2011 GAME British Academy Video Games Awards
Nominees for British awards announced.
Call of Duty: Black Ops and Heavy Rain each garner six nominations
Mass Effect 2 follows with five, LIMBO and Super Mario Galaxy 2 with four
London, 16 February 2011: The Academy today announced the nominations for the GAME British Academy Video Games Awards. 44 different games have been recognized and together they represent some of the most popular, innovative and cutting-edge creativity in today’s gaming industry.
Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood and Call of Duty: Black Ops are both nominated for Action, Artistic Achievement, Multiplayer, Technical Innovation, and Use of Audio. In addition, Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood is nominated for Best Game and Gameplay, and Call of Duty: Black Ops got the nod for Story. Heavy Rain and Mass Effect 2 received nominations for Artistic Achievement, Best Game, Gameplay, Original Music, Story and Heavy Rain got its 6 th nod for Technical Innovation.
LIMBO is nominated for Artistic Achievement and Use of Audio. Super Mario Galaxy 2 received nominations for Technical Innovation and Original Music, and both games are also nominated for Best Game and Gameplay. Alan Wake, Battlefield: Bad Company 2, God of War III, and Halo: Reach all have three nominations. Bioshock 2, Fallout: New Vegas, FIFA 11, Kinectimals, LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4, and Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty all received two.
This year’s new Social Network Game category garnered nominations for the following games: Bejeweled Blitz, Farmerama, FIFA Superstars, My Empire, Zoo Mumba, and Zuma Blitz.
Other nominated games include: Civilization V, Cut The Rope, Dance Central, DJ Hero 2, F1 2010, Fable III, FIFA Manager 11, Football Manager 2011, God of War: Ghost of Sparta, Gran Turismo 5, International Cricket 2010, James Bond 007: Bloodstone, Kinect Adventures, Kinect Sports, Napoleon Total War, Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit, Plant vs. Zombies XBLA, Pro Evolution Soccer 2011, Professor Layton and the Lost Future, Sonic Colours, Super Scribblenauts and Toy Story 3.
This year’s Awards will also include the publicly-voted category – the GAME Award of 2010. The shortlist was compiled by a panel of gaming journalists and enthusiasts, and comprises of Call of Duty: Black Ops, Dance Central, FIFA 11, Halo: Reach, Heavy Rain, LIMBO, Mass Effect 2, Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit, Red Dead Redemption and Super Mario Galaxy 2. Voting is now live at www.baftagameaward.com.
While the Academy recognises those individuals at the top of their field, it also nurtures the developers of tomorrow by recognising up-and-coming talent. This year’s nominations for the BAFTA Ones To Watch Award in association with Dare to be Digital are Mush, Sculpty and Twang.
The GAME British Academy Video Games Awards will take place on Wednesday 16 March at the London Hilton on Park Lane. The Awards will be streamed live for the first time at http://go.ign.com/baftamicrosite, as well as at www.bafta.org and www.baftagameaward.com.
For information on buying tickets or about the Awards, visit BAFTA’s website at www.bafta.org/awards/video-games or contact Amy Elton on 020 7292 5839 or amye@bafta.org
A FULL LIST OF ALL NOMINATIONS ACCOMPANIES THIS RELEASE
-ENDS-
For more information please contact:
Kristoff Clark
freud communications
Tel: 020 3003 6472
Email: kristoff.clark@freud.com
* * *
Notes to editors:
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 the judging process:
Games were entered by both developers and publishers into all the categories listed in this release and were initially voted on by BAFTA’s video games members and a carefully selected list of industry experts via a secure website.
The titles garnering the most votes went through to specialist juries who receive the games prior to making their nominations.
Each juror signs confidentiality papers and casts their votes on paper. The results in each category are not known until the envelope is opened on the night.
About GAME:
GAME is part of GAME Group plc, Europe's leading retailer of pc and video games, video game consoles and related accessories. We operate from over 1,000 GAME stores, concessions and franchises in the UK, Eire, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Spain, Portugal, France and Australia; and over 220 Gamestation stores in the UK. Together with our on-line and multi channel shopping services, our aim is to be the destination of choice for every consumer.
