BAFTA Games Awards 2025: All confirmed nominees

The nominations are in for the 2025 BAFTA Games Awards in celebration of all of the very best titles that 2024 had to offer. And what a year of surprises it was. PlayStation saw major success with family-friendly platformer Astro Bot; FromSoft’s Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree expansion garnered nominations against fully-fledged titles; And I cannot forget to mention Balatro, one of the year’s greatest success stories despite being made by just one developer. It was a year of unexpected twists and turns.

Astro Bot, of course, ended up taking home the top prize of Game of the Year at December’s The Game Awards. Could it nab the big win at this year’s BAFTAs too? On 8 April, the BAFTA Games Awards will be hosted for the 21st time, bringing developers and creatives from across the industry together for a night of well earned jubilation.

For the 2025 edition, it’s perhaps surprisingly Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II leading the nominations with a whopping 11 nods. That’s followed by Astro Bot and Still Wakes The Deep with eight nominations each. Thank Goodness You’re Here! secured seven, Black Myth: Wukong garnered six, while Helldivers II walked away with five. Animal Well, Balatro, Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 and LEGO Horizon Adventures earned four nods each.

There are plenty of other titles in the running, with 41 games nominated across the 17 different categories. I think you’ll join me in agreeing that it’s wonderful to see such a breadth of titles in contention.

I’m not the only one who thinks so. I had the opportunity to sit down with BAFTA’s CEO Jane Millichip and chair of the BAFTA Games Committee Tara Saunders who opened up about the rollercoaster ride that was 2024.

“2024 brought us a bewildering array of different genres from single developers to big studio games. It’s a very international mix, with 2024 a particularly strong year for British studios. 11 British studios are represented in the nominees, all the way from Brighton to Yorkshire,” Jane said.

“I always think it’s really interesting that you see nominees for Best Game also appearing in Game Beyond Entertainment, which shows really thoughtful game design. [...] There’s something for everyone.”

Tara added, “It’s a good showcase of the breadth of the industry in the awards this year. There's almost every flavour of something represented there, which I think just really puts a great spotlight onto the industry, and the UK games industry, as Jane said, with great representation of British talent in this year's awards.”

Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II leads this year’s nominations - and I must say, it’s a fantastic game.

Without further ado, here are the 2025 BAFTA Games Awards nominees.

Animation

• ASTRO BOT Development Team – Team ASOBI/Sony Interactive Entertainment
• CALL OF DUTY: BLACK OPS 6 Development Team – Treyarch, Raven Software/Activision
• LEGO HORIZON ADVENTURES Development Team – Guerilla, Studio Gobo/Sony Interactive Entertainment
• SENUA’S SAGA: HELLBLADE II Development Team – Ninja Theory/Xbox Game Studios
• THANK GOODNESS YOU’RE HERE! Will Todd, James Carbutt – Coal Supper/Panic
• WARHAMMER 40,000: SPACE MARINE 2 Development Team – Saber Interactive/Focus Entertainment

Artistic Achievement

• ASTRO BOT Development Team - Team ASOBI/Sony Interactive Entertainment
• BLACK MYTH: WUKONG Development Team – GameScience/GameScience
• HAROLD HALIBUT Ole Tillmann, Fabian Preuschoff, Onat Hekimoglu - Slow Bros./ Slow Bros.
• NEVA Development Team – Nomada Studio/Devolver Digital
• SENUA’S SAGA: HELLBLADE II Development Team – Ninja Theory/Xbox Game Studios
• STILL WAKES THE DEEP Development Team – The Chinese Room/Secret Mode

Audio Achievement

• ANIMAL WELL Billy Basso – Billy Basso/Bigmode
• ASTRO BOT Development Team – Team ASOBI/Sony Interactive Entertainment
• HELLDIVERS 2 Development Team – Arrowhead Game Studios/Sony Interactive Entertainment
• SENUA’S SAGA: HELLBLADE 2 Development Team – Ninja Theory/Xbox Game Studios
• STAR WARS OUTLAWS Development Team – Massive Entertainment/Ubisoft
• STILL WAKES THE DEEP Development Team – The Chinese Room/Secret Mode

