Baldur's Gate 3 leads BAFTA Games Awards with 10 nominations

eurogamer.net:

Larian's Baldur's Gate 3 leads the 2024 BAFTA Games Awards with 10 nominations, including Best Game, as it celebrates its 20th anniversary this year.

BAFTA today released the shortlist of nominees for this year's awards, with Marvel's Spider-Man 2 receiving nine nominations, Alan Wake 2 receiving eight nominations, and The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom and Star Wars Jedi: Survivor both receiving six.

The coveted Best Game will be awarded to either Alan Wake 2, Baldur's Gate 3, Dave the Diver, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, Marvel's Spider-Man 2, or Super Mario Bros. Wonder.

«I think 2023 is going to go down as one of the best years for new video game releases,» chair of the BAFTA Games Board of Trustees Tara Saunders told Eurogamer ahead of the nominations announcement. «I think part of that is we're seeing what's truly possible as technology evolves and what this generation of technology can do. I think Baldur's Gate is a great showcase of that.»

Dave the Diver is the only (debatably) indie game nominated for Best Game, though last year Vampire Survivors was the surprise winner over Elden Ring.

«These are the nominations that have naturally come up through the process of doing the awards,» said Saunders, who explained the breadth of membership thanks to its 1200-strong voting membership pool.

Emme Baehr, executive director of awards & content at BAFTA, added that changes have been made this year, including opening entry earlier, and providing a longlist of 60 games to inspire debate and bring attention to the wide range of games available. What's more, Best Game and British Game will be voted on by the full membership, not just the jury.

«There's so much industry engagement throughout the whole awards process and that's what makes the quality of the BAFTA Awards and why the industry says they're prestigious, they're