British Academy Games Award for Animation

Video game award

British Academy Games Award for Animation

Awarded for| The best animation in a video game.
Country| United Kingdom
Presented by| British Academy of Film and Television Arts
Currently held by| God of War Ragnarök
Website| www.bafta.org/games

The British Academy Video Games Award for Animation is an award presented annually by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA). It is given in honor to "the highest level of excellence in bringing a game to life," considering elements such as "player control, non-player characters, ambient/environmental animation, facial animation and cinematics". The category also considers the style, fluidity and responsiveness of the character.[1]

## History

[edit]

The category was first presented to Soulcalibur II at the 1st British Academy Games Awards in 2004 under the name Animation or Intro. The following year, it received its current name but was subsequently discontinued. The category was revived at the 16th British Academy Games Awards in 2019.[2] As developers, six studios have received two nominations in the category, though only Insomniac Games and Naughty Dog have achieved any wins. For publishers, Sony Interactive Entertainment hold the record for most nominations, with nine, and also have the most wins in the category, with three.

The 2023 winner of the award is God of War Ragnarök by Santa Monica Studio and Sony Interactive Entertainment.

## Winners and nominees

[edit]

In the following table, the years are listed as per BAFTA convention, and generally correspond to the year of game release in the United Kingdom.

Table key  | Indicates the winner

|

Animation or Intro
Year  | Game  | Recipient(s)  | Developer(s)  | Publisher(s)  | Ref.

|
|
|
|
|

2002/03
(1st) | Soulcalibur II | Project Soul | Namco | [3]
Big Mutha Truckers | Eutechnyx | Empire Interactive
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City | Rockstar North | Rockstar Games
Primal | SCE Studio Cambridge | Sony Computer Entertainment
Tekken 4 | Namco
Viewtiful Joe | Capcom

Animation
Year  | Game  | Recipient(s)  | Developer(s)  | Publisher(s)  | Ref.

|
|
|
|
|

2003/04
(2nd) | Half-Life 2 | Valve | [4]
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas | Rockstar North | Rockstar Games
Halo 2 | Bungie | Microsoft Game Studios
Jak 3 | Naughty Dog | Sony Computer Entertainment
Killzone | Guerrilla Games
Onimusha 3: Demon Siege | Capcom
2019

(16th)

| Luigi's Mansion 3 | Next Level Games | Nintendo | [5][6]
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare | Infinity Ward | Activision
Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice | FromSoftware
Control | Remedy Entertainment | 505 Games
Death Stranding | Kojima Productions | Sony Interactive Entertainment
Sayonara Wild Hearts | Simogo | Annapurna Interactive
2020

(17th)

| The Last of Us Part II | Naughty Dog | Sony Interactive Entertainment | [7][8]
Doom Eternal | id Software | Bethesda Softworks
Final Fantasy VII Remake | Square Enix
Spider-Man: Miles Morales | Insomniac Games | Sony Interactive Entertainment
Ori and the Will of the Wisps | Moon Studios | Xbox Game Studios
Spiritfarer | Thunder Lotus | Kowloon Nights
2021

(18th)

| Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart | Insomniac Games | Sony Interactive Entertainment | [9][10]
Call of Duty: Vanguard | Sledgehammer Games | Activision
It Takes Two | Hazelight Studios | Electronic Arts
Kena: Bridge of Spirits | Hunter Schmidt | Ember Lab
Life Is Strange: True Colors | Deck Nine | Square Enix
Psychonauts 2 | Double Fine | Xbox Game Studios
2022

(19th)

| God of War Ragnarök | Bruno Velazquez, Erica Pinto, Mehdi Yssef  | Santa Monica | Sony Interactive Entertainment | [11][12]
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II | Mark Grigsby, Bruce Ferris, Khoa Le | Infinity Ward | Activision
Horizon Forbidden West | Guerrilla | Sony Interactive Entertainment
Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga | TT Games | Warner Bros Interactive
Sifu | Sloclap | Sloclap & Kepler Interactive
Stray | Jophray Mikolajczyk, Jean-Marie Vouillon, Simon Jacquart | BlueTwelve | Annapurna Interactive
2023

(20th)

| Hi-Fi Rush | Tango Gameworks | Bethesda Softworks | [13]
Alan Wake 2 | Remedy Entertainment | Epic Games
Hogwarts Legacy | Avalanche Software | Warner Bros. Games
Spider-Man 2 | Insomniac Games | Sony Interactive Entertainment
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor | Respawn Entertainment | Electronic Arts
Super Mario Bros. Wonder | Nintendo
2024

(21st)

| Astro Bot | Team Asobi | Sony Interactive Entertainment | [14][15]
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 | Treyarch, Raven Software | Activision
Lego Horizon Adventures | Guerrilla Games | Sony Interactive Entertainment
Senua's Saga: Hellblade II | Ninja Theory | Xbox Game Studios
Thank Goodness You're Here! | Will Todd, James Carbutt  | Coal Supper  | Panic Inc.
Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 | Saber St. Petersburg | Focus Entertainment

(*Note: The games that don't have recipients on the table had Development Team credited on the awards page.)

