In 2004, the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) restructured its Entertainment Awards system. It broadened some categories deserving of more awards, retired more than a few others, and embraced emerging types of media. By that time, gaming had grown into a global pursuit, though the technology had yet to catch up to gaming passion. We're there today: modern games are works of art, well deserving of their place in the 2026 awards season lineup.
Video Games BAFTA 2026
- 🎉 This is the event's 22nd edition
- 📆 The ceremony is set for April 17th, 2026, at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London
- 💻 BAFTA's YouTube and Twitch channels will livestream the event
- 📃 The list of nominations counts 64 games across 17 categories
🎮 BAFTA Video Games Categories and Nominees
Offhand, it doesn't seem like 17 categories is nearly enough to accommodate 64 games. Or, more specifically, it seems like each game must have at least three nominations. (For us maths lovers, it looks something like this: 64 / 17 = 3.764 😍). This only makes sense if you know what the categories are, and how these playable works of art could fit into more than one.
👉 Video Game BAFTA Categories
How do I judge Thee? Let me count the ways.
Michelle Lehnardt, Build Your Teenager founder
Indeed, BAFTA has found many ways to judge games. 😵 Seventeen categories is quite impressive, but that number falls short of the categories that the awarding body no longer judges games by (25! 🤯). Some of that has to do with categories no longer being relevant. For instance, thanks to cross-platform innovations, developers no longer need to create games exclusively for mobile systems.
So, we're left with a lean list of categories, which is nevertheless broad enough to include titles from different genres. Unlike, say, the recently-held Grammy Awards, whose categories make clear distinctions between music types. The BAFTA Video Game Awards categories are as follows:
- technical achievement
- narrative
- animation
- new intellectual property
- performer in a leading role
- game design
- multiplayer
- music
- family game
- beyond entertainment
- debut game
- evolving game
- audio achievement
- artistic achievement
- performer in a supporting role
🤔 Hmm... three columns with five entries each: that's only 15 categories, two short of the touted 17. What about the other two that are missing?
Best Game entries from around the world
British Game games from UK studios
We might call those two categories special, as every BAFTA member casts a vote for the winner in these categories. In a sense, they're a bit like actors being nominated at the Oscars for a Lifetime Achievement Award. They're such high-value prizes that everyone must agree on who to give it to.
👫BAFTA Video Games Awards Nominees
Sixty-four games make for a lot of reviewing 😲, so you'll forgive us if we only list the titles under the categories they're nominated for. Before that, though, let's engage in a bit of idle speculation over the chosen number of game titles.
In 1982, Commodore International debuted its Commodore 64 home computer.
Fourteen years later, in 1996, Nintendo released its N64 game console.
No big mystery, of course, why Commodore and Nintendo chose 64 as their model numbers (something to do with memory and processing capabilities 🤷♂️). What's curious is why BAFTA chose 64 game titles. Is it an elegant coincidence or a quiet tribute to early gaming visionaries? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section.
The Commodore 64 was a pioneer in early computer gaming. It holds the Guinness World Record for the number of units sold between August 1982 and April 19941.
With the historical perspective duly exposed and idle speculation over what's likely just a coincidence behind us, we can finally get to the game titles up for one or more awards. Per the 2026 BAFTA Games Awards longlist2, this is how the game titles are spread out across the categories.
