British Academy Games Award for Narrative

British Academy Games Award for Narrative
British Academy Games Award for Narrative
Awarded for	The best story or narrative for a game
Country	United Kingdom
Presented by	British Academy of Film and Television Arts
Currently held by	Immortality – Sam Barlow, Amelia Gray, Allan Scott
Website	www.bafta.org/games

The British Academy Video Games Award for Narrative is an award presented annually by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA). It is given to recognize "excellence in the creation and delivery of the best story or narrative that captivates and engages the player".^[1] The award is given to the writers/development team, the developer and the publisher of the winning game. The award was first presented at the 3rd British Academy Games Awards under the name Screenplay. The following year it was renamed into Story and Character. From the 6th edition to the 12th, it was presented as Story. Since the 13th British Academy Games Awards, it has been presented with its current name.

Naughty Dog and Santa Monica Studio are the only developers with two wins in the category, while Ubisoft Montreal are the developer with the most nominations without a win, with five. Among publishers, Sony Interactive Entertainment has a leading nineteen nominations, with six wins. Bethesda Softworks, Ubisoft and Electronic Arts are tied for most nominations without a win, with seven each. To date, two writers (Neil Druckmann and Cory Barlog) have won the BAFTA twice for their work on The Last of Us and God of War franchises respectively. With three nominations, Tim Schafer is the most nominated writer without a win.

The current holders of the award are Sam Barlow, Amelia Gray and Allan Scott, writers of Immortality by Half Mermaid Productions, which won at the 19th British Academy Games Awards in 2023.

Winners and nominees[edit]

In the following table, the years are listed as per BAFTA convention, and generally correspond to the year of game release in the United Kingdom.

