BAFTA announces format changes as entries for 2024 Game Awards open

videogameschronicle.com:

Eligibility criteria, voting rules and key dates for the BAFTA Games Awards 2024 have been announced, with submissions open from today.

The UK arts charity said on Thursday that it’s made several significant changes to the format of what will be the 20th British Academy Games Awards, which are set to take place in spring 2024.

These changes are designed to give exposure to a wider number of games than has previously been the case and to help level the playing field for all entrants, according to the organisation.

BAFTA members and specialist industry juries will vote across three rounds in awards categories from November 2023 until March 2024.

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For the first time, BAFTA will publicly reveal the full longlist of games on December 14, following the first round of member voting. Previously, only shortlisted nominees were announced.

“We hope this transparency will recognise and shine a light on a wider selection of games ahead of the jury and round two vote stages,” Tara Saunders, chair of BAFTA’s Games Committee and co-studio head of PlayStation London Studio, told GamesIndustry.biz.

And while the nominations and winner of the Best Game and British Game prizes have previously been decided by juries of industry professionals, this year they’ll be voted for by all BAFTA Games members, of which there number over 1,000.

“BAFTA members are some of the most knowledgeable people in the industry, and the games membership is growing stronger year-on-year,” Saunders said.

“With this in mind, it’s important to us that the whole of the BAFTA games membership, outside of just those that get to be involved in the juries, are engaged in the awards, all