## Multiple nominations and wins

[edit]

### Developers

[edit]

Developer  | Nominations  | Wins

|
|

Insomniac Games | 3  | 1
Naughty Dog | 2  | 1
Capcom | 2  | 0
Guerrilla Games | 2  | 0
Infinity Ward | 2  | 0
Rockstar North | 2  | 0

### Publishers

[edit]

Developer  | Nominations  | Wins

|
|

Sony Computer/Interactive Entertainment | 10  | 3
Activision | 4  | 0
Namco | 2  | 1
Annapurna Interactive | 2  | 0
Bethesda Softworks | 2  | 0
Electronic Arts | 2  | 0
Nintendo | 2  | 0
Rockstar Games | 2  | 0
Square Enix | 2  | 0
Warner Bros. Games | 2  | 0
Xbox Game Studios | 2  | 0

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "BAFTA Games Awards Rules and Guidelines 2022" (PDF). British Academy of Film and Television Arts. Retrieved 11 February 2023.
2. ^ Wales, Matt (September 9, 2019). "BAFTA announces new categories for 2020 video game awards, submissions now open". Eurogamer. Retrieved September 9, 2019.
3. ^ "Games in 2004". BAFTA Awards. British Academy of Film and Television Arts. Retrieved 14 March 2015.
4. ^ "Games in 2005". BAFTA Awards. British Academy of Film and Television Arts. Retrieved 14 March 2015.
5. ^ "2020 BAFTA Games Awards: The Nominations". BAFTA. 3 March 2020. Retrieved 4 March 2020.
6. ^ Powell, Steffan; Rahman-Jones, Imran (25 March 2021). "Bafta Games Awards 2021: Hades takes Best Game". BBC News. Retrieved 27 March 2021.
7. ^ Ankers, Adele (March 2, 2021). "BAFTA Games Awards 2021 Nominations Announced". IGN. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on March 3, 2021. Retrieved March 3, 2021.
8. ^ Del Rosario, Alexandra (25 March 2021). "BAFTA Games Awards: Supergiant Games' 'Hades' Takes Home Top Prize – Complete Winners List". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 25 March 2021.
9. ^ "2022 BAFTA Games Awards Winners". 3 March 2022.
10. ^ Julians, Joe (8 April 2022). "BAFTA Games Awards 2022: Full list of winners as Returnal wins Best Game". Radio Times. Retrieved 9 April 2022.
11. ^ Wood, Anthony (2 March 2023). "BAFTA Games Awards 2023 Nominations Announced". IGN. Retrieved 2 March 2023.
12. ^ "2023 BAFTA Games Awards: The Winners". BAFTA Games Awards. 30 March 2023. Archived from the original on 31 March 2023. Retrieved 30 March 2023.
13. ^ "2024 BAFTA Games Awards: The Winners". BAFTA Games Awards. 11 April 2024. Retrieved 12 April 2024.
14. ^ "2025-Nominations BAFTA Games Awards".
15. ^ "BAFTA Games Awards: 'Senua's Saga: Hellblade II,' 'Astro Bot,' 'Still Wakes the Deep' Lead Nominations". The Hollywood Reporter. 4 March 2025. Retrieved 10 March 2025.

## External links

[edit]

* Official website

* v
* t
* e

British Academy Games Awards

Categories|

* Best Game
* British Game
* Animation
* Artistic Achievement
* Audio Achievement
* Debut Game
* Evolving Game
* Family
* Game Beyond Entertainment
* Game Design
* Intellectual Property
* Multiplayer
* Music
* Narrative
* Performer
* Performer in a Leading Role
* Performer in a Supporting Role
* Technical Achievement
* EE Game of the Year Award
* BAFTA Fellowship

Ceremonies|

* 2003
* 2004
* 2006
* 2007
* 2008
* 2009
* 2010
* 2011
* 2012
* 2013
* 2014
* 2015
* 2016
* 2017
* 2018
* 2019
* 2020
* 2021
* 2022
* 2023
* 2024

*[Ref.]: Reference
*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template