Table key
	Indicates the winner

Year	Game	Recipient(s)	Developer(s)	Publisher(s)	Ref.
2005/06 (3rd)	Psychonauts		Double Fine Productions	Majesco Entertainment	^[2]
	24: The Game		SCE Studio Cambridge	Sony Computer Entertainment Europe
	Rogue Trooper		Rebellion Developments	Eidos Interactive
	Tomb Raider: Legend		Crystal Dynamics	Eidos Interactive
	The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion		Bethesda Game Studios	Bethesda Softworks
	Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter		Ubisoft Paris	Ubisoft
2006/07 (4th)	God of War II	Cory Barlog, James Barlog and Marianne Krawczyk	Santa Monica Studio	Sony Computer Entertainment	^[3]
	Final Fantasy XII	Daisuke Watanabe, Miwa Shoda and Yasumi Matsuno	Square Enix
	Heavenly Sword	Tameem Antoniades, Rhianna Pratchett and Andrew S. Walsh	Ninja Theory	Sony Computer Entertainment
	Ōkami	Hideki Kamiya	Clover Studio	Capcom
	The Darkness	Denby Grace, Lars Johansson, Jerk Gustafsson	Starbreeze Studios	2K Games
	The Simpsons Game	Matt Selman, Scot Amos	EA Redwood Shores	Electronic Arts
2007/08 (5th)	Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare		Infinity Ward	Activision	^[4]^[5]
	Assassin's Creed	Jade Raymond, Patrice Desilets, Claude Langlais	Ubisoft Montreal	Ubisoft
	Fable II		Lionhead Studios	Microsoft Game Studios
	Mass Effect	Casey Hudson, Drew Karpyshyn, Derek Watts	BioWare	Microsoft Game Studios
	Fallout 3	Todd Howard, Emil Pagliarulo	Bethesda Game Studios	Bethesda Softworks
	Grand Theft Auto IV		Rockstar North	Rockstar Games
2009 (6th)	Uncharted 2: Among Thieves		Naughty Dog	Sony Computer Entertainment	^[6]
	Assassin's Creed II	Corey May, Joshua Rubin, Jeffrey Yohalem	Ubisoft Montréal	Ubisoft
	Batman: Arkham Asylum		Rocksteady Studios	Eidos Interactive and Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
	Broken Sword: Shadow of the Templars – The Director's Cut	Charles Cecil, Neil Richards, Tony Warriner	Revolution Software	Ubisoft
	Brütal Legend	Tim Schafer	Double Fine Productions	Electronic Arts
	Dragon Age: Origins	Ray Muzyka, Greg Zeschuk, Mike Laidlaw	BioWare	Electronic Arts
2010 (7th)	Heavy Rain	David Cage, Guillaume de Fondaumiere, Scott Johnson	Quantic Dream	Sony Computer Entertainment	^[7]
	Alan Wake		Remedy Entertainment	Microsoft Game Studios
	BioShock 2	Jordan Thomas, Zak McClendon	2K Marin	2K Games
	Call of Duty: Black Ops	Dave Anthony, Craig Houston	Treyarch	Activision
	Fallout: New Vegas	John Gonzalez, Eric Fenstermaker, Travis Stout	Obsidian Entertainment	Bethesda Softworks
	Mass Effect 2		BioWare	Electronic Arts
2011 (8th)	Portal 2		Valve Corporation		^[8]
	Batman: Arkham City		Rocksteady Studios	Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
	Deus Ex: Human Revolution	Jean-François Dugas, Marie DeMarle, James Swallow	Eidos-Montréal	Square Enix Europe
	L.A. Noire	Brendan McNamara	Team Bondi	Rockstar Games
	The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim	Todd Howard	Bethesda Game Studios	Bethesda Softworks
	Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception		Naughty Dog	Sony Computer Entertainment
2012 (9th)	The Walking Dead		Telltale Games		^[9]
	Journey		thatgamecompany	Sony Computer Entertainment
	Far Cry 3	Jeffrey Yohalem, Lucien Soulban, Li Kuo	Ubisoft Montréal	Ubisoft
	Dishonored		Arkane Studios	Bethesda Softworks
	Mass Effect 3	Mac Walters	BioWare	Electronic Arts
	Thomas Was Alone	Mike Bithell	Mike Bithell
2013 (10th)	The Last of Us	Bruce Straley, Neil Druckmann	Naughty Dog	Sony Computer Entertainment	^[10]
	The Stanley Parable		Galactic Cafe
	Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch	Akihiro Hino	Level-5	Namco Bandai Games
	Grand Theft Auto V	Dan Houser, Rupert Humphries	Rockstar North	Rockstar Games
