The president of the BAFTA game Committee has discussed the great winners and losers in the list of nominations of this year, including the surprising absence of the Renaissance and the metaphor of Final Fantasy 7: Refantazio in their greatest categories.
The 2025 BAFTA Games Awards were announced on Tuesday, with the Xbox Senua saga: Hellblade 2 leading with 11 nominations, followed by Astro Bot de Playstation, and the Chinese room still awakens the depths with eight each.
The big surprise is the British independent comedy thanks to Goodness You’re here, which has a total of seven nominations. But there is also absent surprise in the big categories, namely, the pair of large role -playing games last year, two of the main nominees in the game awards, which receive only two nominations of Bafta each.
Before Tuesday’s announcement, we ask the president of the Tara Saunders games about the Desaira and the surprise inclusions, and how the Bafta trial system is managed.
“It is a really robust process. I can say that because I have been part of this for many years and I love the fair and transparent thing that we can basically have all our membership with vote, “he told VGC.
“We have 1300 voters games of the members who vote at the Bafta Games Awards Awards. They take that responsibility very seriously, it is what I would say. If you are there in the discord of Bafta, they are always talking about their responsibility as a jury. And I think they enter that when the classmates vote on the pairs content. I think that makes it exceptionally strong.
“And then the process around is very robust. All entries are grouped into their categories admitted and judged by the entire game of the members of the Games. And there is a Top 10 in each category that is later listed for a long time, which we announce publicly in December.
“This year, for the first time, for the design of games and the categories of technical achievements, we had actually specialized colleagues in our awards in our prizes voting about those things. And I think it makes a big difference because it is not just about games that you have heard.
“It really is those that people look respectfully within their crafts and disciplines. And I think that is where you start seeing those games that can be overlooked in the public eye that rise. And then this is Bafta that puts them on the public stage. And I think that’s really strong. “
In Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, Saunders explained that the remakes and remassers of the games launched in previous years are not eligible for consideration in the largest categories of Bafta, outside the ‘craft’ awards such as audio and technical achievement.
“Just talking technically, Final Fantasy, for example, is eligible in craft categories, as we call them. For the best game, we do not allow remakes, and that is a point of differentiation for us. ”
She added: “It is about having the Bafta game Awards awards to ensure that we are rewarding the current titles. It does not mean that we discard those games, in reality, far from them, so they enter the most technical craft categories, so they are eligible for all of them, we simply keep it for new IP and new games that have not necessarily not seen a release before. “
As for other omissions and surprising inclusions compared to the other large -games awards events, Saunders said it believed it was the result of strong diversity among its voting and jury members, which she believes that allows Bafta to show a broader portion of the video game industry.
“As you can see in the best game category, there is a true combination of things there, and I think that is only representative of the diversity of our membership games,” he said. “There has been a lot of work over the years, and the membership of the games is now very wide, very diverse, very global. And I think that this year’s nominations are actually a real portion of the industry.
“They actually represent the industry and the various types of content, both large and small, quite well together. It goes in different ways in different years, but I think this year is exceptionally, you know, it has strong British representatives, a strong international representation. It has small exceptional titles that are made by one or two people, who face large teams. And I think this is the special of the awards.
“I don’t know how it happens. It is even voted by a very strong game membership, and I think that is what makes it so good. In addition, the jury process is exceptionally strong. We have very specialized jurors who push each other and give different opinions, which really makes it a very, very robust process, actually. Then, the games that come out at the top are very worthy of those of those nominations. ”
In what has been difficult years for workers in the game Industry, with common closures and layoffs, Saunders said he believes that Bafta can provide a welcome celebration of the art form and those who work within it.
“I think the awards are a celebration of the best in games worldwide, whether big or small,” he explained. “I think the awards are like a lighthouse of light in the recent darkness that the industry experienced. I think it is really important that we celebrate the teams and people who have created these outstanding game experiences, whether they are large or small.
“There is something for all games awards this year in our awards. I think that if you look at the variety of titles, I actually believe that for one of the first years, there is something that everyone could attract and play. And I think that’s what is done this year very special. “
The winners will be announced at the 21st Games Bafta Awards in London on Tuesday, April 8, which will broadcast live at 7:00 p.m. BST / 14.00 ET / 11.00 PT on YouTube and Bafta Twitch.