Best Game

• ASTRO BOT Development Team – Team ASOBI/Sony Interactive Entertainment
• BALATRO LocalThunk – LocalThunk/Playstack
• BLACK MYTH: WUKONG Development Team – GameScience/GameScience
• HELLDIVERS 2 Development Team – Arrowhead Game Studios/Sony Interactive Entertainment
• THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: ECHOES OF WISDOM Development Team – Nintendo/Nintendo
• THANK GOODNESS YOU’RE HERE! Will Todd, James Carbutt – Coal Supper/Panic

British Game

• A HIGHLAND SONG Development Team – inkle Ltd
• LEGO HORIZON ADVENTURES Development Team – Guerilla, Studio Gobo/Sony Interactive Entertainment
• PAPER TRAIL Development Team – Newfangled Games/Newfangled Games
• SENUA’S SAGA: HELLBLADE II Development Team – Ninja Theory/Xbox Game Studios
• STILL WAKES THE DEEP Development Team – The Chinese Room/Secret Mode
• THANK GOODNESS YOU’RE HERE! Will Todd, James Carbutt – Coal Supper/Panic

Debut Game

• ANIMAL WELL Billy Basso – Billy Basso/Bigmode
• BALATRO LocalThunk – LocalThunk/Playstack
• PACIFIC DRIVE Development Team – Ironwood Studios/Kepler Interactive
• THE PLUCKY SQUIRE Development Team – All Possible Futures/Devolver Digital
• TALES OF KENZERA: ZAU Development Team – Surgent Studios/Electronic Arts
• THANK GOODNESS YOU’RE HERE! Will Todd, James Carbutt – Coal Supper/Panic

Evolving Game

• DIABLO IV Development Team – Blizzard Entertainment/Blizzard Entertainment
• FINAL FANTASY XIV ONLINE Development Team – Creative Studios 3/Square Enix
• NO MAN’S SKY Development Team – Hello Games/Hello Games
• SEA OF THIEVES Development Team – Rare/Xbox Game Studios
• VAMPIRE SURVIVORS Development Team – Poncle/poncle
• WORLD OF WARCRAFT Development Team – Blizzard Entertainment/Blizzard Entertainment

Family

• ASTRO BOT Development Team – Team ASOBI/Sony Interactive Entertainment
• CAT QUEST III Desmond Wong Liang Wai, Nursyazana binte Zainal – The Gentlebros/Kepler Interactive
• LEGO HORIZON ADVENTURES Development Team – Guerilla, Studio Gobo/Sony Interactive Entertainment
• LITTLE KITTY, BIG CITY Development Team – Double Dagger Studio/Double Dagger Studio
• THE PLUCKY SQUIRE Development Team – All Possible Futures/Devolver Digital
• SUPER MARIO PARTY JAMBOREE Development Team – Nintendo/Nintendo

Game Beyond Entertainment

• BOTANY MANOR Development Team – Balloon Studios/Whitethorn Games
• KIND WORDS 2 (LOFI CITY POP) Ziba Scott, Luigi Guatieri, Clark Aboud – Popcannibal/Popcannibal
• SENUA’S SAGA: HELLBLADE II Development Team – Ninja Theory/Xbox Game Studios
• TALES OF KENZERA: ZAU TALES OF KENZERA: ZAU Development Team – Surgent Studios/Electronic Arts
• TETRIS FOREVER Development Team – Digital Eclipse/Digital Eclipse
• VAMPIRE THERAPIST Cyrus Nemati, Sheila Fell, Kim Schumacher – Little Bat Games/Little Bat Games

Game Design

• ANIMAL WELL Billy Basso – Billy Basso/Bigmode
• ASTRO BOT - Development Team – Team ASOBI/Sony Interactive Entertainment
• BALATRO LocalThunk – LocalThunk/Playstack
• HELLDIVERS 2 Development Team – Arrowhead Game Studios/Sony Interactive Entertainment
• THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: ECHOES OF WISDOM Development Team – Nintendo/Nintendo
• TACTICAL BREACH WIZARDS Tom Francis, Steve Lee, John Roberts – Suspicious Developments/Suspicious Developments

