2018 BAFTA Games Nominations Revealed, Hellblade and Horizon: Zero Dawn Lead the Way

The nominations list for the British Academy Games Awards (BAFTA) in 2018 have been revealed, and interestingly Hellblade: Senua Sacrifice from UK-based independent studio Ninja Theory leads the pack appearing in over half of the 16 categories with nine nominations. Following behind is Sony and Guerrilla Game's Playstation 4 exclusive Horizon: Zero Dawn with eight nominations and What Remains of Edith Finch from another independent studio in the form of Giant Sparrow, with seven nominations.

A grand total of 45 games have been recognized and celebrated for this year's awards. Additionally, this year also introduces a new category dubbed Games Beyond Entertainment, a category that recognizes games that explore social issues and deliver "transformational" experiences.

As for the grand-daddy award of the night, "Best Game," the following titles have been nominated: Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice, Horizon: Zero Dawn, What Remains of Edith Finch, Super Mario Odyssey, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, and Assassin's Creed: Origins. Interestingly, Nintendo leads the way with two nominations here, while Sony, Ubisoft, Annapurna Interactive/Giant Sparrow, and Ninja Theory all have one nomination. Notable exclusions from the category, include NieR: Automata, Cuphead, Wolfenstein: The New Colossus, Divinity: Original Sin II, Persona 5 (no nominations), and Injustice 2 (no nominations). This is not to say any of these games deserve to be on the list over another, but rather given their critical acclaim, a case could be made for any one of them being on there.

The ceremony will take place on April 12 at Troxy, London. Below, you can check out the full list of nominations:

ARTISTIC ACHIEVEMENT

• CUPHEAD Development Team - StudioMDHR Entertainment Inc./StudioMDHR Entertainment Inc.
• GOROGOA Development Team - Jason Roberts, Buried Signal/Annapurna Interactive
• HELLBLADE: SENUA'S SACRIFICE Development Team - Ninja Theory Ltd/ Ninja Theory Ltd
• HORIZON ZERO DAWN Development Team – Guerrilla/Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe
• THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: BREATH OF THE WILD Development Team - Nintendo EPD/Nintendo
• UNCHARTED: THE LOST LEGACY Development Team - Naughty Dog/Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe

AUDIO ACHIEVEMENT

• CALL OF DUTY: WORLD WAR II Development Team - Sledgehammer Games/Activision
• DESTINY 2 Development Team – Bungie/Activision
• HELLBLADE: SENUA'S SACRIFICE David Garcia Diaz - Ninja Theory Ltd/ Ninja Theory Ltd
• HORIZON ZERO DAWN Development Team – Guerrilla/Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe
• STAR WARS BATTLEFRONT II Development Team – DICE/Electronic Arts
• UNCHARTED: THE LOST LEGACY Development Team - Naughty Dog/Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe

BEST GAME

• ASSASSIN'S CREED ORIGINS Development Team - Ubisoft Montreal/ Ubisoft
• HELLBLADE: SENUA'S SACRIFICE Development Team - Ninja Theory Ltd/ Ninja Theory Ltd
• HORIZON ZERO DAWN Development Team – Guerrilla/Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe
• THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: BREATH OF THE WILD Development Team - Nintendo EPD/Nintendo
• SUPER MARIO ODYSSEY Development Team - Nintendo EPD/Nintendo
• WHAT REMAINS OF EDITH FINCH Development Team - Giant Sparrow/Annapurna Interactive

BRITISH GAME

• HELLBLADE: SENUA'S SACRIFICE Development Team - Ninja Theory Ltd/ Ninja Theory Ltd
• MONUMENT VALLEY 2 Development Team - ustwo games/ustwo games
• REIGNS: HER MAJESTY Leigh Alexander, François Alliot, Arnaud De Bock - Nerial Ltd/ Devolver Digital
• THE SEXY BRUTALE Charles Griffiths, James Griffiths, Tom Lansdale - Cavalier Game Studios and Tequila Works/ Tequila Works
• SNIPER ELITE 4 Development Team – Rebellion/ Rebellion
  TOTAL WAR: WARHAMMER II Development Team - Creative Assembly/ SEGA

DEBUT GAME

• CUPHEAD Development Team - StudioMDHR Entertainment Inc./StudioMDHR Entertainment Inc.
• GOROGOA Development Team - Jason Roberts, Buried Signal/Annapurna Interactive
• HOLLOW KNIGHT Development Team - Team Cherry/Team Cherry
• NIGHT IN THE WOODS Scott Benson, Alec Holowka, Bethany Hockenberry – InfiniteFall/Finji
• THE SEXY BRUTALE Charles Griffiths, James Griffiths, Tom Lansdale - Cavalier Game Studios and Tequila Works/Tequila Works
• SLIME RANCHER Development Team - Monomi Park/Monomi Park

EVOLVING GAME

• CLASH ROYALE Development Team – Supercell/ Supercell
• FINAL FANTASY XV Hajime Tabata – Square Enix/ Square Enix
• FORTNITE Development Team – Epic Games/ Epic Games
• OVERWATCH Development Team – Blizzard Entertainment/ Blizzard Entertainment
• PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS Development Team - PUBG Corp/ Bluehole, Inc.
• TOM CLANCY'S RAINBOW SIX SIEGE Development Team - Ubisoft Montreal/ Ubisoft

FAMILY

• JUST DANCE 2018 Development Team - Ubisoft Paris/ Ubisoft
• LEGO WORLDS Development Team - TT Games/ WB Games
• MARIO + RABBIDS KINGDOM BATTLE Development Team – Ubisoft/ Ubisoft
• MONUMENT VALLEY 2 Development Team - ustwo games/ustwo games
• SNIPPERCLIPS Development Team - SFB Games/ Nintendo
• SUPER MARIO ODYSSEY Development Team - Nintendo EPD/Nintendo

