British Academy Games Award for Narrative
The British Academy Video Games Award for Narrative is an award presented annually by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA). It is given to recognize "excellence in the creation and delivery of the best story or narrative that captivates and engages the player".[ 1] The award is given to the writers/development team, the developer and the publisher of the winning game. The award was first presented at the 3rd British Academy Games Awards under the name Screenplay . The following year it was renamed into Story and Character . From the 6th edition to the 12th , it was presented as Story . Since the 13th British Academy Games Awards , it has been presented with its current name.
Naughty Dog and Santa Monica Studio are the only developers with two wins in the category, while Ubisoft Montreal are the developer with the most nominations without a win, with five. Among publishers, Sony Interactive Entertainment has a leading nineteen nominations, with six wins. Bethesda Softworks , Ubisoft and Electronic Arts are tied for most nominations without a win, with seven each. To date, two writers (Neil Druckmann and Cory Barlog ) have won the BAFTA twice for their work on The Last of Us and God of War franchises respectively. With three nominations, Tim Schafer is the most nominated writer without a win.
The current holders of the award are Sam Barlow , Amelia Gray and Allan Scott , writers of Immortality by Half Mermaid Productions, which won at the 19th British Academy Games Awards in 2023.
Winners and nominees
In the following table, the years are listed as per BAFTA convention, and generally correspond to the year of game release in the United Kingdom.
Table key
Indicates the winner
Year
Game
Recipient(s)
Developer(s)
Publisher(s)
Ref.
2005 /06 (3rd)
Psychonauts
Double Fine Productions
Majesco Entertainment
[ 2]
24: The Game
SCE Studio Cambridge
Sony Computer Entertainment Europe
Rogue Trooper
Rebellion Developments
Eidos Interactive
Tomb Raider: Legend
Crystal Dynamics
The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
Bethesda Game Studios
Bethesda Softworks
Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter
Ubisoft Paris
Ubisoft
2006 /07 (4th)
God of War II
Cory Barlog , James Barlog and Marianne Krawczyk
Santa Monica Studio
Sony Computer Entertainment
[ 3]
Final Fantasy XII
Daisuke Watanabe , Miwa Shoda and Yasumi Matsuno
Square Enix
Heavenly Sword
Tameem Antoniades, Rhianna Pratchett and Andrew S. Walsh
Ninja Theory
Sony Computer Entertainment
Ōkami
Hideki Kamiya
Clover Studio
Capcom
The Darkness
Denby Grace, Lars Johansson, Jerk Gustafsson
Starbreeze Studios
2K Games
The Simpsons Game
Matt Selman, Scot Amos
EA Redwood Shores
Electronic Arts
2007 /08 (5th)
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
Infinity Ward
Activision
[ 4] [ 5]
Assassin's Creed
Jade Raymond , Patrice Desilets, Claude Langlais
Ubisoft Montreal
Ubisoft
Fable II
Lionhead Studios
Microsoft Game Studios
Mass Effect
Casey Hudson , Drew Karpyshyn , Derek Watts
BioWare
Fallout 3
Todd Howard , Emil Pagliarulo
Bethesda Game Studios
Bethesda Softworks
Grand Theft Auto IV
Rockstar North
Rockstar Games
2009 (6th)
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
Naughty Dog
Sony Computer Entertainment
[ 6]
Assassin's Creed II
Corey May , Joshua Rubin , Jeffrey Yohalem
Ubisoft Montréal
Ubisoft
Batman: Arkham Asylum
Rocksteady Studios
Eidos Interactive and Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
Broken Sword: Shadow of the Templars – The Director's Cut
Charles Cecil , Neil Richards, Tony Warriner
Revolution Software
Ubisoft
Brütal Legend
Tim Schafer
Double Fine Productions
Electronic Arts
Dragon Age: Origins
Ray Muzyka, Greg Zeschuk, Mike Laidlaw
BioWare
2010 (7th)
Heavy Rain
David Cage , Guillaume de Fondaumiere, Scott Johnson
