Video Games are as Important as Film and Television

The growing importance of video games to entertainment culture has been recognised by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA), which has elevated the sector to become an equal to those for Film and Television. Champions of the moving image, BAFTA seeks to reward artistic and creative innovation within video games, as one of the principle contemporary art forms.

This newly defined status means The British Academy Video Games Awards are set to confirm their position as the most independent and valued awards in this arena. The British Academy Video Games Awards move to October to be positioned as the climax to London Games Week, a new set of major industry and consumer events set to be a highlight of the European gaming calendar.

The changes have been driven by a newly formed BAFTA Games committee of high-level representatives from the largest and most influential publishers, developers, middleware companies and trade associations, including ELSPA; TIGA and Sony Computer Entertainment Europe.*

The committee is led by Paul Jackson, VP & Managing Director Northern Region, Electronic Arts, who comments that 'BAFTA's move to give video games equal status with film and television reflects games' contribution to artistic innovation and new forms of story-telling. The organisation is perfectly positioned to cross- fertilise opportunities, set benchmarks for measurement and champion creative standards to encourage new and compelling interactive experiences.'

Ray Maguire, senior vice president of Sony Computer Entertainment, echoed his sentiments, "It is great to be associated with a body that has been rewarding creative excellence for decades. For the creativity and artistry that is so prevalent in our business to be recognised in parity with other more accepted visual arts, says to me that interactivity has finally come of age"'

BAFTA's chairman, Duncan Kenworthy, says 'Video games constitute a hugely significant new, moving image art form that sits alongside film and television in its power to entertain and educate, and the Academy is determined to encourage its development. The British Academy Video Games Awards are a key part of our strategy to define, articulate and reward excellence in the sector, to the benefit of those who create games and those who play them.'

NOTES TO EDITORS

The games industry is the fastest growing entertainment medium and in 2005 was worth £1.35 billion, almost one and a half times the size of UK cinema sales.

*Full list of committee members:

John Broomhall - Broomhall Projects Ltd

Ian Baverstock - Kuju / TIGA

Michael Cassius

John Chasey - Infospace

Rob Cooper - Ubisoft

Grant Dean - Timiani Ltd

Fred Hasson - TIGA

Mike Hayes - Sega

Paul Jackson - EA

Miles Jacobson - SI Games

Julian Jones - Ideaworks 3d

Sean Kelly - SCEE

David Lau Key - Renderware

Ian Livingstone - Eidos

Ray Maguire - SCEE

Sanjay Mistry - EA

Peter Molyneux OBE - Lionhead

Michael Rawlinson - ELSPA

Adam Roberts - Vivendi Universal Games

Jez San OBE

Luke Valentine - Eidos

Roger Walkden - Activision

Tim Wapshott - The Times

For further information, please contact:

Ben Mason / Toby Parker / Charlotte Fraczek

Entertainment Team

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