethany Hockenberry Infinite Fall/Finji

T H E S E X Y B R U TA L E

SLIME RANCHER

Charles Griffiths, James Griffiths, Tom Lansdale Cavalier Game Studios and Tequila Works/ Tequila Works

Development Team Monomi Park/Monomi Park

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E V O LV I N G G A M E

C L A S H R O YA L E

F I N A L FA N TA S Y X V

Development Team Supercell/Supercell

Hajime Tabata Square Enix/Square Enix

FORTNITE

OV E R WAT C H

Development Team Epic Games/Epic Games

Development Team Blizzard Entertainment/Blizzard Entertainment

P L AY E R U N K N O W N ’ S

TOM CL ANCY’S

BAT T L E G R O U N D S

R AINBOW SIX SIEGE

Development Team PUBG Corp/Bluehole, Inc

Development Team Ubisoft Montreal/Ubisoft

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FA M I LY

J U S T D A N C E 2 018

LEGO WORLDS

Development Team Ubisoft Paris/Ubisoft

Development Team TT Games/WB GamesÂ

MARIO + RABBIDS

M O N U M E N T VA L L E Y 2

K I N G D O M BAT T L E

Development Team ustwo games/ustwo games

Development Team Ubisoft/Ubisoft

SNIPPERCLIPS

S U P E R M A R I O O DYS S E Y

Development Team SFB Games/Nintendo

Development Team Nintendo EPD/Nintendo

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GA M E B E YO N D EN T ER TA I N M EN T

BU RY M E, MY LOVE

H E L L B L A D E : S E N U A’ S S A C R I F I C E

Development Team The Pixel Hunt & Fig/ARTE & Playdius

Development Team Ninja Theory Ltd/Ninja Theory Ltd

L A S T D AY O F J U N E

LIFE IS STR ANGE:

Massimo Guarini, Elia Randon, Andrew Thompson Ovosonico/505 Games

BEFORE THE STORM

Development Team Deck Nine Games, Square Enix/Square Enix

NIGHT IN THE WOODS

SEA HERO QUEST VR

Scott Benson, Alec Holowka, Bethany Hockenberry Infinite Fall/Finji

Matthew Hyde, Max Scott-Slade, Hugo Scott-Slade Glitchers/Glitchers

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GA ME DESIGN

ASSASSIN’S CREED ORIGINS

H O R I ZO N Z E R O DAW N

Development Team Ubisoft Montreal/Ubisoft

Development Team Guerrilla/Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe

THE LEGEND OF ZELDA:

N I E R AU TO M ATA

B R E AT H O F T H E W I L D

Development Team Platinum Games, Square Enix/Square Enix

Development Team Nintendo EPD/Nintendo

S U P E R M A R I O O DYS S E Y

W H AT R E M A I N S O F E D I T H F I N C H

Development Team Nintendo EPD/Nintendo

Development Team Giant Sparrow/Annapurna Interactive

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2 0

GA M E I N N OVAT I O N

GOROGOA

H E L L B L A D E : S E N U A’ S S A C R I F I C E

Development Team Jason Roberts, Buried Signal/ Annapurna Interactive

Development Team Ninja Theory Ltd/Ninja Theory Ltd

THE LEGEND OF ZELDA:

N I E R AU TO M ATA

B R E AT H O F T H E W I L D

Development Team Platinum Games, Square Enix/Square Enix

Development Team Nintendo EPD/Nintendo

SNIPPERCLIPS

W H AT R E M A I N S O F E D I T H F I N C H

Development Team SFB Games/Nintendo

Development Team Giant Sparrow/Annapurna Interactive

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MOBILE

BU RY M E, MY LOVE

GOLF CLASH

Development Team The Pixel Hunt & Fig/ARTE & Playdius

Paul Gouge, Alex Rigby, Gareth Jones Playdemic/Playdemic

GOROGOA

KAMI 2

Development Team Jason Roberts, Buried Signal/ Annapurna Interactive

Development Team State of Play/State of Play

M O N U M E N T VA L L E Y 2

STR ANGER THINGS: THE GA ME

Development Team ustwo games/ustwo games

Development Team BonusXP, Inc/BonusXP, Inc

2 2

M U LT I P L AY ER

D I V I N I T Y: O R I G I N A L S I N 2

FORTNITE

Development Team Larian Studios/Larian Studios Games

Development Team Epic Games/Epic Games

GANG BEASTS

P L AY E R U N K N O W N ’ S

Development Team Boneloaf/Double Fine Productions

BAT T L E G R O U N D S

Development Team PUBG Corp/Bluehole, Inc

S P L ATO O N 2

S TA R T R E K : B R I D G E C R E W

Development Team Nintendo EPD/Nintendo

Development Team Red Storm Entertainment/Ubisoft

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The BAFTA for best Special Visual Effects 2036 goes to...

The next generation needs your support.

We believe talented individuals, from all backgrounds, should be given an equal chance to shine and receive the vital encouragement they need to succeed in our industries.

To do this, we’ve launched an ambitious fundraising campaign to redevelop our home, 195 Piccadilly, and greatly enhance our charitable learning programme.

To make a donation contact Andrew Overin, Head of Fundraising andrewo@bafta.org.

ILLUM INATING BA F TA

Building a brighter future for generations to come.

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MUSIC

CUPHEAD

GET EVEN

Development Team StudioMDHR Entertainment Inc/ StudioMDHR Entertainment Inc

Development Team The Farm 51/Bandai Namco Entertainment Europe

H E L L B L A D E : S E N U A’ S S A C R I F I C E

H O R I ZO N Z E R O DAW N

David García Díaz, Andy LaPlegua Ninja Theory Ltd/Ninja Theory Ltd

Development Team Guerrilla/Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe

THE LEGEND OF ZELDA:

W H AT R E M A I N S O F E D I T H F I N C H

B R E AT H O F T H E W I L D

Jeff Russo Giant Sparrow/Annapurna Interactive

Development Team Nintendo EPD/Nintendo

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NA RR ATIVE

H E L L B L A D E : S E N U A’ S S A C R I F I C E

H O R I ZO N Z E R O DAW N

Tameem Antoniades Ninja Theory Ltd/Ninja Theory Ltd

Development Team Guerrilla/Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe

NIGHT IN THE WOODS

TAC O M A

Scott Benson, Alec Holowka, Bethany Hockenberry Infinite Fall/Finji

Steve Gaynor, Karla Zimonja Fullbright/Fullbright

W H AT R E M A I N S O F E D I T H F I N C H

WOLFENSTEIN II:

Development Team Giant Sparrow/Annapurna Interactive

THE NEW COLOSSUS

Jens Matthies, Tommy Tordsson Björk, Tom Keegan MachineGames/Bethesda

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ORIGINAL PROPERTY

CUPHEAD

GOROGOA

Chad Moldenhauer, Jared Moldenhauer StudioMDHR Entertainment Inc/ StudioMDHR Entertainment Inc

Development Team Jason Roberts, Buried Signal/ Annapurna Interactive

H O R I ZO N Z E R O DAW N

NIGHT IN THE WOODS

Development Team Guerrilla/Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe

Scott Benson, Alec Holowka, Bethany Hockenberry InfiniteFall/Finji

P L AY E R U N K N O W N ’ S

W H AT R E M A I N S O F E D I T H F I N C H

BAT T L E G R O U N D S

Development Team Giant Sparrow/Annapurna Interactive

Development Team PUBG Corp/Bluehole, Inc

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CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL THE 2018 BAFTA NOMINEES FROM EVERYONE AT UBISOFT © 2018 Ubisoft Entertainment. All Rights Reserved. Ubisoft, Ubi.com and the Ubisoft logo are trademarks of Ubisoft Entertainment in the U.S. and/or other countries.