Quantic Dream
Sony Computer Entertainment
[ 7]
Alan Wake
Remedy Entertainment
Microsoft Game Studios
BioShock 2
Jordan Thomas, Zak McClendon
2K Marin
2K Games
Call of Duty: Black Ops
Dave Anthony, Craig Houston
Treyarch
Activision
Fallout: New Vegas
John Gonzalez, Eric Fenstermaker, Travis Stout
Obsidian Entertainment
Bethesda Softworks
Mass Effect 2
BioWare
Electronic Arts
2011 (8th)
Portal 2
Valve Corporation
[ 8]
Batman: Arkham City
Rocksteady Studios
Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
Deus Ex: Human Revolution
Jean-François Dugas, Marie DeMarle, James Swallow
Eidos-Montréal
Square Enix Europe
L.A. Noire
Brendan McNamara
Team Bondi
Rockstar Games
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Todd Howard
Bethesda Game Studios
Bethesda Softworks
Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception
Naughty Dog
Sony Computer Entertainment
2012 (9th)
The Walking Dead
Telltale Games
[ 9]
Journey
thatgamecompany
Sony Computer Entertainment
Far Cry 3
Jeffrey Yohalem , Lucien Soulban , Li Kuo
Ubisoft Montréal
Ubisoft
Dishonored
Arkane Studios
Bethesda Softworks
Mass Effect 3
Mac Walters
BioWare
Electronic Arts
Thomas Was Alone
Mike Bithell
Mike Bithell
2013 (10th)
The Last of Us
Bruce Straley , Neil Druckmann
Naughty Dog
Sony Computer Entertainment
[ 10]
The Stanley Parable
Galactic Cafe
Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch
Akihiro Hino
Level-5
Namco Bandai Games
Grand Theft Auto V
Dan Houser , Rupert Humphries
Rockstar North
Rockstar Games
Gone Home
Fullbright
Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons
Starbreeze Studios
505 Games
2014 (11th)
The Last of Us: Left Behind
Neil Druckmann
Naughty Dog
Sony Computer Entertainment Europe
[ 11] [ 12]
80 Days
Joseph Humfrey, Jon Ingold , Meg Jayanth
Inkle
Broken Age
Tim Schafer
Double Fine Productions
Far Cry 4
Mark Thompson, Lucien Soulban , Li Kuo
Ubisoft Montréal
Ubisoft
The Wolf Among Us
Telltale Games
Never Alone (Kisima Inŋitchuŋa)
Upper One Games
E-Line Media
2015 (12th)
Life Is Strange
Dontnod Entertainment
Square Enix Europe
[ 13] [ 14]
Everybody's Gone to the Rapture
The Chinese Room
Sony Computer Entertainment
Until Dawn
Supermassive Games
Her Story
Sam Barlow
Sam Barlow
Undertale
Toby Fox
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
CD Projekt Red
CD Projekt
2016 (13th)
Inside
Arnt Jensen
Playdead
[ 15] [ 16]
Dishonored 2
Arkane Studios
Bethesda Softworks
Firewatch
Campo Santo
Panic
Mafia III
Hangar 13
2K Games
Oxenfree
Night School Studio
Uncharted 4: A Thief's End
Neil Druckmann , Josh Scherr
Naughty Dog
Sony Interactive Entertainment
2017
(14th )
Night in the Woods
Scott Benson, Alec Holowka , Bethany Hockenberry
Infinite Fall
Finji
[ 17]
Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice
Tameem Antoniades
Ninja Theory
Horizon Zero Dawn
Guerrilla Games
Sony Interactive Entertainment
Tacoma
Steve Gaynor, Karla Zimonia
Fullbright
What Remains of Edith Finch
Giant Sparrow
Annapurna Interactive
Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus
Jens Matthies, Tommy Tordsson Björk, Tom Keegan
MachineGames
Bethesda Softworks
2018
(15th )
God of War
Cory Barlog , Matt Sophos, Richard Zangrande Gaubert
Santa Monica Studio
Sony Interactive Entertainment
[ 18]
Florence
Mountains
Annapurna Interactive
Frostpunk
11 bit studios
Marvel's Spider-Man
Insomniac Games
Sony Interactive Entertainment
Red Dead Redemption 2
Dan Houser , Rupert Humphries, Michael Unsworth
Rockstar Games
Return of the Obra Dinn
Lucas Pope
Lucas Pope
2019
(16th )
Disco Elysium
ZA/UM
[ 19] [ 20]
Control
Remedy Entertainment
505 Games
Life Is Strange 2
Dontnod Entertainment
Square Enix
Outer Wilds
Mobius Digital
Annapurna Interactive
The Outer Worlds
Obsidian Entertainment
Private Division
Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order
