BAFTA Games Awards 2023 Winners: Vampire Survivors Crowned Best Game, God of War Ragnarök Bags Six Trophies, and More

gadgets.ndtv.com:

Vampire Survivors took home the top honour at the BAFTA Games Awards, in what could be called the most shocking moment at the ceremony. The indie title won two trophies — Best Game Design and the coveted Best Game prize — beating out God of War Ragnarök, which was leading with six awards. Even developer Poncle confessed on-stage that they weren't expecting to win. The ceremony was streamed live on Twitch early Friday, and saw God of War Ragnarök dominating the lineup with a record-breaking 14 nominations, though six of them were acting nominations for its stellar cast. The Santa Monica Studio-developed sequel, however, secured the EE Game of the Year, which is a publicly voted award that isn't officially part of BAFTA.

After an early access launch for PC in December 2021, Vampire Survivors almost instantly became a hit, throwing players into pixelated dungeons to mow down thousands of night creatures, while stacking up on perks such as bibles and garlic to keep them away. Funnily enough, despite the game's key art and title mentioning them, none of the monsters or playable characters are actually vampires.

Continuing his run from The Game Awards 2022, Christopher Judge secured another Best Performer win at the BAFTA Games Awards 2023, for his role as Kratos in God of War Ragnarök. Meanwhile, Laya Deleon Hayes, who played Angrboda the Jötunn, secured one for Best Performer in a Supporting Role.

Surprisingly, God of War Ragnarök also stole the award for Audio Achievement from Metal: Hellsinger, the rhythm-based FPS where you lay waste to demonic enemies while rock music blasts in the background. Critical darling Elden Ring won two awards — Original Property and Multiplayer — besting nominees such as FIFA 23 and Splatoon 3.