	Gone Home		Fullbright
	Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons		Starbreeze Studios	505 Games
2014 (11th)	The Last of Us: Left Behind	Neil Druckmann	Naughty Dog	Sony Computer Entertainment Europe	^[11]^[12]
	80 Days	Joseph Humfrey, Jon Ingold, Meg Jayanth	Inkle
	Broken Age	Tim Schafer	Double Fine Productions
	Far Cry 4	Mark Thompson, Lucien Soulban, Li Kuo	Ubisoft Montréal	Ubisoft
	The Wolf Among Us		Telltale Games
	Never Alone (Kisima Inŋitchuŋa)		Upper One Games	E-Line Media
2015 (12th)	Life Is Strange		Dontnod Entertainment	Square Enix Europe	^[13]^[14]
	Everybody's Gone to the Rapture		The Chinese Room	Sony Computer Entertainment
	Until Dawn		Supermassive Games	Sony Computer Entertainment
	Her Story	Sam Barlow	Sam Barlow
	Undertale		Toby Fox
	The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt		CD Projekt Red	CD Projekt
2016 (13th)	Inside	Arnt Jensen	Playdead		^[15]^[16]
	Dishonored 2		Arkane Studios	Bethesda Softworks
	Firewatch		Campo Santo	Panic
	Mafia III		Hangar 13	2K Games
	Oxenfree		Night School Studio
	Uncharted 4: A Thief's End	Neil Druckmann, Josh Scherr	Naughty Dog	Sony Interactive Entertainment
2017 (14th)	Night in the Woods	Scott Benson, Alec Holowka, Bethany Hockenberry	Infinite Fall	Finji	^[17]
	Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice	Tameem Antoniades	Ninja Theory
	Horizon Zero Dawn		Guerrilla Games	Sony Interactive Entertainment
	Tacoma	Steve Gaynor, Karla Zimonia	Fullbright
	What Remains of Edith Finch		Giant Sparrow	Annapurna Interactive
	Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus	Jens Matthies, Tommy Tordsson Björk, Tom Keegan	MachineGames	Bethesda Softworks
2018 (15th)	God of War	Cory Barlog, Matt Sophos, Richard Zangrande Gaubert	Santa Monica Studio	Sony Interactive Entertainment	^[18]
	Florence		Mountains	Annapurna Interactive
	Frostpunk		11 bit studios
	Marvel's Spider-Man		Insomniac Games	Sony Interactive Entertainment
	Red Dead Redemption 2	Dan Houser, Rupert Humphries, Michael Unsworth	Rockstar Games
	Return of the Obra Dinn	Lucas Pope	Lucas Pope
2019 (16th)	Disco Elysium		ZA/UM		^[19]^[20]
	Control		Remedy Entertainment	505 Games
	Life Is Strange 2		Dontnod Entertainment	Square Enix
	Outer Wilds		Mobius Digital	Annapurna Interactive
	The Outer Worlds		Obsidian Entertainment	Private Division
	Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order	Aaron Contreras, Matt Michnovetz, Stig Asmussen	Respawn Entertainment	Electronic Arts
2020 (17th)	Hades	Greg Kasavin	Supergiant Games		^[21]^[22]
	Assassin's Creed Valhalla		Ubisoft Montreal	Ubisoft
	Cyberpunk 2077		CD Projekt Red	CD Projekt
	Ghost of Tsushima	Nate Fox, Ian Ryan, Writing Team	Sucker Punch Productions	Sony Interactive Entertainment
	Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales		Insomniac Games	Sony Interactive Entertainment
	Kentucky Route Zero: TV Edition		Cardboard Computer	Annapurna Interactive
2021 (18th)	Unpacking	Wren Brier, Tim Dawson, Annie VanderMeer	Witch Beam	Humble Bundle	^[23]^[24]
	It Takes Two		Hazelight Studios	Electronic Arts
	Life Is Strange: True Colors		Deck Nine	Square Enix
	Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy		Eidos-Montréal	Square Enix
	Psychonauts 2	Tim Schafer	Double Fine	Xbox Game Studios
	Returnal		Housemarque	Sony Interactive Entertainment
2023 (20th)	Baldur's Gate 3		Larian Studios		^[25]
	Alan Wake 2		Remedy Entertainment	Epic Games
	Dredge	Joel Mason, Alex Ritchie, Nadia Thorne	Black Salt Games	Team17
	Final Fantasy XVI	Kazutoyo Maehiro, Michael-Christopher Koji Fox	Square Enix Creative Business Unit III	Square Enix
	The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom		Nintendo EPD	Nintendo
	Star Wars Jedi: Survivor		Respawn Entertainment	Electronic Arts

