The 22nd BAFTA Games Awards ceremony is fast approaching, and the nominees paint a vivid picture of the past year in gaming. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, the French-inspired turn-based RPG from Sandfall Interactive, leads the pack with a staggering 12 nominations across categories including Best Game, Artistic Achievement, and Narrative.
Close behind is Dispatch, the acclaimed narrative puzzle game, with nine nods. Sucker Punch Productions's Ghost of Yotei has earned eight nominations for its stunning open-world take on feudal Japan, while Hideo Kojima's Death Stranding 2: On the Beach picked up seven. Indiana Jones and the Great Circle rounds out the top five with six nominations, proving MachineGames' take on the adventuring archaeologist resonated with the academy.
The Performance in a Supporting Role category features some heavy hitters from Hollywood making the jump to games. Aaron Paul received his first BAFTA Games nomination, alongside Charlie Cox and Jeffrey Wright. It is a sign that the line between film and game performances continues to blur in the best possible way.
Arc Raiders, the cooperative shooter from former Battlefield developers at Embark Studios, secured five nominations of its own — a strong showing for a new IP that many had written off during its prolonged development. Its inclusion across technical and design categories suggests the final product delivered on the promise of its early trailers.
The ceremony takes place on Friday, April 17 at the Queen Elizabeth Hall on London's Southbank. For those who cannot attend in person, BAFTA will livestream the entire event on their YouTube channel. With Expedition 33's dozen nominations, the big question heading into the evening is whether it can convert that breadth of recognition into actual wins — or if the field is competitive enough to spread the trophies around.