Just two weeks after All Quiet on the Western Front dominated the winners of the BAFTA Film and Television awards, the nominations for the Games Awards have been released, and the frontrunners for game of the year are clear.
God of War Ragnarök is the one to beat with 14 nominations, including Best Game, EE Game of the Year, Artistic Achievement and in both performer categories. The atmospheric action-adventure game follows Kratos in his second outing in Scandinavia as he comes to blows with a pantheon of Nordic Gods.
The God of War series began in 2005 with the original Playstation 2 game set in Ancient Greece. This is the ninth instalment of the series and the first to be released on Playstation 5. With the latest game’s 14 nominations, the entry has become the most nominated in BAFTA history.
It’s also one of the highest achieving series at the BAFTAs, having already taken home eight awards across its previous iterations, tying it with the Call of Duty series and one award away from the Grand Theft Auto series’ record nine wins.
With no new nominations for the Grand Theft Auto series this year, God of War Ragnarök or Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II (which has four nominations) may steal its crown.
The BAFTA Game Awards had its first ceremony in 2004 for the previous year’s games. This will be the Awards’ 19th edition and it has become known as one of the most prestigious awards in the gaming community.
At the most recent The Game Awards ceremony, which was held in December 2022, God of War Ragnarök was also the most nominated game and came away with six awards, the most of any that year. But it did miss out on the Best Game award to fellow BAFTA nominee Elden Ring.
Elden Ring has nine BAFTA nominations, in many of the same major categories. The dark fantasy role-playing game is directed by the acclaimed Dark Souls creator Hidetaka Miyazaki with a storyline by Game of Thrones writer George R. R. Martin.
Both blockbuster gamesElden Ring and God of War Ragnarök are natural frontrunners for gongs at the BAFTAs, but nestled between their nominations is Stray, with nine nominations. The charming cat-simulator follows a stray cat on a platforming adventure as it navigates a world of robots and machines.
The EE Game of the Year award was first awarded in 2021 and is voted for by the public instead of the BAFTA academy.
Here are the nominations in full:
Best Game
Cult of the Lamb
Elden Ring
God of War Ragnarök
Marvel Snap
Stray
Vampire Survivors
Animation
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II
God of War Ragnarök
Horizon Forbidden West
Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga
Sifu
Stray
Artistic Achievement
A Plague Tale: Requiem
Elden Ring
God of War Ragnarök
Immortality
Pentiment
Tunic
Audio Achievement
A Plague Tale: Requiem
God of War Ragnarök
Horizon Forbidden West
Metal: Hellsinger
Stray
Tunic
British Game
Citizen Sleeper
Olliolli World
Rollerdrome
Total War: Warhammer III
Vampire Survivors
Debut Game
As Dusk Falls
The Case of the Golden Idol
Stray
Trombone Champ
Tunic
Vampire Survivors
Evolving Game
Apex Legends
Dreams
The Elder Scrolls Online
Final Fantasy XIV Online
Forza Horizon 5
No Man’s Sky
Family Game
Disney Dreamlight Valley
Kirby and the Forgotten Land
Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga
Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope
Nintendo Switch Sports
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge
Game Beyond Entertainment
Citizen Sleeper
Endling — Extinction is Forever
Gibbon: Beyond the Trees
I Was a Teenage Exocolonist
Not for Broadcast
We’ll Always Have Paris
Game Design
Cult of the Lamb
Elden Ring
God of War Ragnarök
Horizon Forbidden West
Tunic
Vampire Survivors
Multiplayer
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II
EA Sports FIFA 23
Elden Ring
Overwatch 2
Splatoon 3
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Music
A Plague Tale: Requiem
Cuphead
Elden Ring
God of War Ragnarök
Stray
Tunic
Narrative
A Plague Tale: Requiem
Citizen Sleeper
God of War Ragnarök
Immortality
Pentiment
Stray
Original Property
Citizen Sleeper
Cult of the Lamb
Elden Ring
SIFU
Stray
Vampire Survivors
Performer in a Lead Role
Alain Mesa as Alejandro Vargas in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II
Charlotte McBurney as Amicia in A Plague Tale: Requiem
Christopher Judge as Kratos in God of War Ragnarök
Manon Gage as Marissa Marcel in Immortality
Siobhan Williams as Laura in The Quarry
Sunny Suljic as Atreus in God of War Ragnarök
Performer in a Supporting Role
Adam J. Harrington as Sindri in God of War Ragnarök
Alison Jaye as Alva in Horizon Forbidden West
Charlotta Mohlin as The One in Immortality
Danielle Bisutti as Freya in God of War Ragnarök
Laya Deleon Hayes as Angrboda in God of War Ragnarök
Ryan Hurst as Thor in God of War Ragnarök
Technical Achievement
Elden Ring
God of War Ragnarök
Horizon Forbidden West
Immortality
The Last of Us Part I
Stray
EE Game of the Year
Elden Ring
God of War Ragnarök
Horizon Forbidden West
Immortality
Marvel Snap
Stray