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PERFORMER

ABUBAK AR SALIM

A S H LY B U R C H

Bayek Assassin’s Creed Origins

Aloy Horizon Zero Dawn

CL AUDIA BL ACK

L AUR A BAILEY

Chloe Frazer Uncharted: The Lost Legacy

Nadine Ross Uncharted: The Lost Legacy

MELINA JUERGENS

VA L E R I E R O S E L O H M A N

Senua Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice

Edith Finch What Remains of Edith Finch

All nominations correct at time of press.

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THE

A RT IST I C ACH I E V E M EN T Keza MacDonald chair Rex Crowle Matthew Davis Laura Dilloway Anna Hollinrake Jasmine Isdrake John Laws Kinwai Lee Mark Sneddon Keith Stuart Pawel Wojs

J URIES

AUDIO ACH I E V E M EN T Jon Hare chair Malin Arvidsson Andrew Barnabas Allister Brimble Jim Fowler Alex Joseph Mark Knight Jason Page Rebecca Parnell Adam Rosser

B R I T ISH GA M E Jo Twist chair Charles Cecil Russ Clarke Cassia Curran Matthew Horsman Timothy Mines Alex Moyet Kiron Ramdewar Andrew Roper Colm Seeley Peter van der Watt Rob Vickery

E VO LV I N G GA M E Karl Stewart chair Thomas Andersson Sam Barlow Steven Bell Greg Goodrich Arne Meyer Kevin Scharff Garrett Young

B EST GA M E Harvey Elliott chair Jonathan Bunney Charu Desodt Joy Dey Alexis Guariguata Richard Jolly Ben Parfitt Kim Swift John Watson Stuart Whyte

D EB U T GA M E Catherine Woolley chair Jodie Azhar Dan Brewer Lucy James Innes McKendrick Liz Mercuri Gary Napper Dan Pinchbeck Alice Rendell Kirsty Rigden Maxwell Scott-Slade Chris Wilson

FA M I LY Tara Saunders chair Graeme Ankers Katherine Bidwell Ben Brudenell Brynley Gibson Ellie Gibson Tom Gillo Damian Hosen Amo Hsueh Lance Winter

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GA M E B E YO N D EN T ERTA I N M EN T Phil Stuart chair Ben Furneaux Russell Harding Adrian Hon Cissy Jones Adrienne Law Jude Ower Brenda Romero Luke Savage Alice Taylor Jordan Erica Webber

THE

GA M E D ESI G N Lee Schuneman chair Alejandro Arque Gallardo Alex Cullum Shannon Loftis Virginia Martín Pérez Gregg Mayles Mária Rakušanová Travis Ryan Anisa Sanusi Xandra van Wijk

J URIES

GA M E I N N OVAT I O N Carolin Krenzer chair Des Gayle Richard Hamer Callum Lawson Cassie Morgan John Romero Jennifer Schneidereit Ishai Smadja Xu Xiaojun

M USI C Dave Ranyard chair Marine Cabour May Costart-Wong Adele Cutting Christopher Dring Sergio Pimentel Jeremy Soule Richard Wells Kenny Young

M U LT I PL AYER Nick Button-Brown chair James Brooksby Tom Daniel Kish Hirani Matt Jeffery Caryn Krakauer Mark Morris Tara Mustapha Shannon Plante Aoife Wilson

N A R R AT I V E Georg Backer chair Doug Cockle Jane Douglas Michelle Ducker Chet Faliszek Daisy Fernandez Holly Pickering Hannah Rutherford James Swallow Callum Underwood

M O B I L E GA M E Paul Topping chair Mike Barwise Helen Burnill Daryl Clewlow Nina Cliff Paul Flanagan Victor Horbach Jon Jordan Shaun Rutland Alex Willink Alex Zoro

O R I G I N A L PRO PERT Y Mike Simpson chair Thomas Bidaux Michael de Plater Janos Gaspar Dan Griliopoulos Jess Hider Andie Nordgren Margaret Robertson Chris Rowley James Russell Mark Sutherns

PER FO R M ER Sanjay Mistry chair Leon Brazil Christian Cantamessa Katie Ellwood Alistair Hope Imre Jele Robert Keenan Liam O’Brien Chris Payne Max Spielberg Erin Yvette

Special Award recipients are selected by the Games Committee.

