BAFTA Best Game: Clair Obscur

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 won Best Game at the 2026 BAFTA Games Awards on April 17 in London. (bafta.org) The British Academy of Film and Television Arts gave Clair Obscur three awards: Best Game, Debut Game, and Performer in a Leading Role for Jennifer English. Dispatch also finished the night with three BAFTAs, including Narrative and Performer in a Supporting Role for Jeffrey Wright. (bafta.org) BAFTA said 42 games were nominated across 17 categories this year. Clair Obscur entered the ceremony as the most-nominated game, with 12 nominations announced on March 12. (bafta.org) The result mattered because BAFTA splits its voting. BAFTA members choose the winners for Best Game and British Game, while specialist juries pick the winners in the other categories. (bafta.org) That system can produce a split verdict, and it did on Friday. Clair Obscur took the top prize, but Dispatch matched its total haul, leaving the ceremony without a single-game sweep. (eurogamer.net) The night also included BAFTA’s highest honor for an individual. Supercell chief executive and co-founder Ilkka Paananen received the BAFTA Fellowship at the same ceremony. (bafta.org) Outside the awards, the event drew criticism from indie developer Alex Jones of Silver Script Games. Jones said BAFTA told her about 24 hours before the ceremony that it had pulled a trailer for The Quiet Things because of concern for “wellbeing of our guests.” (videogameschronicle.com) VGC reported that The Quiet Things is an autobiographical narrative adventure about Jones’s childhood memories and includes themes of childhood abuse, self-harm, and suicide. Jones said the decision was difficult for her team after the game had been selected for BAFTA’s showcase reel. (videogameschronicle.com) So the 2026 BAFTA Games Awards ended with two parallel storylines on April 17: Clair Obscur taking Best Game, and BAFTA facing questions about what material it will put on stage. (bafta.org)