2011 GAME British Academy Video Games Awards
Next year's awards to include a new Social Network Game category.
EMBARGOED UNTIL 00.01 TUESDAY 26 OCTOBER, 2010
London, 26 October 2010: The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) will become one of the first major awards-giving bodies to recognise social gaming with its new Social Network Game category in the upcoming GAME British Academy Video Games Awards, presented in 2011.
The advent of new technology and the increase in access to high-speed internet has allowed video games companies to create new gaming platforms. Social networks such as Facebook have become popular examples of this new kind of game play: over half of the 500m registered Facebook users regularly play games on the network. One of the most well-known of these games is FarmVille, with over 60m monthly active users.
Social network games allow and encourage integration between players but typically do not demand a large commitment of time. Players tend to return to the games frequently for bite-sized chunks of entertainment allowing for a unique kind of game play.
The huge growth in downloaded games and games played over networks offers the opportunity for content owners to create original IP and deliver it to a global market via the internet. With its new category for Social Network Game, BAFTA is identifying and rewarding excellence and innovation in order to recognise and further encourage creativity in this area.
Ray Maguire, Chairman of BAFTA’s Video Games Committee, said: “The rise in popularity and sophistication of social media gaming has been meteoric. It is only right to recognise the hard work, fantastic creativity and great success being demonstrated in this new area of the industry. As a result, BAFTA is very proud to announce the new category of Social Network Game as part of the upcoming Awards.”
The GAME British Academy Video Games Awards will take place on Wednesday 16 March at the London Hilton on Park Lane and, for the third year running, will be hosted by comedian and gamer Dara O’Briain. The nominations will be announced on Wednesday 16 February. The Awards will be streamed live for the first time at www.bafta.org and www.baftagameaward.com.
If you would like to enter your game for consideration please visit www.bafta.org/awards/video-games or contact the Head of Video Games, Kelly Smith on kellys@bafta.org.
For information on either buying tickets or about the Awards in general, visit BAFTA’s website at www.bafta.org/awards/video-games or contact Kelly Smith on kellys@bafta.org.
-ENDS-
About BAFTA:
The British Academy of Film and Television Arts is an independent charity that supports, develops and promotes the art forms of the moving image by identifying and rewarding excellence, inspiring practitioners and benefiting the public. In addition to its Awards ceremonies, BAFTA has a year-round Learning & Events programme that offers unique access to some of the world’s most inspiring talent through workshops, masterclasses, lectures and mentoring schemes, connecting with audiences of all ages and backgrounds across the UK, Los Angeles and New York. BAFTA relies on income from membership subscriptions, individual donations, trusts, foundations and corporate partnerships to support its ongoing outreach work. For further information, visit www.bafta.org.
About GAME:
GAME is Europe’s leading specialist retailer of pc and video game products. Since the start of trading in 1991 with 11 stores in the UK, it has grown both organically and through acquisition to a chain of over 1,300 outlets in January 2009. It operates stores in ten countries, supported by eCommerce websites. Online retail is located at www.game.co.uk . For further corporate information, log onto www.gamegroup.plc.uk .
For more information please contact:
Kristoff Clark
freud communications
Tel: 020 3003 6472
Email: kristoff.clark@freud.com