GAME BEYOND ENTERTAINMENT

• BURY ME, MY LOVE Development Team - The Pixel Hunt & Fig/ ARTE & Playdius
• HELLBLADE: SENUA'S SACRIFICE Development Team - Ninja Theory Ltd/ Ninja Theory Ltd
• LAST DAY OF JUNE Massimo Guarini, Elia Randon, Andrew Thompson – Ovosonico/505 Games
• LIFE IS STRANGE: BEFORE THE STORM Development Team - Deck Nine Games, Square Enix/Square Enix
• NIGHT IN THE WOODS Scott Benson, Alec Holowka, Bethany Hockenberry – InfiniteFall/ Finji
• SEA HERO QUEST VR Matthew Hyde, Max Scott-Slade, Hugo Scott-Slade – Glitchers/ Glitchers

GAME DESIGN

• ASSASSIN'S CREED ORIGINS Development Team - Ubisoft Montreal/ Ubisoft
• HORIZON ZERO DAWN Development Team – Guerrilla/Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe
• THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: BREATH OF THE WILD Development Team - Nintendo EPD/Nintendo
• NIER AUTOMATA Development Team - Platinum Games; Square Enix/ Square Enix
• SUPER MARIO ODYSSEY Development Team - Nintendo EPD/Nintendo
• WHAT REMAINS OF EDITH FINCH Development Team - Giant Sparrow/Annapurna Interactive

GAME INNOVATION

• GOROGOA Development Team - Jason Roberts, Buried Signal/Annapurna Interactive
• HELLBLADE: SENUA'S SACRIFICE Development Team - Ninja Theory Ltd/ Ninja Theory Ltd
• THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: BREATH OF THE WILD Development Team - Nintendo EPD/Nintendo
• NIER AUTOMATA Development Team - Platinum Games; Square Enix/Square Enix
• SNIPPERCLIPS Development Team - SFB Games/Nintendo
  WHAT REMAINS OF EDITH FINCH Development Team - Giant Sparrow/Annapurna Interactive

MOBILE GAME

• BURY ME, MY LOVE Development Team - The Pixel Hunt & Fig/ ARTE & Playdius
• GOLF CLASH Paul Gouge, Alex Rigby, Gareth Jones – Playdemic/Playdemic
• GOROGOA Development Team - Jason Roberts, Buried Signal/Annapurna Interactive
• KAMI 2 Development Team - State of Play/State of Play
• MONUMENT VALLEY 2 Development Team - ustwo games/ustwo games
• STRANGER THINGS: THE GAME Development Team - BonusXP, Inc./BonusXP, Inc.

MULTIPLAYER

• DIVINITY: ORIGINAL SIN 2 Development Team - Larian Studios/ Larian Studios Games
• FORTNITE Development Team – Epic Games/ Epic Games
• GANG BEASTS Development Team – Boneloaf/ Double Fine Productions
• PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS Development Team - PUBG Corp/ Bluehole, Inc.
• SPLATOON 2 Development Team - Nintendo EPD/Nintendo
• STAR TREK BRIDGE CREW Development Team - Red Storm Entertainment/ Ubisoft

MUSIC

• CUPHEAD Development Team - StudioMDHR Entertainment Inc./StudioMDHR Entertainment Inc.
• GET EVEN Development Team – The Farm 51/ Bandai Namco Entertainment Europe
• HELLBLADE: SENUA'S SACRIFICE David Garcia Diaz, Andy LaPlegua - Ninja Theory Ltd/ Ninja Theory Ltd
• HORIZON ZERO DAWN Development Team – Guerrilla/Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe
• THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: BREATH OF THE WILD Development Team - Nintendo EPD/Nintendo
• WHAT REMAINS OF EDITH FINCH Jeff Russo - Giant Sparrow/Annapurna Interactive

NARRATIVE

• HELLBLADE: SENUA'S SACRIFICE Tameem Antoniades - Ninja Theory Ltd/ Ninja Theory Ltd
• HORIZON ZERO DAWN Development Team – Guerrilla/Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe
• NIGHT IN THE WOODS Scott Benson, Alec Holowka, Bethany Hockenberry – InfiniteFall/ Finji
• TACOMA Steve Gaynor, Karla Zimonja – Fullbright/ Fullbright
• WHAT REMAINS OF EDITH FINCH Development Team - Giant Sparrow/Annapurna Interactive
• WOLFENSTEIN II: THE NEW COLOSSUS Jens Matthies, Tommy Tordsson Björk, Tom Keegan - Machine Games/ Bethesda

ORIGINAL PROPERTY

• CUPHEAD Chad Moldenhauer, Jared Moldenhauer - StudioMDHR Entertainment Inc./StudioMDHR Entertainment Inc.
• GOROGOA Development Team - Jason Roberts, Buried Signal/Annapurna Interactive
• HORIZON ZERO DAWN Development Team – Guerrilla/Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe
• NIGHT IN THE WOODS Scott Benson, Alec Holowka, Bethany Hockenberry – InfiniteFall/ Finji
• PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS Development Team - PUBG Corp/ Bluehole, Inc.
• WHAT REMAINS OF EDITH FINCH Development Team - Giant Sparrow/Annapurna Interactive

PERFORMER

• ABUBAKAR SALIM as Bayek in Assassin's Creed Origins
• ASHLY BURCH as Aloy in Horizon Zero Dawn
• CLAUDIA BLACK as Chloe Frazer in Uncharted: The Lost Legacy
• LAURA BAILEY as Nadine Ross in Uncharted: The Lost Legacy
• MELINA JUERGENS as Senua in Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice
• VALERIE ROSE LOHMAN as Edith Finch in What Remains of Edith Finch