Aaron Contreras, Matt Michnovetz, Stig Asmussen
Respawn Entertainment
Electronic Arts
2020
(17th )
Hades
Greg Kasavin
Supergiant Games
[ 21] [ 22]
Assassin's Creed Valhalla
Ubisoft Montreal
Ubisoft
Cyberpunk 2077
CD Projekt Red
CD Projekt
Ghost of Tsushima
Nate Fox, Ian Ryan, Writing Team
Sucker Punch Productions
Sony Interactive Entertainment
Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales
Insomniac Games
Kentucky Route Zero: TV Edition
Cardboard Computer
Annapurna Interactive
2021
(18th )
Unpacking
Wren Brier, Tim Dawson, Annie VanderMeer
Witch Beam
Humble Bundle
[ 23] [ 24]
It Takes Two
Hazelight Studios
Electronic Arts
Life Is Strange: True Colors
Deck Nine
Square Enix
Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy
Eidos-Montréal
Psychonauts 2
Tim Schafer
Double Fine
Xbox Game Studios
Returnal
Housemarque
Sony Interactive Entertainment
2023
(20th )
Baldur's Gate 3
Larian Studios
[ 25]
Alan Wake 2
Remedy Entertainment
Epic Games
Dredge
Joel Mason, Alex Ritchie, Nadia Thorne
Black Salt Games
Team17
Final Fantasy XVI
Kazutoyo Maehiro, Michael-Christopher Koji Fox
Square Enix Creative Business Unit III
Square Enix
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
Nintendo EPD
Nintendo
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor
Respawn Entertainment
Electronic Arts
Note : The games that don't have recipients on the table had Development Team or Writing Team credited on the awards page.
Multiple nominations and wins
Writers
Developers
Publishers
References
^ "BAFTA Games Awards Rules and Guidelines 2022" (PDF) . British Academy of Film and Television Arts . Retrieved 11 February 2023 .
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^ "Games in 2010" . BAFTA Awards . British Academy of Film and Television Arts . Retrieved 14 March 2015 .
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^ "Games in 2012" . BAFTA Awards . British Academy of Film and Television Arts . Retrieved 14 March 2015 .
^ "Games in 2013" . BAFTA Awards . British Academy of Film and Television Arts . Archived from the original on 13 April 2016. Retrieved 14 March 2015 .
^ "Games in 2014" . BAFTA Awards . British Academy of Film and Television Arts . Retrieved 14 March 2015 .
^ "Games in 2015" . BAFTA Awards . British Academy of Film and Television Arts . Retrieved 14 March 2015 .
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^ Skrebels, Joe (10 March 2016). "BAFTA Games Awards 2016 Nominees Revealed" . IGN . Retrieved 10 March 2016 .
^ "Games in 2017 | BAFTA Awards" . awards.bafta.org . Retrieved 2017-03-24 .
^ Erica Webber, Jordan (9 March 2017). "Bafta games awards 2017: Inside and Uncharted 4 lead the way" . The Guardian . Retrieved 9 March 2017 .
^ "Winners List for the British Academy Games Awards in 2018 (Plain Text) | BAFTA Awards" . awards.bafta.org . 12 April 2018. Retrieved 2018-04-23 .
^ "BAFTA Games Awards winners 2019" . awards.bafta.org . 11 March 2019. Retrieved 2019-04-04 .
^ "2020 BAFTA Games Awards: The Nominations" . BAFTA . 3 March 2020. Retrieved 4 March 2020 .
^ Powell, Steffan; Rahman-Jones, Imran (25 March 2021). "Bafta Games Awards 2021: Hades takes Best Game" . BBC News . Retrieved 27 March 2021 .
^ Ankers, Adele (March 2, 2021). "BAFTA Games Awards 2021 Nominations Announced" . IGN . Ziff Davis . Archived from the original on March 3, 2021. Retrieved March 3, 2021 .
^ Del Rosario, Alexandra (25 March 2021). "BAFTA Games Awards: Supergiant Games' 'Hades' Takes Home Top Prize – Complete Winners List" . Deadline Hollywood . Retrieved 25 March 2021 .
^ "2022 BAFTA Games Awards Winners" . 3 March 2022.
^ Julians, Joe (8 April 2022). "BAFTA Games Awards 2022: Full list of winners as Returnal wins Best Game" . Radio Times . Retrieved 9 April 2022 .
^ "20th BAFTA Games Awards: The Winners & Nominations" . Retrieved 11 April 2024 .
External links