| Animation | Family | Narrative |
|---|---|---|
| Assassin's Creed Shadows Battlefield 6 Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Death Stranding 2: On The Beach Dispatch Donkey Kong Bananza Ghost of Yotei Hades II Hollow Knight: Silksong Indiana Jones and the Great Circle | Donkey Kong Bananza EA SPORTS FC 26 Is This Seat Taken? LEGO Party! Mario Kart World Monument Valley 3 Pokemon Legends: Z-A PowerWash Simulator 2 Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds Two Point Museum | Blue Prince Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Death Stranding 2: On The Beach Dispatch Ghost of Yotei Hades II Indiana Jones and the Great Circle Kingdom Come: Deliverance II Split Fiction The Alters |
| Artistic Achievement | Game Beyond Entertainment | New Intellectual Property |
| Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Death Stranding 2: On The Beach Dispatch Ghost of Yotei Hades II Hollow Knight: Silksong Indiana Jones and the Great Circle Kingdom Come: Deliverance II South of Midnight Sword of the Sea | and Roger Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Consume Me Death Stranding 2: On The Beach despelote Monument Valley 3 S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl Silent Hill f The Alters | Absolum ARC Raiders Atomfall BALL x PIT Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Dispatch PEAK South of Midnight Split Fiction The Alters |
| Audio Achievement | Game Design | Performer In a Leading Role |
| ARC Raiders Battlefield 6 Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Death Stranding 2: On The Beach Dispatch Ghost of Yotei Hades II Indiana Jones and the Great Circle Split Fiction Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 | BALL x PIT Blue Prince Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Death Stranding 2: On The Beach Donkey Kong Bananza Ghost of Yotei Hades II Indiana Jones and the Great Circle Split Fiction The Alters | Aaron Paul - Dispatch Alex Jordan - The Alters Ben Starr - Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Erika Ishii - Ghost of Yotei Jennifer English - Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Judy Alice Lee as Melinoe IN Hades II Kaja Chan - Split Fiction Laura Bailey - Dispatch Suzie Yeung - Silent Hill f Tom McKay - Kingdom Come: Deliverance II Troy Baker - Indiana Jones and the Great Circle |
| Debut Game | Multiplayer | Performer In a Supporting Role |
| Blue Prince Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Consume Me Date Everything! despelote Dispatch Is This Seat Taken? The Midnight Walk The Rogue Prince of Persia Tiny Bookshop | ARC Raiders Battlefield 6 Borderlands 4 Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 Dune: Awakening ELDEN RING NIGHTREIGN LEGO Party! Mario Kart World PEAK Split Fiction | Alix Wilton Regan - Lies of P: Overture Amelia Tyler - Hades II Andy Serkis - Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Charlie Cox - Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 David Menkin - Still Wakes the Deep: Siren's Rest Jane Perry - Dead Take Jeffrey Wright - Dispatch Kirsty Rider - Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Rich Keeble - Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Troy Baker - Death Stranding 2: On The Beach |
| Evolving Game | Music | Technical Achievement |
| Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition Cyberpunk 2077 Fallout 76 Helldivers 2 Hitman World of Assassination Marvel Rivals No Man's Sky Sea of Thieves The Elder Scrolls Online Vampire Survivors Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 | ARC Raiders Blue Prince Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Death Stranding 2: On The Beach Dispatch DOOM: The Dark Ages Ghost of Yotei Hades II Hollow Knight: Silksong Indiana Jones and the Great Circle | ARC Raiders Battlefield 6 Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Death Stranding 2: On The Beach Donkey Kong Bananza DOOM: The Dark Ages Ghost of Yotei Indiana Jones and the Great Circle Kingdom Come: Deliverance II Split Fiction |
Sharp as you are, you likely noticed this table only presents titles in 15 categories. Did you also notice which categories didn't feature? Like other Brit Awards ceremony nominations, we saved the best categories and their nominations, for last.
British Game
- Atomfall
- Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector
- EA Sports F1 25
- Jurassic World Evolution 3
- Little Nightmares III
- Mafia: The Old Country
- Monument Valley 3
- PowerWash Simulator 2
- Two Point Museum
- Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2
Best Game
- ARC Raiders
- Blue Prince
- Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
- Death Stranding 2: On The Beach
- Dispatch
- Ghost of Yotei
- Hades II
- Hollow Knight: Silksong
- Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
- Split Fiction
🧙♀️ The Video Game BAFTA: Predictions and Expectations
It's quite a shame that no British games feature on the Best Game list, but maybe that's by design. As those are the two most important categories, it would be unfair to give any game that much of an advantage.
😎 What Industry Pros Say
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has been longlisted a whopping 17 times ...
Forbes
That legendary finance magazine cites data from 1,700 experienced game industry professionals3. Those industry insiders have a good reason for advancing this game's nominations. It's already won several awards, among them the 2025 Golden Joystick Award for Best Game.
This awarding body has a habit of bypassing oft-nominated titles in favour of 'underdog' efforts.