Note: The games that don't have recipients on the table had Development Team or Writing Team credited on the awards page.

Multiple nominations and wins[edit]

Writers[edit]

Developer	Nominations	Wins
Neil Druckmann	3	2
Tim Schafer	3	0
Cory Barlog	2	2
Dan Houser	2	0
Jeffrey Yohalem	2	0
Li Kuo	2	0
Lucien Soulban	2	0
Matt Sophos	2	1
Richard Gaubert	2	1
Rupert Humphries	2	0
Sam Barlow	2	1
Tameem Antoniades	2	0
Todd Howard	2	0

Developers[edit]

Developer	Nominations	Wins
Naughty Dog	5	2
Ubisoft Montreal	5	0
BioWare	4	0
Double Fine	4	1
Bethesda Game Studios	3	0
Obsidian Entertainment	3	0
Remedy Entertainment	3	0
Santa Monica Studio	3	2
Arkane Studios	2	0
CD Projekt Red	2	0
Don't Nod	2	1
Eidos-Montréal	2	0
Fullbright	2	0
Insomniac Games	2	0
Ninja Theory	2	0
Respawn Entertainment	2	0
Rockstar North	2	0
Rocksteady Studios	2	0
Starbreeze Studios	2	0
Telltale Games	2	1

Publishers[edit]

Developer	Nominations	Wins
Sony Computer/Interactive Entertainment	19	6
Electronic Arts	8	0
Bethesda Softworks	7	0
Square Enix	7	0
Ubisoft	7	0
Annapurna Interactive	5	0
Microsoft/Xbox Game Studios	5	0
Rockstar Games	4	0
2k Games	3	0
505 Games	2	0
Activision	2	1
CD Projekt	2	0
Eidos Interactive	2	0
Warner Bros Interactive	2	0

References[edit]

^ "BAFTA Games Awards Rules and Guidelines 2022" (PDF). British Academy of Film and Television Arts. Retrieved 11 February 2023.
^ "Games in 2006". BAFTA Awards. British Academy of Film and Television Arts. Retrieved 14 March 2015.
^ "Games in 2007". BAFTA Awards. British Academy of Film and Television Arts. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 14 March 2015.
^ "Games in 2009". BAFTA Awards. British Academy of Film and Television Arts. Retrieved 14 March 2015.
^ Beaument, Claudine (2009-02-10). "Bafta video games nominations announced". telegraph.co.uk. Archived from the original on 14 February 2009. Retrieved 2009-03-11.
^ "Games in 2010". BAFTA Awards. British Academy of Film and Television Arts. Retrieved 14 March 2015.
^ "Games in 2011". BAFTA Awards. British Academy of Film and Television Arts. Retrieved 14 March 2015.
^ "Games in 2012". BAFTA Awards. British Academy of Film and Television Arts. Retrieved 14 March 2015.
^ "Games in 2013". BAFTA Awards. British Academy of Film and Television Arts. Archived from the original on 13 April 2016. Retrieved 14 March 2015.
^ "Games in 2014". BAFTA Awards. British Academy of Film and Television Arts. Retrieved 14 March 2015.
^ "Games in 2015". BAFTA Awards. British Academy of Film and Television Arts. Retrieved 14 March 2015.
^ Karmali, Luke (10 February 2015). "BAFTA Games Awards 2015 Nominees Revealed". IGN. Retrieved 14 March 2015.
^ "British Academy Games Awards Winners in 2016". BAFTA.org. 10 March 2016. Retrieved 8 April 2016.
^ Skrebels, Joe (10 March 2016). "BAFTA Games Awards 2016 Nominees Revealed". IGN. Retrieved 10 March 2016.
^ "Games in 2017 | BAFTA Awards". awards.bafta.org. Retrieved 2017-03-24.
^ Erica Webber, Jordan (9 March 2017). "Bafta games awards 2017: Inside and Uncharted 4 lead the way". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 March 2017.
^ "Winners List for the British Academy Games Awards in 2018 (Plain Text) | BAFTA Awards". awards.bafta.org. 12 April 2018. Retrieved 2018-04-23.
^ "BAFTA Games Awards winners 2019". awards.bafta.org. 11 March 2019. Retrieved 2019-04-04.
^ "2020 BAFTA Games Awards: The Nominations". BAFTA. 3 March 2020. Retrieved 4 March 2020.
^ Powell, Steffan; Rahman-Jones, Imran (25 March 2021). "Bafta Games Awards 2021: Hades takes Best Game". BBC News. Retrieved 27 March 2021.
^ Ankers, Adele (March 2, 2021). "BAFTA Games Awards 2021 Nominations Announced". IGN. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on March 3, 2021. Retrieved March 3, 2021.
^ Del Rosario, Alexandra (25 March 2021). "BAFTA Games Awards: Supergiant Games' 'Hades' Takes Home Top Prize – Complete Winners List". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 25 March 2021.
^ "2022 BAFTA Games Awards Winners". 3 March 2022.
^ Julians, Joe (8 April 2022). "BAFTA Games Awards 2022: Full list of winners as Returnal wins Best Game". Radio Times. Retrieved 9 April 2022.
^ "20th BAFTA Games Awards: The Winners & Nominations". Retrieved 11 April 2024.