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THE FELLOWSHIP

TI M SCHA FER Words by Chris Schilling | Images supplied by Double Fine Productions, Games Press

A

s the figurehead behind Day Of The Devs, a celebratory, family-friendly festival of independent games, Tim Schafer knows something about being made to feel welcome. So, it’s no surprise to hear that he appreciates the feeling of inclusivity that comes with being presented with the BAFTA Fellowship. “It’s kind of bewildering,” he says modestly, “because there’s nothing quite like this in America. It’s not like just being awarded with something, more like being welcomed into something. I enjoy that feeling.”

Indeed, as the founder of developer-comepublisher Double Fine Productions, Schafer is regularly keen to offer his expertise to those who need it most; his studio takes what he calls a lighttouch, an “à la carte” approach to publishing. “You don’t have to hand over your game to us, but just ask for whichever piece you need help with and we can get into a partnership.”

This desire to help stems from an early memory when he first wrote to a magazine to ask how he might get a job in video games. He never got a reply,

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ÒI THINK EVERYONE WHO WORKED ON

GRIM FANDANGO CAN LOOK BACK ON IT PROUDLY.Ó

and gave up on his dream until just after college, when LucasArts advertised it was looking for programmers who could write dialogue. “Until then, I didn’t have the imagination or the education to realise that there was such a thing as a game career,” he says. “And so I just wanted to show anyone who’s interested what it actually looks like when people make games.

They’re really not that different to you – they’re just people who get together to solve hard problems. It’s not magic.”

He admits he thought otherwise as a young person. Games have been part of Schafer’s life since the medium’s very origins: he was mesmerised from the first time he played 1973’s Space Race at summer camp. Once his family bought an Atari 400, he tried his hand at programming and began making his own games, inspired by the text adventures of Scott Adams and Infocom. “In college, I majored in Computer Science because I already knew how to program, and then I started getting more into creative writing,” he says. “I entered a short story contest for engineers and won that, and that helped me get into LucasArts.”

Left and above: The Secret of Monkey Island team hand pack the boxes for the game’s launch. Below: Grim Fandango Remastered cover art (2015)

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It was here, among such established designers as Ron Gilbert, Noah Falstein and David Fox, that Schafer rose to prominence. His first role was rather more pleasant than his unofficial job title suggests: as junior staff using the company’s SCUMM engine to implement the ideas of the more experienced developers, Schafer and his colleagues became known as Scummlets.

“I’m sure it was a term of endearment!” he laughs.

“We got put into what they called SCUMM University, where they just taught us how to use [the software] every day. We were at Skywalker Ranch and working with great art from Steve Purcell, giving us Sam & Max art to mess around with and learn the system. Then, Ron picked Dave Grossman and me to be on this new comedy pirate game he was working on.”

That game was The Secret of Monkey Island (1990), for which Schafer contributed roughly a third of the script. Upon its release, it was immediately hailed as a classic. A sequel with the same team duly followed a year later, attracting similarly glowing responses from critics and players alike.

In 1995, Schafer became a lead designer, writing and directing biker comedy Full Throttle. “That was the beginning of that weird journey of learning how to boss people around,” he says, “which I don’t actually like doing. But it’s just what you have to do to get things done sometimes.”

Three years later, Schafer directed what many still consider to be his finest game to date. The multi award-winning Grim Fandango (1998), a noir-tinged

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ÒA LOT OF CREATIVE STUFF COMES FROM MISUNDERSTANDINGS.Ó adventure set in the Land of the Dead, was a labour of love for the director and his team; though the genre was waning in popularity from its heyday, it proved to be far from a commercial flop. It had been a hard journey, but a fulfilling one, Schafer says.

