In just a few weeks, it'll be time for the 2021 BAFTA Games Awards, which take place on March 25th. After Luigi's Mansion 3 took Best Animation in 2020, Animal Crossing: New Horizons is Nintendo's heavy hitter this year, coming away with five nominations.
New Horizons is up for the "Best Game" award, and while no additional first-party Nintendo games were nominated this time around, the list has plenty of additional Switch titles. Hades, for example, has been nominated an impressive 8 times.
You can also spot notable Switch games like Ori and the Will of the Wisps, DOOM Eternal, Spiritfarer, Kentucky Route Zero: TV Edition, and Minecraft Dungeons, too.
For the most part, though, this year's nominations are dominated by PlayStation exclusives. The Last of Us Part II has a record-breaking 13 nominations, Ghost of Tsushima took 10, and Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales got 7.
You can check out the full nominations list below.
ANIMATION
- DOOM ETERNAL Development Team - id Software/ Bethesda Softworks
- FINAL FANTASY VII REMAKE Development Team -Square Enix/Square Enix
- MARVEL’S SPIDER-MAN: MILES MORALES Development Team -Insomniac Games/Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe
- ORI AND THE WILL OF THE WISPS Development Team - Moon Studios/Xbox Game Studios
- SPIRITFARER Development Team -Thunder Lotus/Kowloon Nights
- THE LAST OF US PART II Development Team - Naughty Dog/Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe
ARTISTIC ACHIEVEMENT
- CYBERPUNK 2077 Development Team - CD PROJEKT RED/CD PROJEKT x BANDAI NAMCO UK
- DREAMS Development Team - Media Molecule/Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe
- GHOST OF TSUSHIMA Jason Connell, Joanna Wang, Ian Jun Wei Chiew - Sucker Punch Productions/Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe
- HADES Jen Zee - Supergiant Games/Supergiant Games
- HALF-LIFE: ALYX Development Team – Valve/Valve
- THE LAST OF US PART II Development Team - Naughty Dog/Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe
AUDIO ACHIEVEMENT
- ASTRO’S PLAYROOM Development Team – SIE Japan Studio/Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe
- GHOST OF TSUSHIMA Rev. Dr. Bradley D. Meyer - Sucker Punch Productions/Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe
- HADES Darren Korb - Supergiant Games/Supergiant Games
- HALF-LIFE: ALYX Development Team – Valve/Valve
- MARVEL’S SPIDER-MAN: MILES MORALES Development Team - Insomniac Games/Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe
- THE LAST OF US PART II Development Team - Naughty Dog/Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe
BEST GAME
- ANIMAL CROSSING: NEW HORIZONS Development Team - Nintendo EPD/Nintendo
- GHOST OF TSUSHIMA Brian Fleming, Chris Zimmerman - Sucker Punch Productions/Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe
- HADES Development Team - Supergiant Games/Supergiant Games
- HALF-LIFE: ALYX Development Team –Valve/Valve
- MARVEL’S SPIDER-MAN: MILES MORALES – Development Team - Insomniac Games/Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe
- THE LAST OF US PART II Development Team - Naughty Dog/Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe
BRITISH GAME
- DREAMS Development Team - Media Molecule/Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe
- F1 2020 Development Team – Codemasters/Codemasters
- FALL GUYS Development Team – Mediatonic/Devolver Digital
- RÖKI Development Team - Polygon Treehouse/United Label
- SACKBOY: A BIG ADVENTURE Ned Waterhouse, Jess Gaskell, Pete Smith - Sumo Digital Sheffield/Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe
- THE LAST CAMPFIRE Development Team - Hello Games/Hello Games
DEBUT GAME
- AIRBORNE KINGDOM Development Team - The Wandering Band/The Wandering Band
- CALL OF THE SEA Tatiana Delgado, Manuel Fernandez - Out of the Blue/Raw Fury
- CARRION Development Team -Phobia Game Studio/Devolver Digital
- FACTORIO Development Team -Wube Software/Wube Software
- RÖKI Development Team - Polygon Treehouse/United Label
- THE FALCONEER Development Team - Tomas Sala/ Wired Productions
EVOLVING GAME
- DESTINY 2: BEYOND LIGHT Development Team – Bungie/Bungie
- DREAMS Development Team - Media Molecule/Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe
- FALL GUYS Development Team – Mediatonic/Devolver Digital