External links[edit]

Official website

[1] "BAFTA Games Awards Rules and Guidelines 2022" (PDF). British Academy of Film and Television Arts. Retrieved 11 February 2023.

[baftas2006-2] "Games in 2006". BAFTA Awards. British Academy of Film and Television Arts. Retrieved 14 March 2015.

[baftas2007-3] "Games in 2007". BAFTA Awards. British Academy of Film and Television Arts. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 14 March 2015.

[baftas2009-4] "Games in 2009". BAFTA Awards. British Academy of Film and Television Arts. Retrieved 14 March 2015.

[5] Beaument, Claudine (2009-02-10). "Bafta video games nominations announced". telegraph.co.uk. Archived from the original on 14 February 2009. Retrieved 2009-03-11.

[baftas2010-6] "Games in 2010". BAFTA Awards. British Academy of Film and Television Arts. Retrieved 14 March 2015.

[baftas2011-7] "Games in 2011". BAFTA Awards. British Academy of Film and Television Arts. Retrieved 14 March 2015.

[baftas2012-8] "Games in 2012". BAFTA Awards. British Academy of Film and Television Arts. Retrieved 14 March 2015.

[baftas2013-9] "Games in 2013". BAFTA Awards. British Academy of Film and Television Arts. Archived from the original on 13 April 2016. Retrieved 14 March 2015.

[baftas2014-10] "Games in 2014". BAFTA Awards. British Academy of Film and Television Arts. Retrieved 14 March 2015.

[baftas2015-11] "Games in 2015". BAFTA Awards. British Academy of Film and Television Arts. Retrieved 14 March 2015.

[12] Karmali, Luke (10 February 2015). "BAFTA Games Awards 2015 Nominees Revealed". IGN. Retrieved 14 March 2015.

[baftas2016-13] "British Academy Games Awards Winners in 2016". BAFTA.org. 10 March 2016. Retrieved 8 April 2016.

[14] Skrebels, Joe (10 March 2016). "BAFTA Games Awards 2016 Nominees Revealed". IGN. Retrieved 10 March 2016.

[15] "Games in 2017 | BAFTA Awards". awards.bafta.org. Retrieved 2017-03-24.

[16] Erica Webber, Jordan (9 March 2017). "Bafta games awards 2017: Inside and Uncharted 4 lead the way". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 March 2017.

[17] "Winners List for the British Academy Games Awards in 2018 (Plain Text) | BAFTA Awards". awards.bafta.org. 12 April 2018. Retrieved 2018-04-23.

[18] "BAFTA Games Awards winners 2019". awards.bafta.org. 11 March 2019. Retrieved 2019-04-04.

[19] "2020 BAFTA Games Awards: The Nominations". BAFTA. 3 March 2020. Retrieved 4 March 2020.

[20] Powell, Steffan; Rahman-Jones, Imran (25 March 2021). "Bafta Games Awards 2021: Hades takes Best Game". BBC News. Retrieved 27 March 2021.

[21] Ankers, Adele (March 2, 2021). "BAFTA Games Awards 2021 Nominations Announced". IGN. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on March 3, 2021. Retrieved March 3, 2021.

[22] Del Rosario, Alexandra (25 March 2021). "BAFTA Games Awards: Supergiant Games' 'Hades' Takes Home Top Prize – Complete Winners List". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 25 March 2021.

[23] "2022 BAFTA Games Awards Winners". 3 March 2022.

[24] Julians, Joe (8 April 2022). "BAFTA Games Awards 2022: Full list of winners as Returnal wins Best Game". Radio Times. Retrieved 9 April 2022.

[25] "20th BAFTA Games Awards: The Winners & Nominations". Retrieved 11 April 2024.

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v t e British Academy Games Awards
Categories	Best Game British Game Animation Artistic Achievement Audio Achievement Debut Game Evolving Game Family Game Beyond Entertainment Game Design Intellectual Property Multiplayer Music Narrative Performer Performer in a Leading Role Performer in a Supporting Role Technical Achievement EE Game of the Year Award BAFTA Fellowship
Ceremonies	2003 2004 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023