“I think everyone who worked on the game can look back on it proudly.”

Schafer would return to remaster hero Manny Calavera and his uniquely comic ‘underworld’ for an HD rendition many years later, after acquiring the rights from LucasArts for a 2015 release, introducing this wonderful game to a whole new audience.

His company, Double Fine, would do something similar for a remastered version of the equally fantastic Day of the Tentacle (aka Maniac Mansion 2), updating the game he originally co-designed in 1993 for a 2016 release.

Although happy at LucasArts, Schafer eventually felt it was time to move on and strike out on his own. “At a certain point,

you’re like a 35-year-old living at your parents’ house – you think, ‘I should probably get my own place.’”

By 2000, he’d founded Double Fine, where he assembled a team including several former colleagues. The studio’s first game was based on an idea he’d been toying with for some time. During development of Full Throttle, he’d considered sending protagonist Ben on an interactive peyote trip, but believed the idea might not sit well with such a familyfriendly company as LucasArts.

Schafer further explored the notion of interactive dream logic, before an offhand remark sparked the idea that led to the studio’s debut game, 3D platformer Psychonauts (2005).

“A lot of creative stuff comes from misunderstandings,” he says. “You’ve just got to be ready to listen to them when they happen.”

Psychonauts endured a troubled development – initially cancelled by its original publisher, it was then rescued by an 11th-hour offer from Majesco, eventually launching in 2005 to great acclaim. Four years later, heavy-metal adventure Brütal Legend (2009) saw another genre shift, this time to real-time strategy.

It also marked Schafer working with a number of his musical heroes, including Ozzy Osbourne and the late Lemmy Kilmister (of Motörhead fame).

More significantly, during development of the game, Schafer decided to give some of his staff a creative break, with an initiative called Amnesia Fortnight that would give budding designers a chance to develop their own small-scale project. When Brütal Legend 2 was sadly taken off the table, Schafer realised it was time to develop these prototypes into full games. The success of Hallowe’en-themed RPG Costume Quest (2010) and matryoshka doll puzzler Stacking (2011) encouraged Double Fine to become more agile, eventually leading to the company self-publishing the PC versions of both games.

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Opposite page: The original Secret Of Monkey Island (1990). This page, top: Psychonauts (2005); middle: Schafer at Day Of The Devs; bottom: Broken Age (2014)

Schafer would return to the genre with which he’d made his name in 2012, launching a Kickstarter campaign for twopart adventure Broken Age (released in two acts over 2014-2015). At the time, it was the most successful crowdfunded project ever, giving Double Fine a budget comparable to Grim Fandango and ensuring Schafer was the first port of call for any developer seeking crowdfunding advice from then on.

At which point, he realised the company had more than enough expertise to start offering its services as a publisher. Under its ‘Double Fine Presents’ banner, it has worked with developers on a wildly diverse range of games, from multiplayer party favourite Gang Beasts (2014) to whimsical puzzle adventure GNOG (2016).

After a difficult start, Double Fine has thrived under Schafer’s stewardship: its catalogue, as both developer and publisher, is among the most varied of any games company. It is, he says, down to a certain fearlessness when it comes to new projects.

“You always want to surprise people with your next announcement. You always want people to say, ‘What?!’, or else you’re not really trying.” Though he’s self-effacing about his substantial achievements to date, he hopes others may be encouraged by his studio’s creative boldness. “If anyone felt inspired by any of our games to create something that involved some risk but that was also very personal to them, then I would be very proud and happy.” •

SELECT GAMEOGRAPHY 1990 The Secret of Monkey Island 1991 Monkey Island 2: LeChuck’s Revenge 1993 Day of the Tentacle (also remaster in 2016) 1995 Full Throttle (also remaster in 2017) 1998 Grim Fandango (also remaster in 2015) 2005 Psychonauts 2009 Brütal Legend 2010 Costume Quest 2011 Stacking 2014 Broken Age 2017 Psychonauts in the Rhombus of Ruin

