BAFTA pulls indie trailer
- BAFTA removed an indie game trailer from the Games Awards ceremony, calling the move a 'compliance decision.' (gamesindustry.biz) - The pulled trailer belonged to the indie game The Quiet Things, whose creator said they were ignored. (gamedeveloper.com) - Coverage focuses on event governance and whether BAFTA communicated its compliance rationale clearly to developers. (gamesindustry.biz)
BAFTA pulled a trailer for indie game *The Quiet Things* from the April 17 Games Awards ceremony hours before showtime, citing a “compliance decision.” (gamesindustry.biz) The trailer was set to air during the 2026 British Academy of Film and Television Arts Games Awards in London, where BAFTA said it was “not in a position to sufficiently warn” guests about material that “may be a trigger for some.” (bafta.org, gamesindustry.biz) Developer Alyx Jones of Silver Script Games said the call came while she was on her way to the nominees’ party the night before the ceremony. Video Games Chronicle reported the trailer was pulled about 24 hours before the event. (gamedeveloper.com, videogameschronicle.com) *The Quiet Things* is an unreleased autobiographical narrative game about childhood abuse, self-harm, and suicide. Jones said the trailer was supposed to reveal the game’s release date during the awards broadcast. (gamedeveloper.com, videogameschronicle.com) The dispute turned on process as much as content. Jones said BAFTA had asked for revisions in the prior two weeks, including cuts to imagery it considered potentially harmful, and she said she offered more changes after the final objection. (gamedeveloper.com, videogameschronicle.com) Jones said BAFTA then “ignored” that offer, while BAFTA said the issue was event compliance and guest wellbeing, not a rejection of games about difficult subjects. In its statement, BAFTA said the decision applied to “our event only.” (gamedeveloper.com, gamesindustry.biz) That left BAFTA defending two positions at once on April 17: its awards ceremony celebrated games for storytelling and creative excellence, while one developer said a story about abuse and survival was blocked from the same stage. BAFTA’s official winners release said the show was held at Queen Elizabeth Hall in London and streamed on YouTube and Twitch. (bafta.org, videogameschronicle.com) The episode also landed during the London Games Festival, which BAFTA said drew more than 100,000 people across the capital from April 13 to April 19. That made the awards one of the week’s biggest industry stages for an unreleased indie game seeking visibility. (bafta.org) Jones later published the trailer herself and asked viewers to judge BAFTA’s call on their own. BAFTA has stood by the removal as a last-minute compliance decision. (gamedeveloper.com, gamesindustry.biz)