- FORTNITE Development Team - Epic Games/Epic Games
- NO MAN’S SKY Development Team - Hello Games/Hello Games
- SEA OF THIEVES Development Team - Rare Ltd/Xbox Game Studios
FAMILY
- ANIMAL CROSSING: NEW HORIZONS Development Team - Nintendo EPD/Nintendo
- ASTRO’S PLAYROOM Development Team – SIE Japan Studio/Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe
- DREAMS Development Team - Media Molecule/Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe
- FALL GUYS Development Team – Mediatonic/Devolver Digital
- MINECRAFT DUNGEONS Development Team - Mojang Studios, Double Eleven Limited
- SACKBOY: A BIG ADVENTURE Joel Smith, Cesar Bittar, Pete Smith - Sumo Digital Sheffield/Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe
GAME BEYOND ENTERTAINMENT
- ANIMAL CROSSING: NEW HORIZONS Development Team - Nintendo EPD/Nintendo
- BEFORE I FORGET Development Team - 3-Fold Games/3-Fold Games
- DREAMS Development Team - Media Molecule/Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe
- SPIRITFARER Development Team - Thunder Lotus/Kowloon Nights
- TELL ME WHY Development Team - DONTNOD Entertainment/Xbox Game Studios
- THE LAST OF US PART II Development Team -Naughty Dog/Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe
GAME DESIGN
- ANIMAL CROSSING: NEW HORIZONS Development Team - Nintendo EPD/Nintendo
- ASTRO’S PLAYROOM Development Team - SIE Japan Studio/Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe
- GHOST OF TSUSHIMA Development Team -Sucker Punch Productions/Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe
- HADES Development Team - Supergiant Games/Supergiant Games
- HALF-LIFE: ALYX Development Team –Valve/Valve
- THE LAST OF US PART II Development Team -Naughty Dog/Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe
MULTIPLAYER
- ANIMAL CROSSING: NEW HORIZONS Development Team - Nintendo EPD/Nintendo
- DEEP ROCK GALACTIC Development Team - Ghost Ship Games/Coffee Stain Publishing
- FALL GUYS Development Team –Mediatonic/Devolver Digital
- GHOST OF TSUSHIMA Darren Bridges, Matt Goldhaber - Sucker Punch Productions/Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe
- SACKBOY: A BIG ADVENTURE Jack Houghton, Tom Sampson, Jason Stewart - Sumo Digital Sheffield/Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe
- VALORANT Development Team - Riot Games/Riot Games
MUSIC
- GHOST OF TSUSHIMA Ilan Eshkeri, Shigeru Umebayashi, Peter Scaturro - Sucker Punch Productions/ Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe
- HADES Darren Korb - Supergiant Games/Supergiant Games
- MARVEL’S SPIDER-MAN: MILES MORALES John Paesano, Scott Hanau, Alex Hackford - Insomniac Games/Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe
- ORI AND THE WILL OF THE WISPS Gareth Coker - Moon Studios/Xbox Game Studios
- SACKBOY: A BIG ADVENTURE Jay Waters, Joe Thwaites, Joanna Skorupa - Sumo Digital Sheffield/Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe
- THE LAST OF US PART II Gustavo Santaolalla, Mac Quayle, Scott Hanau - Naughty Dog/ Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe
NARRATIVE
- ASSASSIN’S CREED VALHALLA Writing Team - Ubisoft Montreal/Ubisoft
- CYBERPUNK 2077 Writing Team - CD PROJEKT RED/CD PROJEKT x BANDAI NAMCO UK
- GHOST OF TSUSHIMA Nate Fox, Ian Ryan - Sucker Punch Productions/Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe
- HADES Greg Kasavin - Supergiant Games/Supergiant Games
- KENTUCKY ROUTE ZERO: TV EDITION Writing Team - Cardboard Computer/Annapurna Interactive
- MARVEL’S SPIDER-MAN: MILES MORALES Writing Team - Insomniac Games/Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe
ORIGINAL PROPERTY
- CARRION Development Team -Phobia Game Studio/Devolver Digital
- FALL GUYS Development Team –Mediatonic/Devolver Digital
- GHOST OF TSUSHIMA Development Team - Sucker Punch Productions/Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe
- HADES Development Team - Supergiant Games/Supergiant Games
- KENTUCKY ROUTE ZERO: TV EDITION Development Team -Cardboard Computer/Annapurna Interactive
- SPIRITFARER Development Team- Thunder Lotus/Kowloon Nights
PERFORMER IN A LEADING ROLE
- ASHLEY JOHNSON as Ellie in The Last of Us Part II
- CHERAMI LEIGH as Female V in Cyberpunk 2077
- CODY CHRISTIAN as Cloud Strife in Final Fantasy VII Remake
- DAISUKE TSUJI as Jin Sakai in Ghost of Tsushima
