BAFTA Games awards — family games in focus
The BAFTA Games Awards, happening tomorrow, put extra spotlight on the Family Game category where four companies are challenging Nintendo and nominees are discussing what appeals to younger players. Separately, Split Fiction is getting attention — actor Kaja Chan said she’d like to reprise the role of Mio and developer Hazelight has started motion capture for its next project. ( )
The British Academy of Film and Television Arts Games Awards return on Friday, April 17, with the Family Game race pitting four challengers against Nintendo. (bafta.org) The 22nd awards will be held at Queen Elizabeth Hall in London and streamed on BAFTA’s YouTube channel. BAFTA said 42 games were nominated across 17 categories when nominations were announced on March 12. (bafta.org) In Family Game, Nintendo’s Donkey Kong Bananza is up against Is This Seat Taken?, LEGO Party!, PowerWash Simulator 2 and Two Point Museum. Radio Times reported those four non-Nintendo nominees are using the category to make a case for what younger players actually want now. (bafta.org, radiotimes.com) The category has become a test of how broad “family” has become in games. The 2025 BAFTA shortlist mixed platformers, party games and lighter adventure titles including Astro Bot, Cat Quest 3, LEGO Horizon Adventures, Little Kitty, Big City, The Plucky Squire and Super Mario Party Jamboree. (gameshub.com) BAFTA’s own awards page frames the 2026 field as “the best video games of 2025,” which means the Family Game nominees are being judged against a year’s worth of releases rather than a children-only market. BAFTA also said juries, not the general public, decide most categories after nominations are announced. (bafta.org, bafta.org) Another nominee drawing attention is Split Fiction, Hazelight’s co-op adventure about writers Mio and Zoe trapped inside their own stories. Electronic Arts said the game launched on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and Series S, and personal computer on March 6, 2025. (ea.com, ea.com) Kaja Chan, who plays Mio, told Gamereactor she would like to return to the role and said that could include the planned film adaptation. Variety reported in March 2025 that a Split Fiction movie had gone out to buyers, and in April 2025 it reported Sydney Sweeney would star in a version directed by Jon M. Chu. (gamereactor.eu, variety.com, variety.com) Hazelight is already moving on to its next game. Gamereactor reported on February 10 that the studio had started motion-capture work on a new title, after Josef Fares said in March 2025 that development had already begun. (gamereactor.eu, gamereactor.eu) So Friday’s ceremony is carrying two separate questions into the room: whether Nintendo still owns the family field at BAFTA, and whether Split Fiction is turning one co-op hit into a longer franchise. The answers start coming at Queen Elizabeth Hall on April 17. (bafta.org, gamereactor.eu)
