The 16th British Academy Games Awards

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The video games equivalent of the BAFTAs were held on Thursday, honoring the best games that were released in 2019. But unlike previous years, the ceremony was an online-only event, with the host and all the honorees broadcasting their speeches from the safety of their individual homes. This is just another indication of the eerie times we find ourselves in, with everyone currently staying at home and practicing some social distancing. You can watch the full livestream below:

Going into the ceremony, Control and Death Stranding were tied for the most nominations with 11 each. The big winner by the end of the livestream though was Outer Wilds, which won awards for Best Game, Original Property and Game Design. Also scoring 3 wins was Disco Elysium, which won for Narrative, Music and Debut Game. Death Stranding won the award for Technical Achievement, while its creator, Hideo Kojima, was honored with a BAFTA fellowship for his contribution to the medium over the years.

The full list of nominees are as follows (winners highlighted in bold):

Best Game

  • Control
  • Disco Elysium
  • Luigi’s Mansion 3
  • Outer Wilds
  • Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice
  • Untitled Goose Game

Performer in a Leading Role

  • Laura Bailey (Kait Diaz, Gears 5)
  • Courtney Hope (Jesse Faden, Control)
  • Logan Marshall-Green (David Smith, Telling Lies)
  • Gonzalo Martin (Sean Diaz, Life Is Strange 2)
  • Barry Sloane (Captain John Price, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare)
  • Norman Reedus (Sam Porter Bridges, Death Stranding)

Performer in a Supporting Role

  • Jolene Andersen (Karen Reynolds, Life Is Strange 2)
  • Sarah Bartholomew (Lucy Rose Jones/Cassidy, Life Is Strange 2)
  • Troy Baker (Higgs Monaghan, Death Stranding)
  • Lea Seydoux (Fragile, Death Stranding)
  • Martti Suosalo (Ahti, Control)
  • Ayisha Issa (Félicité “Fliss” DuBois, The Dark Pictures Anthology: Man of Medan)

Technical Achievement

  • A Plague Tale: Innocence
  • Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
  • Control
  • Death Stranding
  • Metro Exodus
  • Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice

Original Property

  • Baba Is You
  • Control
  • Death Stranding
  • Disco Elysium
  • Outer Wilds
  • Untitled Goose Game

Narrative 

  • Control
  • Disco Elysium
  • Life Is Strange 2 (Episodes 2-5)
  • Outer Wilds
  • Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order
  • The Outer Worlds

Music

  • Control
  • Death Stranding
  • Disco Elysium
  • Outer Wilds
  • The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening
  • Wattam

Multiplayer

  • Apex Legends
  • Borderlands 3
  • Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
  • Luigi’s Mansion 3
  • Tick Tock: A Tale for Two
  • Tom Clancy’s The Division 2

Game Design

  • Baba Is You
  • Control
  • Disco Elysium
  • Outer Wilds
  • Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice
  • Wattam

Game Beyond Entertainment

  • Civilization VI: Gathering Storm
  • Death Stranding
  • Kind Words (lo-fi chill beats to write to)
  • Life Is Strange 2 (Episodes 2-5)
  • Neo Cab
  • Ring Fit Adventur

Family

  • Concrete Genie
  • Knights and Bikes
  • Luigi’s Mansion 3
  • Untitled Goose Game
  • Vacation Simulator
  • Wattam

Evolving Game

  • Apex Legends
  • Destiny 2
  • Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers
  • Fortnite
  • No Man’s Sky Beyond
  • Path of Exile

Debut Game

  • Ape Out
  • Death Stranding
  • Disco Elysium
  • Katana ZERO
  • Knights and Bikes
  • Manifold Garden

British Game

  • DiRT Rally 2.0
  • Heaven’s Vault
  • Knights and Bikes
  • Observation
  • Planet Zoo
  • Total War: Three Kingdoms

Audio Achievement

  • Ape Out
  • Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
  • Control
  • Death Stranding
  • Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order
  • Untitled Goose Game

Artistic Achievement

  • Concrete Genie 
  • Control
  • Death Stranding
  • Disco Elysium
  • Knights and Bikes
  • Sayonara Wild Hearts 

Animation

  • Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
  • Control
  • Death Stranding
  • Luigi’s Mansion 3
  • Sayonara Wild Hearts
  • Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice 

EE Mobile Game of the Year (public vote)

  • Assemble With Care
  • Call of Duty: Mobile
  • Dead Man’s Phone
  • Pokémon Go
  • Tangle Tower
  • What the Golf? 


What did you think about the BAFTAs hosting an online-only event held in place of a traditional British Academy Games Awards ceremony? Is this what you think all awards ceremonies might look like going forward? Let us know in the comments section below.