The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) held its annual video games award ceremony in London yesterday, and several big names in both blockbuster and indie gaming won awards throughout the night.
Journey was one of the biggest winners at this year's award show. The game picked up awards for Original Music, Artistic Achievement, Game Design, Audio Achievement, and Online Multiplayer. The game, made by the now-fractured Thatgamecompany, is being held as one of the best downloadable games of all time, so it would make sense that the game would win five awards throughout the night.
Dishonored won the Best Game award, while Far Cry 3 won Best Action title. The Unfinished Swan won two awards, for Best Debut and for Game Innovation. The Walking Dead won two awards for publisher Telltale, picking up awards for Best Story and Best Mobile/Handheld Game. BAFTA also took time to hand out its Academy Fellowship Award to Gabe Newell, founder of Valve, for his outstanding contributions to the game industry.
Some surprise winners were in store as well. The Room won Best British Game over big racing titles Forza Horizon and Need For Speed: Most Wanted. Mobile football simulation game New Star Soccer came out of nowhere to defeat FIFA and F1 to win best Sports/ Fitness Game.
The real winner at the BAFTA awards may be Sony, as Journey and the Unfinished Swan are both exclusive titles for the system. While Thatgamecompany is facing a crossroads in their history with several key employees leaving the company to pursue their own projects, it is nice to see that Journey was able to scoop up five awards at the ceremony. Time will tell if ThatGameCompany repeats this phenomenal success at the next BAFTAs.