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FELLOWS

O F

THE

ACA DE MY

2000 Stanley Kubrick (posthumous) 2000 Peter Bazalgette 2001 Albert Finney 2001 John Thaw 2001 Dame Judi Dench 2002 Warren Beatty 2002 Merchant Ivory Productions 2002 Andrew Davies 2002 Sir John Mills 2003 Saul Zaentz 2003 David Jason 2004 John Boorman 2004 Roger Graef 2005 John Barry obe 2005 Sir David Frost obe 2006 Lord Puttnam cbe 2006 Ken Loach 2007 Anne V Coates obe 2007 Richard Curtis cbe 2007 Will Wright 2008 Sir Anthony Hopkins cbe 2008 Bruce Forsyth cbe 2009 Terry Gilliam 2009 Nolan Bushnell 2009 Dawn French & Jennifer Saunders 2010 Vanessa Redgrave cbe 2010 Shigeru Miyamoto 2010 Lord Bragg 2011 Sir Christopher Lee cbe 2011 Peter Molyneux obe 2011 Sir Trevor McDonald obe 2012 Martin Scorsese 2013 Sir Alan Parker 2013 Gabe Newell 2013 Michael Palin cbe 2014 Dame Helen Mirren 2014 Rockstar Games 2014 Julie Walters cbe 2015 Mike Leigh 2015 David Braben obe 2015 Jon Snow 2016 Sir Sidney Poitier 2016 John Carmack 2016 Ray Galton obe & Alan Simpson obe 2017 Mel Brooks 2017 Joanna Lumley obe 2018 Sir Ridley Scott

1971 Alfred Hitchcock 1972 Freddie Young obe 1973 Grace Wyndham Goldie 1974 David Lean 1975 Jacques Cousteau 1976 Sir Charles Chaplin 1976 Lord Olivier 1977 Sir Denis Forman 1978 Fred Zinnemann 1979 Lord Grade 1979 Sir Huw Wheldon 1980 David Attenborough cbe 1980 John Huston 1981 Abel Gance 1981 Michael Powell 1981 Emeric Pressburger 1982 Andrzej Wajda 1983 Sir Richard Attenborough cbe 1984 Sir Hugh Greene 1984 Sam Spiegel 1985 Jeremy Isaacs 1986 Steven Spielberg 1987 Federico Fellini 1988 Ingmar Bergman 1989 Sir Alec Guinness ch, cbe 1990 Paul Fox 1991 Louis Malle 1992 Sir John Gielgud 1992 David Plowright 1993 Sydney Samuelson cbe 1993 Colin Young cbe 1994 Michael Grade cbe 1995 Billy Wilder 1996 Jeanne Moreau 1996 Ronald Neame cbe 1996 John Schlesinger cbe 1996 Dame Maggie Smith 1997 Woody Allen 1997 Steven Bochco 1997 Julie Christie 1997 Oswald Morris obe 1997 Harold Pinter cbe 1997 David Rose 1998 Sean Connery 1998 Bill Cotton cbe 1999 Eric Morecambe & Ernie Wise 1999 Elizabeth Taylor 2000 Michael Caine

Names and honours correct at time of presentation.

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20:20 V I S I O N Building BAFTA’s legacy in games...

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n terms of BAFTA’s Awards, Games is our most fledgling ceremony. The Film Awards can be dated back to the very beginnings of the Academy, while we started handing out awards for Television excellence back in the 1950s. It wasn’t until 1998 that BAFTA held its first Games Awards, then under the more vague nomenclature of the Interactive Awards. These days, Games is very much an equal of Film and Television, not just in terms of Awards prestige but also in the priorities of BAFTA’s mission to bring the very best work in film, games and television to public attention, and support the growth of creative talent in the UK and internationally.

For this mission to be successful, it’s important that BAFTA’s presence be felt on a global scale.