Nominations
16 February 2011
** STRICTLY EMBARGOED UNTIL 07:45 HRS WEDNESDAY 16 FEBRUARY 2011 **
Action
Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood
Development Team
Ubisoft Entertainment/Ubisoft Montreal
Battlefield: Bad Company 2
Alan Kertz, Kristoffer Bergqvist
Electronic Arts/DICE
BioShock 2
Jordan Thomas, Zak McClendon
2K Games/2K Marin
Call of Duty: Black Ops
Adam Rosas, Scott Bean, Dom Drozdz
Activision Blizzard UK Ltd/Treyarch
God of War III
Stig Asmussen, Todd Papy, Steve Caterson
Sony Computer Entertainment/SCE Santa Monica Studio
Halo: Reach
Development Team
Microsoft Games Studios/Bungie
Artistic Achievement
Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood
Development Team
Ubisoft Entertainment/Ubisoft Montreal
Call of Duty: Black Ops
Adam Rosas, Scott Bean, Dom Drozdz
Activision Blizzard UK Ltd/Treyarch
God of War III
Stig Asmussen, Ken Feldman, Cecil Kim
Sony Computer Entertainment/SCE Santa Monica Studio
Heavy Rain
David Cage, Guillaume de Fondaumiere, Scott Johnson
Sony Computer Entertainment/Quantic Dream & XDev Studio Europe
LIMBO
Development Team
Xbox Live Arcade/Playdead Games
Mass Effect 2
Development Team
Electronic Arts/BioWare
Best Game
Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood
Development Team
Ubisoft Entertainment/Ubisoft Montreal
FIFA 11
Development Team
Electronic Arts/ Electronic Arts Canada
Heavy Rain
David Cage, Guillaume de Fondaumiere, Scott Johnson
Sony Computer Entertainment/Quantic Dream & XDev Studio Europe
LIMBO
Development Team
Xbox Live Arcade/Playdead Games
Mass Effect 2
Development Team
Electronic Arts/BioWare
Super Mario Galaxy 2
Koichi Hayashida, Yoshiaki Koizumi, Takashi Tezuka
Nintendo/Nintendo
Family
Dance Central
Development Team
Microsoft Games Studios & MTV Games/MTV & Harmonix
Kinect Adventures
Development Team
Microsoft Games Studios/Good Science Studio
Kinect Sports
Development Team
Microsoft Games Studios/Rare
Kinectimals
Development Team
Microsoft Games Studios/Frontier Developments Ltd
LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4
Development Team
Warner Bros Interactive Entertainment/TT Games
Toy Story 3
John Blackburn, Jonathan Warner, Jeff Bunker
Disney Interactive Studios/Avalanche Software
Gameplay
Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood
Development Team
Ubisoft Entertainment/Ubisoft Montreal
God of War III
Stig Asmussen, Todd Papy, Adam Puhl
Sony Computer Entertainment/SCE Santa Monica Studio
Heavy Rain
David Cage, Guillaume de Fondaumiere, Scott Johnson
Sony Computer Entertainment/Quantic Dream & XDev Studio Europe
LIMBO
Development Team
Xbox Live Arcade/Playdead Games
Mass Effect 2
Development TeamElectronic Arts/BioWare
Super Mario Galaxy 2
Koichi Hayashida, Yoshiaki Koizumi, Takashi Tezuka
Nintendo/Nintendo
Handheld
Cut the Rope
Development Team
Chillingo/Zeptolab
God of War: Ghost of Sparta
Development Team
Sony Computer Entertainment/Ready at Dawn & SCE Santa Monica Studio
LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4
Development Team
Warner Bros Interactive Entertainment/TT Games
Professor Layton and the Lost Future
Akihiro Hino
Nintendo/Level 5 Games
Sonic Colours
Development Team
SEGA/Sonic Team
Super Scribblenauts
Joseph M Tringali, Marius Fahlbusch, Jeremiah Slaczka
Warner Bros Interactive Entertainment/5th Cell
Multiplayer
Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood
Development Team
Ubisoft Entertainment/Ubisoft Montreal
Battlefield: Bad Company 2
Alan Kertz, Kristoffer Bergqvist
Electronic Arts/DICE
Call of Duty: Black Ops
Adam Rosas, Scott Bean, Dom Drozdz
Activision Blizzard UK Ltd/Treyarch
Halo: Reach
Development Team
Microsoft Games Studios/Bungie
Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit
Development Team
Electronic Arts/Criterion Games
Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty
Development Team
Blizzard Entertainment/Blizzard Entertainment
Original Music
Alan Wake
Petri Alanko
Microsoft Games Studios/Remedy
Fable III
Russell Shaw
Microsoft Games Studios/Lionhead Studios
Heavy Rain
Normand Corbeil
Sony Computer Entertainment/Quantic Dream & XDev Studio Europe
James Bond 007: Bloodstone
