Astro Bot wins top prize

Astro Bot has swept this year’s Bafta Games Awards, winning five awards – including the top prize of best game.

The 3D platformer, starring the PlayStation mascot character, also won best animation, audio achievement, family game and game design.

Its director Nicolas Doucet dedicated the biggest prize of the night to developers who had “inspired others to join the industry”.

“They give us the energy, the passion and the will to become magicians,” said the head of Sony-owned studio Team Asobi.

It was a strong night overall for Sony as its other big 2024 hit, Helldivers 2, picked up two awards for best multiplayer and music.

The squad-based shooter was a surprise hit when it was released, and its makers had to race to boost server capacity to meet early demand.

Accepting the multiplayer award, Johan Pilestedt, chief creative officer at developer Arrowhead, said players had reached out to him to say Helldivers 2 had reconnected them with gamer friends from 10 to 15 years ago.

“That’s such an honour,” he told the crowd at Queen Elizabeth Hall on London’s South Bank.

Thank Goodness You’re Here! – a comedy cartoon game made by two friends from Yorkshire – won the award for best British game.

It is set in the fictional northern town of Barnsworth, heavily inspired by developers Will Todd and James Carbutt’s home town of Barnsley in South Yorkshire.

The quirky title features voice performances from the pair, as well as actor Matt Berry.

Accepting the prize, the two friends said: “We hope this inspires you to tell your own story in your own voice without compromise.”

The Bafta Games Awards, which launched 21 years ago, have earned a reputation as causing major upsets.

In 2023, Vampire Survivors, a game made by a tiny British team, beat Sony’s big-budget blockbuster God of War: Ragnarok to bag the best game prize.

Many had tipped Balatro – the poker-inspired card game made by an anonymous, lone developer known as LocalThunk – to pip Astro Bot to the award this year.

It did, however, win best debut.

Actor Ben Starr, accepting the award on the developer’s behalf, approached the stage in make-up and a jester’s hat – an outfit inspired by the game’s character Jimbo.

In the speech, he joked that developer LocalThunk was “really rich now” and urged the audience to “play more independent games… they are the lifeblood of this industry”.

Legendary composer Yoko Shimomura accepted the Bafta fellowship in recognition of her contribution to gaming.

Perhaps best known for her work on the Kingdom Hearts series, from Japanese publisher Square Enix, she recalled how she had “felt like giving up” on her work many times.

“The fact I am standing here at all is no thanks to my own efforts, but to the people who have supported me,” she said in her acceptance speech.

“I feel if the music I have made has resonated with one person and touched their hearts in one way, it was worth it.”

Meanwhile, Still Wakes the Deep – a horror game set on a Scottish oil rig in the 1970s – swept the lead and supporting performance categories, and was also named best new intellectual property.

Actor Abubakar Salim, known for performances in Assassin’s Creed and HBO’s House of the Dragon, gave an emotional speech as he collected the games beyond entertainment award.

A keen gamer, he set up his own development company and its debut release, Tales of Kenzera: Zau, was inspired by the grief he felt at the loss of his father.

Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II, which went into the ceremony with 11 nominations, went home with just one award: technical achievement.

Animation: Astro Bot

Artistic achievement: Neva

Audio achievement: Astro Bot

Bafta fellowship: Yoko Shimomura (composer)

Best game: Astro Bot

British Game: Thank Goodness You’re Here!

Debut game: Balatro

Evolving game: Vampire Survivors

Family game: Astro Bot

Game beyond entertainment: Tales of Kenzera: ZAU

Game design: Astro Bot

Multiplayer: Helldivers 2

Music: Helldivers 2

Narrative: Metaphor: ReFantazio

New intellectual property: Still Wakes the Deep

Leading performance: Alec Newman as Caz in Still Wakes the Deep

Best supporting actor: Karen Dunbar as Finlay in Still Wakes the Deep

Technical achievement: Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II