BAFTA Games frontrunners
Ahead of the BAFTA Games Awards, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is being highlighted as a leading contender while indie rivals Dispatch and Blue Prince are named as strong challengers. (theweek.in) The awards season is unfolding alongside a record-high UK games market valuation reported as London Games Festival opened this week. (gamespress.com)
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 goes into the British Academy of Film and Television Arts Games Awards as the field leader, with 12 nominations ahead of the April 17 ceremony in London. (bafta.org) The British Academy of Film and Television Arts said 42 games were nominated across 17 categories on March 12, and Best Game includes Arc Raiders, Blue Prince, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, Dispatch, Ghost of Yōtei and Indiana Jones and the Great Circle. (bafta.org) Dispatch is the next most-nominated title with nine nods, followed by Ghost of Yōtei with eight, Death Stranding 2: On the Beach with seven, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle with six, and Arc Raiders with five. (gamedeveloper.com) Clair Obscur is also up for Debut Game, a sign of how much of this year’s race is being driven by newer teams rather than only long-established studios. BAFTA said 17 studios received first-time nominations, including six in Debut Game. (bafta.org) That mix of scale and newcomers is showing up across the wider London games calendar this week. London Games Festival opened on April 13 and runs through April 19, with public and industry events spread across venues including Southbank, White City and the Science Museum. (festival.games.london, games.london) Festival organizers have framed 2026 as an expanded edition, and Games London says the event now welcomes about 100,000 people a year. A separate festival announcement last September said the 2026 program would add more business opportunities for professionals and run as the event’s eleventh edition. (games.london, gamespress.com) Clair Obscur’s awards run has been built on a specific pitch: Sandfall Interactive’s role-playing game mixes turn-based battles with real-time dodges, parries and counters in a fantasy world inspired by Belle Époque France. Bandai Namco lists its release date as April 24, 2025. (bandainamcoent.eu) Blue Prince represents a different lane in the same race. Dogubomb’s puzzle adventure sends players through a mansion of shifting rooms, and it landed Best Game, Debut Game, Narrative and Game Design nominations. (thegamer.com, ign.com) The ceremony itself is set for Friday, April 17, at Queen Elizabeth Hall in London, and the British Academy of Film and Television Arts said it will stream the show on its YouTube channel. By then, the question is whether the nomination leader converts its 12 chances into the night’s biggest wins. (bafta.org)