So, over the past year, we have been building our games profile internationally, while at the same time ensuring our games membership not only grows but is as diverse as possible. We’ve hosted a number of events in the US over the past year, including a panel on Virtual Reality at PAX West in Seattle in September and more recently an ILMxLAB event on immersive entertainment in San Francisco, around the same time as this year’s GDC. We also presented the creators of BAFTAwinning League of Legends with a Special Award in Los Angeles in June last year. The award was presented to

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Riot Games’ Brandon Beck and Marc Merrill, in recognition of the studio’s creative contribution to the industry. League of Legends has been a key driver of the explosive growth of esports and the game continues to be the most watched on Twitch. Our ambition for 2018 is to grow our games presence in North America even further, with an enhanced programme of events like these ones, to be announced soon.

We’ve seen growth at home, too, specifically in the uptake of UK games practitioners signing up to our skills development programme, BAFTA Crew. Of the 194 Games Crew members currently enjoying the benefits of this programme, 121 joined in 2017. It’s also been gratifying to see that 38 per cent are women and 14 per cent are BAME. We also noted an increased number of entries into our annual BAFTA Young Game Designers (YGD) Competition in 2017. Discovering and supporting the next generation of talent is vital to the lifeblood of the industry and yet, while most young people have a

love for games, few have knowledge of how they are made. That’s what YGD is all about, enthusing children and young people to create their own game and find out more about the career opportunities available in the games industry. The competition is split into two different categories, Game Concept and Game Making, and open to two age groups (10-14 and 15-18 years old). Activities in the build-up to the event, through live workshops, our dedicated website and promotional materials, meant we reached 2,161 young people in total, with our expert jury then sorting through 489 entries to eventually select the final four winners.

This year, we particularly focused on increasing visibility of female games creators and practitioners, to encourage interest from girls about working in games. Every workshop included at least one female speaker or helper currently working in the industry, and our ‘Meet the Expert’ features on the dedicated Opposite: The YGD winners visit developer King as part of their prize.

This page, top: BAFTA Scotland’s panel discussion as part of Digital Cities Glasgow, entitled The Game Changers at Digicities; left: Riot Games’ Brandon Beck and Marc Merrill with their Special Award.

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YGD website exclusively focused on women practitioners. We also sought to ensure the gender split of our juries at all stages of the judging process was fair (41 per cent of the jurors and 57 per cent of the jury chairs were female).

YGD is just one of many new and emerging talent initiatives we run throughout the year, all aimed at trying to make sure talented people are given the opportunities and encouragement needed to succeed in the screen industries. We run scholarships, mentor schemes, masterclasses and much more. And then there are BAFTA’s annual events, designed to either inspire discovery, champion excellence and/or provoke debate of

FOR OUR MISSION TO BE SUCCESSFUL, ITÕS IMPORTANT THAT BAFTAÕS PRESENCE BE FELT ON A GLOBAL SCALE. important industry issues – our annual Games Lecture, for instance, was presented in 2017 by Ubisoft Montreal’s BAFTA-winning executive producer and creative director Dan Hay, who discussed how developers can leverage the world around them to build inspiring games.

After 20 years of championing excellence in games creation through our Awards, BAFTA’s work supporting the wider industry, from the grassroots up, through our year-round learning programme has very much come of age.

Interested in joining BAFTA on this journey?

Visit: www.bafta.org/about/membership

Above: Unity Technologies wins the YGD Hero Award; left: Dan Hay delivers his Games Lecture.

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BAFTA 195 PICCADILLY Prestigious Headquarters of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts

Lead your guests up the red carpet into this glamorous and unique venue, featuring versatile entertaining spaces and state-of-the-art screening facilities.