Forbes and other industry professionals are careful to hedge their bets this far ahead of the awards event. In fact, prognosticators across the awards season spectrum, from the soon-to-be BAFTAs 2026 to the already-passed Grammys, always make clear that they're speculating. They're wise to do so, as predictions have a mean way of not coming true 👿.
🤓 What Gamers Say
Gamers are equally enthusiastic about this year's selections, but they have a slightly different take on which title leads the pack. Whereas the pros put their money on Clair Obscur 33 for the win, game enthusiasts see Death Stranding 2 as their favourite4. As of this writing, it carries nine nominations.
Gamers tend to be less data-driven than their industry counterparts when forming their opinions.
However, they're emphatic in highlighting Clair Obscur's advantages, such as innovative ways to source talent. For instance, Jennifer English, nominated in the Performer in a Leading Role category, was 'discovered' on Reddit. BAFTA loves that kind of quirky ingenuity! 😍
🤩 What to Expect
Besides having a good time, no one can say what to expect. The pros and gamers alike go out of their way to tell us to expect the unexpected, and BAFTA insiders aren't talking 🙊. What can we do, other than let the anticipation build to a fever pitch?
✅ 2026 BAFTA Games Awards: Selection and Voting Process
With nothing more to do than sit around and wait for our big night, we may as well discover how game titles make the BAFTA cut for an award. And who decides which game gets an award, anyway?
🤼 Who Selects the Games?
According to the BAFTA website, that organisation maintains a legion of 1,700 gaming industry professionals. They're the ones who flag titles as potentially award-worthy. Not just any titles, though. They have guidelines to follow.
Games released between 16 November 2024 and 14 November 2025 qualify for the 2026 BAFTA Game Awards longlist.
The 64 games currently on that list represent a fraction of the total games BAFTA considered from that period: 255 in total. If nothing else, those numbers show how stiff the competition is for recognition in the gaming industry.
BAFTA members, organised into specialist juries, will then vote for their favourite titles across 15 of the 17 categories. This voting starts in February, well ahead of the ceremony date. This allows the awarding body the time to publish a final nominations list.
BAFTA will publish the final nominations list on March 26. The information this article presents revolves around the longlist and what industry insiders say about it.
🏆 British Game and Best Game Categories
Every BAFTA member votes for their favourite title in these two categories. This voting round also takes place in February, ahead of the specialist jury votes.
After the formal nominations announcement in March, BAFTA members cast their ballots in these two categories.
All the voting is finished well ahead of the ceremony's April show date, so the producers have all the time they need to arrange everything just so. If that sounds overly complex, you're on the right track.
But then, every awards event, from the Film BAFTAs to the recently wrapped Golden Globes in the US, has an equally stymying process of picking winners. Still, it makes for great entertainment, as well as an information source. What better way to discover new games to explore?
📖 BAFTA Video Games Awards: Sources and Further Information
- Guinness World Records. “Best-Selling Desktop Computer.” Guinness World Records, www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/72695-most-computer-sales. Accessed 8 Feb. 2026.
- Brigstock, Jake. “2026 BAFTA Games Awards Longlists Announced: Here’s Every Category and Game.” Indy100, 10 Dec. 2025, www.indy100.com/gaming/bafta-games-awards-2026-longlist. Accessed 8 Feb. 2026.
- Gardner, Matt. “BAFTA Reveals Intriguing GOTY Longlist for 2026 Games Awards.” Forbes, 9 Dec. 2025, www.forbes.com/sites/mattgardner1/2025/12/09/bafta-reveals-intriguing-goty-longlist-for-2026-games-awards/. Accessed 8 Feb. 2026.
- Thompson, Marcus. “BAFTA Games 2026: Race for Best Game Award Begins.” Players for Life - Gaming News and Reviews, Players For Life | Gaming News, Reviews & Creative Media Hub, 10 Dec. 2025, playersforlife.com/2025/12/10/bafta-games-2026-race-for-best-game-award-begins/. Accessed 8 Feb. 2026.
- BAFTA. “BAFTA Announces 2026 BAFTA Games Awards Longlist - Bafta.” Bafta, 9 Dec. 2025, www.bafta.org/media-centre/press-releases/2026-games-awards-longlist/. Accessed 8 Feb. 2026.
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