Multiplayer

• CALL OF DUTY: BLACK OPS 6 Development Team – Treyarch, Raven Software/Activision
• HELLDIVERS 2 Development Team – Arrowhead Game Studios/Sony Interactive Entertainment
• LEGO HORIZON ADVENTURES Development Team – Guerilla, Studio Gobo/Sony Interactive Entertainment
• SUPER MARIO PARTY JAMBOREE Development Team – Nintendo/Nintendo
• TEKKEN 8 Development Team - BANDAI NAMCO Studios/ BANDAI NAMCO Studios
• WARHAMMER 40,000: SPACE MARINE 2 Development Team – Saber Interactive/Focus Entertainment

Music

• ASTRO BOT Kenneth C M Young - Team ASOBI/Sony Interactive Entertainment
• BLACK MYTH: WUKONG Development Team – GameScience/GameScience
• FINAL FANTASY VII REBIRTH Development Team – Square Enix/Square Enix
• HELLDIVERS 2 Wilbert Roget II, Ross Tregenza, Keith Leary - Arrowhead Game Studios/Sony Interactive Entertainment
• SENUA’S SAGA: HELLBLADE II Development Team – Ninja Theory/Xbox Game Studios
• STAR WARS OUTLAWS Wilbert Roget II, Simon Koudriavtsev, Erik Jacobsson – Massive Entertainment/Ubisoft

Narrative

• BLACK MYTH: WUKONG Development Team – GameScience/GameScience
• DRAGON AGE: THE VEILGUARD Development Team – BioWare/Electronic Arts
• FINAL FANTASY VII REBIRTH Development Team – Square Enix/Square Enix
• METAPHOR: REFANTAZIO Development Team – ATLUS/SEGA
• SENUA’S SAGA: HELLBLADE II Development Team – Ninja Theory/Xbox Game Studios
• STILL WAKES THE DEEP Development Team – The Chinese Room/Secret Mode

New Intellectual Property

• ANIMAL WELL Billy Basso – Billy Basso/Bigmode
• BALATRO LocalThunk – LocalThunk/Playstack
• BLACK MYTH: WUKONG Development Team – GameScience/GameScience
• METAPHOR: REFANTAZIO Development Team – ATLUS/SEGA
• STILL WAKES THE DEEP Development Team – The Chinese Room/Secret Mode
• THANK GOODNESS YOU’RE HERE! Will Todd, James Carbutt – Coal Supper/Panic

Performer in a Leading Role

• ALEC NEWMAN as Cameron ‘Caz’ Mcleary in Still Wakes the Deep - The Chinese Room/Secret Mode
• HUMBERLY GONZÁLEZ as Kay Vess in Star Wars Outlaws - Massive Entertainment/Ubisoft
• ISABELLA INCHBALD as Indika in Indika – Odd Meter/11 bit studios
• LUKE ROBERTS as James Sunderland in Silent Hill 2 – Bloober Team/Konami Digital Entertainment
• MELINA JUERGENS as Senua in Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II - Ninja Theory/Xbox Game Studios
• Y’LAN NOEL as Troy Marshall in Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 - Treyarch, Raven Software/Activision

Performer in a Supporting Role

• ABBI GREENLAND & HELEN GOALEN as The Furies in Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II - Ninja Theory/Xbox Game Studios
• ALDÍS AMAH HAMILTON as Ástríðr in Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II - Ninja Theory/Xbox Game Studios
• JON BLYTH as Big Ron in Thank Goodness You’re Here! - Coal Supper/Panic
• KAREN DUNBAR as Finlay in Still Wakes the Deep - The Chinese Room/Secret Mode
• MATT BERRY as Herbert the Gardner in Thank Goodness You’re Here! - Coal Supper/Panic
• MICHAEL ABUBAKAR as Brodie in Still Wakes the Deep - The Chinese Room/Secret Mode

Technical Achievement

• ASTRO BOT Development Team – Team ASOBI/Sony Interactive Entertainment
• BLACK MYTH: WUKONG Development Team – GameScience/GameScience
• CALL OF DUTY: BLACK OPS 6 Development Team – Treyarch, Raven Software/Activision
• SENUA’S SAGA: HELLBLADE II Development Team – Ninja Theory/Xbox Game Studios
• TINY GLADE Tomasz Stachowiak, Anastasia Opara – Pounce Light/Pounce Light
• WARHAMMER 40,000: SPACE MARINE 2 - Development Team – Saber Interactive/Focus Entertainment

Nominations are correct at the time of going to print. BAFTA reserves the right to make changes to the names listed at any time up until 8 April 2025.