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OFFICERS

O F

THE

ACA DE MY

COM M IT TEES

OFFICERS

HRH The Duke of Cambridge, KG, Kt Academy President

ELECTED MEMBERS

Barbara Broccoli obe Vice President, Film

Marc Samuelson ‒ Chair Alison Thompson ‒ Deputy Chair Simon Chinn Noel Clarke Alexandra Ferguson Derbyshire * Gillian Hawser Pippa Markham Lynda Myles Andrew Orr David Thompson

OF THE FILM COMMITTEE

David Gardner obe Vice President, Games Greg Dyke Vice President, Television BOARD OF TRUSTEES

Jane Lush Chair of the Academy Dame Pippa Harris dbe Deputy Chair of the Academy

ELECTED MEMBERS OF THE GA MES COMMIT TEE

Nick Button-Brown Chair, Games Committee

Nick Button-Brown ‒ Chair Tara Saunders Lee Schuneman * Mike Simpson Dr Jo Twist obe

Krishnendu Majumdar Chair, Television Committee Sara Putt Chair, Learning & New Talent Committee Marc Samuelson Chair, Film Committee

ELECTED MEMBERS OF

Alison Thompson Deputy Chair, Film Committee

THE TELEVISION COMMITTEE

Krishnendu Majumdar ‒ Chair Hannah Wyatt ‒ Deputy Chair Richard Boden Laurence Marks Elizabeth McIntyre Emma Morgan Sara Putt Beryl Richards * Liz Trubridge Maxine Watson

Hannah Wyatt Deputy Chair, Television Committee John Smith Chair, Finance and Audit Committee and Chair, Commercial Committee Paul Morrell obe Co-optee Lloyd Dorfman cbe Co-optee

*Children’s

Amanda Berry obe Chief Executive Kevin Price Chief Operating Officer

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Representatives

ACKNOWLEDGE M ENTS

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

Official Hotel

Official Outdoor Media

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

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ACKNOWLEDGE M ENTS

Venue Troxy Sound PA Plus4Audio

Host Dara Ó Briain Producer Trey Farley

Projection Creative Technology

Script Fin Carew

Video Graphics DMI Productions

Editor Emma Turner

Post Production Partner The Farm Group

Director Eleanor Ward

Prompting Facilities Portaprompt Outside Broadcast Facilities CTV Outside Broadcasts

Vision Mixer David Fitzpatrick

Live Streaming Facilities Jackshoot

Floor Manager Mark Harrison

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 Nick Button-Brown (chair), Georg Backer Darrell Gallagher Carolin Krenzer Keza MacDonald Dave Ranyard Tara Saunders Lee Schuneman Mike Simpson Karl Stewart Phil Stuart Paul Topping Dr Jo Twist obe Catherine Woolley

Awards & Membership Team Jim Bradshaw, Imogen Faris, Natalie Gurney, Timothy Hughes, Harriet Humphries, Jessica Rogers, Gemma Thomas Production & Event Team Georgina Cunningham, Daniel Dalton, Ian Lowe, Brogan Wallace

TOÉ

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

Photography Director Claire Rees Picture Editor Jordan Anderson Brochure Design Joe Lawrence Brochure Editor Toby Weidmann

Director of Partnerships Louise Robertson Partnerships Team Natalie Moss, Amy Elton, Charlie Perkin, Georgi Taroni Communications Team Nick Williams, Clare Isaacs, Jess Lenten, Liz Tresidder

Creative Direction & Cover Illustration AKQA www.akqa.com +44 (0) 207 780 4786 info@akqa.com

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

Published by British Academy of Film and Television Arts 195 Piccadilly London W1J 9LN T 020 7734 0022 e reception@bafta.org www.bafta.org Chair Jane Lush Chief Executive Amanda Berry OBE 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 and 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. Jane Lush portrait by Caroline True.

20:20 Vision images: BAFTA/James Cannon (YGD, Dan Hay); BAFTA/Carlo Paloni (BAFTA Scotland); Getty Images (Riot Games).

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 2018 4 8

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When you’re independent, you get to decide your own path and follow your dreams. This means that we can give free rein to our creativity, because whether in the world of games or wine, that’s when the magic happens. For us, it’s about choosing only what is good enough for our family and friends. See for yourself, next time you open a bottle of Villa Maria.

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CELEBRATING OUR 10TH YEAR OF PARTNERSHIP WITH BAFTA

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