- LAURA BAILEY as Abby in The Last of Us Part II
- NADJI JETER as Miles Morales in Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales
PERFORMER IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
- CARLA TASSARA as Judy Alvarez in CYBERPUNK 2077
- JEFFREY PIERCE as Tommy in The Last of Us Part II
- LOGAN CUNNINGHAM as Hades, Achilles, Poseidon, Asterius, Charon, and the Storyteller in Hades
- PATRICK GALLAGHER as Khotun Khan in Ghost of Tsushima
- SHANNON WOODWARD as Dina in The Last of Us Part II
- TROY BAKER as Joel in The Last of Us Part II
TECHNICAL ACHIEVEMENT
- DEMON’S SOULS Development Team - SIE Japan Studio/Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe
- DOOM ETERNAL Development Team - id Software/Bethesda Softworks
- DREAMS Development Team - Media Molecule/Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe
- FLIGHT SIMULATOR Sebastian Wloch, Duncan Lawler, Pavel Kuksa - Asobo Studio/ Xbox Game Studios
- MARVEL’S SPIDER-MAN: MILES MORALES Development Team - Insomniac Games/Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe
- THE LAST OF US PART II Development Team - Naughty Dog/Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe
EE GAME OF THE YEAR
- ANIMAL CROSSING: NEW HORIZONS Nintendo EPD/Nintendo
- CALL OF DUTY: WARZONE Raven Software, Infinity Ward/Activision
- GHOST OF TSUSHIMA Sucker Punch Productions/Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe
- HADES Supergiant Games/Supergiant Games
- THE LAST OF US PART II Naughty Dog/Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe
- VALORANT Riot Games/Riot Games
Voting has opened for the EE Game of the Year too - the only award to be chosen by the public - so make sure to get your vote in.
Are you hopeful for Animal Crossing's chances? Prefer to see Hades win big? Share your nomination thoughts below.
[source bafta.org]
Comments 18
Honestly animal crossing should have gotten game of the year over last of us 2.
Everyone do your part and vote for animal crossing in the EE game of the year category! It deserves it over all the other games!
EDIT: Ok maybe ghost of tsushima
Hopefully it actually wins something this time!
What is Valorant? And why is it an option over Miles Morales which has like 5 times the nominations?
Shocker: The last of us Part 2 is going to win
Game of the year? What does ACNH do that makes it game of the year material?
@stinky_t,
It has been a massive success and has brought many people a great release during a tough time, of course there are more traditional games out there, but honestly how many have reached as many people as new horizons has.
@stinky_t It's more about the cultural impact the game had
I can't wait for BotW2 winning every possible awards in 2022 (let me dream about a late 2021 release)
@stinky_t what requirements are there to be "game of the year material"? If people have a lot of fun playing it, that should be enough.
The Last of Us 2 will win
Ori really only got nominated for animation and music? Not even artistic achievement or game design?
@Bizaster I made the mistake of arguing last of us shouldn’t have gotten goty over anything in the ps5 Reddit and got killed but honestly, that game had nowhere near the the mindshare that games like animal crossing and ghost of Tsushima had. I only know 5 people in my large freinds list who’s even played last of us 2.... game dropped with such little fanfare.
@Jackpaza0508 I think EE that's the only award they'll let Animal Crossing win.
Whenever Media Molecule make a game the BAFTAs hand it all the awards that the AAA goty game doesn't pick up. I remember Tearaway on PSVITA got like 6 awards.
@Dr_Lugae To be fair, mm make fantastic games
@Jackpaza0508 They do, it's just that I've never seen a game that outright failed to get any kind of traction in the market get recognised for so many awards and nominations.
https://www.playstationlifestyle.net/2013/11/25/uk-sales-charts-fifa-14-ryses-328-tearaway-debuts-at-26th/
It'd be like if Codename: S.T.E.A.M despite catastrophic sales, somehow was nominated for and won multiple awards.
@Dr_Lugae I would go as far to say that dreams is a masterpiece! Goty contender for me.
I love this game! I find it really amazing
I can't wait for the next update
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