Richard Jacques
Activision Blizzard UK/ Bizarre Creations
Mass Effect 2
Jack Wall
Electronic Arts/BioWare
Super Mario Galaxy 2
Koji Kondo
Nintendo/Nintendo
Social Network Game
Bejeweled Blitz
Jon David, Heather Hazen, Jason Kapalka
Popcap Games/Popcap Games
Farmerama
Tobias Reisberger, Jan-Michel Saaksmeier, Marten Schröder
Bigpoint/Bigpoint
FIFA Superstars
Development Team
EA Sports/Playfish
My Empire
Development Team
Playfish/Playfish
Zoo Mumba
Tobias Reisberger, Eduard Röhrich, Jan-Michel Saaksmeier
Bigpoint GMBH/Bigpoint GMBH
Zuma Blitz
Isaac Aubrey, Jon David, Jason Kapalka
PopCap Games/PopCap Games
Sports
F1 2010
Development Team
Codemasters/Codemasters Birmingham
FIFA 11
Development Team
Electronic Arts/ Electronic Arts Canada
Football Manager 2011
Development Team
SEGA/Sports Interactive
Gran Turismo 5
Development Team
Sony Computer Entertainment/Polyphony Digital Inc
International Cricket 2010
Development Team
Codemasters/Trickstar Games
Pro Evolution Soccer 2011
Shingo Takatsuka, Naoya Hatsumi, Jon Murphy
Konami/Winning Eleven Productions
Story
Alan Wake
Development Team
Microsoft Games Studios/Remedy
BioShock 2
Jordan Thomas, Zak McClendon
2K Games/2K Marin
Call of Duty: Black Ops
Adam Rosas, Scott Bean, Dom Drozdz
Activision Blizzard UK Ltd/Treyarch
Fallout: New Vegas
John Gonzalez, Eric Fenstermaker, Travis Stout
Bethesda Softworks/Obsidian Entertainment
Heavy Rain
David Cage, Guillaume de Fondaumiere, Scott Johnson
Sony Computer Entertainment/Quantic Dream & XDev Studio Europe
Mass Effect 2
Development TeamElectronic Arts/BioWare
Strategy
Civilization V
Jon Shafer, Dorian Newcomb, Brian Wade
2K Games/Firaxis
Fallout: New Vegas
Josh Sawyer, Frank Kowalkowski, Justin Reynard
Bethesda Softworks/Obsidian Entertainment
FIFA Manager 11
Development Team
EA Sports/Bright Future
Napoleon Total War
Development Team
SEGA/Creative Assembly
Plants vs. Zombies XBLA
George Fan, Matt Lee Johnston, Ty Roberts
PopCap Games/PopCap Games
Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty
Development Team
Blizzard Entertainment/Blizzard Entertainment
Technical Innovation
Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood
Development Team
Ubisoft Entertainment/Ubisoft Montreal
Call of Duty: Black Ops
Adam Rosas, Scott Bean, Dom Drozdz
Activision Blizzard UK Ltd/Treyarch
Halo: Reach
Development Team
Microsoft Games Studios/Bungie
Heavy Rain
David Cage, Guillaume de Fondaumiere, Scott Johnson
Sony Computer Entertainment/Quantic Dream & XDev Studio Europe
Kinectimals
Development Team
Microsoft Games Studios/Frontier Developments Ltd
Super Mario Galaxy 2
Koichi Hayashida, Yoshiaki Koizumi, Takashi Tezuka
Nintendo/Nintendo
Use of Audio
Alan Wake
Development Team
Microsoft Games Studios/Remedy/14.05.10
Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood
Development Team
Ubisoft Entertainment/Ubisoft Montreal/19.11.10
Battlefield: Bad Company: 2
Stefan Strandberg
Electronic Arts/DICE/05.03.10
Call of Duty: Black Ops
Development Team
Activision Blizzard UK Ltd/Treyarch/ 09.11.10
DJ Hero 2
Development Team
Activision Blizzard UK LTD/Freestylegames/22.10.10
LIMBO
Development Team
Xbox Live Arcade/Playdead Games/21.07.10
BAFTA Ones to Watch Award in association with Dare to Be Digital
Mush
Henry Hoffman, Ahmed Zaman, Matthew Dennis, Katherine Killick, Greg O’Brien
(Angry Mango)
Sculpty
Druhin Mukherjee, Fabien Roussot, James Long, Fraser Littlejohn, Ronan Suess
(Team Tickle)
Twang
Jocce Marklund, Annette Nielsen, Linus Nordgren, Marcus Heder, Thomas Finlay
(That Game Studio)
GAME Award of 2010
(The only award to be voted for by the public)
Call of Duty: Black Ops
Activision Blizzard UK Ltd/Treyarch
Dance Central
Microsoft Games Studios & MTV Games/MTV & Harmonix
FIFA 11
Electronic Arts/ Electronic Arts Canada
Halo Reach
Microsoft Games Studios/Bungie
Heavy Rain
Sony Computer Entertainment/Quantic Dream & XDev Studio Europe
Limbo
Xbox Live Arcade/Playdead Games
Mass Effect 2
Electronic Arts/BioWare
Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit
Electronic Arts/Criterion Games
Red Dead Redemption
Rockstar Games/Rockstar San Diego
Super Mario Galaxy 2
Nintendo/Nintendo