BAFTA announces format changes as entries for 2024 Games Awards open

Eligibility criteria, voting rules and key dates for the BAFTA Games Awards 2024 have been announced, with submissions open from today.

The UK arts charity said on Thursday that it’s made several significant changes to the format of what will be the 20th British Academy Games Awards, which are set to take place in spring 2024.

These changes are designed to give exposure to a wider number of games than has previously been the case and to help level the playing field for all entrants, according to the organisation.

BAFTA members and specialist industry juries will vote across three rounds in awards categories from November 2023 until March 2024.

For the first time, BAFTA will publicly reveal the full longlist of games on December 14, following the first round of member voting. Previously, only shortlisted nominees were announced.

“We hope this transparency will recognise and shine a light on a wider selection of games ahead of the jury and round two vote stages,” Tara Saunders, chair of BAFTA’s Games Committee and co-studio head of PlayStation London Studio, told GamesIndustry.biz.

And while the nominations and winner of the Best Game and British Game prizes have previously been decided by juries of industry professionals, this year they’ll be voted for by all BAFTA Games members, of which there number over 1,000.

“BAFTA members are some of the most knowledgeable people in the industry, and the games membership is growing stronger year-on-year,” Saunders said.

“With this in mind, it’s important to us that the whole of the BAFTA games membership, outside of just those that get to be involved in the juries, are engaged in the awards, all the way to the final winner announcements. We trust our members expertise in voting in the awards across all the stages and processes.”

The other awards will continue to be decided by industry juries, as has previously been the case.

Additionally, the Original Property award has been renamed New Intellectual Property to better communicate the category’s purpose.

Entry is now open for games released between December 10, 2022 and November 24, 2023, with a registration deadline of November 9.

BAFTA is encouraging developers to register their games as early as possible by offering a 50% discount (£175 +VAT) on the standard entry fee if titles are registered within 30 days of their release.

The discount is also valid until June 30 for eligible games that have already been released.

“We hope that with more time to play, members will get to try games they wouldn’t normally consider or have time for,” Saunders said. “Our goal is to allow more people to play a broader selection of titles ahead of the first round voting and continue to make the awards as representative of the industry as we can.”

Further reading

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Vampire Survivors wins Best Game at the 2023 BAFTA Games Awards

God of War Ragnarök won six awards

God of War Ragnarök won the most prizes at this year’s BAFTA Games Awards, but lost out on the Best Game award, which was instead won by Vampire Survivors.

Sony Santa Monica Studio‘s game was in the running for 14 awards, making it the most nominated title in BAFTA’s history.

Ultimately, it took home six prizes, including EE Game of the Year (the only award on the night voted for by the general public) and both the performance awards, for Performer in a Supporting Role and Performer in a Leading Role.

But it was Vampire Survivors which won Best Game, as well as Best Design, for developer Poncle.

Elden Ring and Tunic were the other multi-award winners, with each receiving two prizes.