Tinshui Yeung
Reporting from the Baftas

Image source, PA Media

It’s been a lively night at Queen Elizabeth Hall - a bit of glitz, a bit of grit, and plenty for the gaming world to chew over.

The red carpet saw big names and bright minds from across the industry, smiling through what’s proving to be a rough patch - layoffs and studio closures are far from over.

But tonight was about celebration.

Astro Bot, the 3D platformer from Japan’s Team Asobi, swept in and stayed on top, bagging the coveted best game award.

Meanwhile Still Wakes the Deep, a horror title from Brighton’s The Chinese Room, picked up three prizes - landing firmly in second place.

And the surprises? Despite receiving 11 nominations, Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II walked away with just one trophy, the technical achievement award.

Black Myth: Wukong - with six nods and a recent Golden Joystick ultimate game of the year win to its name - left empty-handed.

Perhaps this is because gaming is a form of art, and art’s subjective. But what tonight proves is the industry’s still brimming with variety, and that’s what keeps players coming back for more.

We're closing our live coverage now - for more you can read a full recap of tonight's events from my colleague Tom Richardson here.

Tinshui Yeung
Reporting from the Baftas

Yoko Shimomura, this year’s Bafta fellowship winner, tells me she nearly cried watching a montage of her past video game work during tonight's ceremony.

When Shimomura was told she’d won the award, her first thought was: “Why me?”, she says.

It wasn’t until she went to London, stood on stage, saw the standing ovation, the cheers and applause, that it hit her - it really was for her.

Much of Shimomura's work has been composing music for games labelled as JRPGs - Japanese role-playing games - a tag many Japanese developers find awkward. To them, they’re just making role-playing games, why the extra label?

For Shimomura, she believes game music is indeed rooted in culture, with different countries producing different styles.

“But still, I think there's something fundamental that doesn't change between countries," she says.

Well there you have it, this year's Bafta Games Awards are officially over. In case you missed anything - here's a quick recap of tonight's winners:

• Animation - Astro Bot
• Artistic achievement - Neva
• Audio achievement - Astro Bot
• Best game - Astro Bot
• British game - Thank Goodness You're Here!
• Debut game - Balatro
• Evolving game - Vampire Survivors
• Family - Astro Bot
• Fellowship - Yoko Shimomura
• Game beyond entertainment - Tales of Kenzera: Zau
• Game design - Astro Bot
• Multiplayer - Helldivers 2
• Music - Helldivers 2
• Narrative - Metaphor: ReFantazio
• New intellectual property - Still Wakes the Deep
• Performer in a leading role - Alec Newman (Still Wakes the Deep)
• Performer in a supporting role - Karen Dunbar (Still Wakes the Deep)
• Technical achievement - Senua's Saga: Hellblade II

All night you've been sending us comments on your favourite games from the past year - here's one more before we sign off for the night:

I’m not surprised with how well Astro Bot has performed tonight. Not only does it capture a sense of nostalgia with its innovative platforming and charming design, but it also stands as a testament to the evolution of gaming that began with the early days of PlayStation. Without that heritage, Astro Bot wouldn’t exist! Charlie, Manchester

Tinshui Yeung
Reporting from the Baftas

Image source, Sony/ Team Asobi

Astro Bot has scooped up top prizes at both the Bafta Games Awards and The Game Awards. Safe to say, it’s now officially recognised as the best game of 2024. What’s striking is how simple it is.

No deep dive into the human condition, no ground-breaking gameplay, no cultural deep roots.

Just a funny, charming platformer that the whole family can enjoy – which is probably why it also picked up the family game award.

It’s a cheerful reminder that gaming doesn’t always need to be profound. Sometimes, it’s just about having fun.

Image source, Baftas

Tonight's top prize goes to, you've guessed it... Astro Bot wins it's fifth award of the night!

As well as taking home the top prize tonight, it also won Game of the Year at December’s Game Awards.

The fourth-wall breaking premise sees a PlayStation 5 (PS5) spaceship crash on a desert planet, scattering hundreds of astro bots, the console’s mascot, into various platformer worlds - we spotlighted the game earlier.

After gathering XP all night, we’ve finally unlocked the best game category. We’ve been spotlighting these games throughout the evening, but as a reminder, the nominees are:

• Astro Bot
• Balatro
• Black Myth: Wukong
• Helldivers 2
• The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom
• Thank Goodness You’re Here

Alec Newman has won best performer in a leading role for his performance as Caz in Still Wakes the Deep.

He says he can't believe he's here tonight, and that he couldn't possibly follow Karen Dunbar's speech.

This is award number three aboard the Scottish oil rig, and a clean sweep across the actor categories after Dunbar won best supporting actor.

The nominees were:

• Alec Newman as Caz in Still Wakes the Deep
• Humberly González as Kay Vess in Star Wars Outlaws
• Isabella Inchbald as Indika in Indika
• Luke Roberts as James Sunderland in Silent Hill 2
• Melina Juergens as Sensua in Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II
• Y’lan Noel as Troy Mashall in Call of Duty: Black Ops 6

Image source, Baftas

Wilbert Roget II, Ross Tregenza, Keith Leary win the best music award for their work on Helldivers 2!

It's the second award for the game tonight - having already picked up best multiplayer.

Last year’s *other* surprise breakout hit story, this co-operative multiplayer online shooter was a smash hit upon its release.

Helldivers 2’s music is gloriously over-the-top and orchestrally patriotic - a perfect match for the game’s tongue-in-cheek nature.

This award is all about the score - no, not that, the musical score. The nominees are:

• Astro Bot
• Black Myth: Wukong
• Final Fantasy VII Rebirth
• Helldivers 2
• Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II
• Star Wars Outlaws

Throughout tonight's ceremony we've been hearing from you about your favourite games from the past year - here's some of your comments:

Game of the year: PowerWash Simulator from FuturLab.Andi, Sunderland

Definitely Helldivers II as my pick for game of the year. Really fun to play with friends, the wider community is really whimsical and silly, and have somewhat transcended the game itself. The game itself is very immersive, with an excellent score. Relationship between the community and the developers has been strained at times... but recently the devs have taken player feedback on board in a big way and as a result it's more fun than ever to play. Ibrahim Yassin, Newport

Great to see Shenmue win the public poll for most influential game of all time. So many modern AAA titles borrow from it and it set the groundwork for modern day open world. Also great that Astro Bot has done so well. We need more games like that.Sonic Boom

Image source, Getty Images

As Yoko Shimomura is announced as recipient of the Bafta fellowship, we are treated to a slideshow of some of her most iconic melodies - from Super Mario to Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy to Xenoblade, which has us swaying along in our seats.

Shimomura accepts her award to a standing ovation and is grinning from ear to ear.

She says she is nervous to be here, but that it is a great honour - she talks about the emotional journey of music and how she often enters a trance-like state, where music totally absorbs her.

We covered Shimomura's legacy a little bit earlier.

Tinshui Yeung
Reporting from the Baftas

Astro Bot is quietly turning into a bit of a Bafta heavyweight, already bagging four awards.

It also cleaned up at The Game Awards last year, walking away with four trophies there too – including the big one: Game of the Year.

Get to know this game more from this piece: Astro Bot: Could the old-school hit reshape PS5's future?

Image source, Getty Images

Diverting from the ceremony for a brief moment for this very important news update.

Harry Potter co-stars Katie Leung (Cho Chang) and Matthew Lewis (Neville Longbottom) are both at the awards tonight and have caught up backstage.

Lewis just presented the game design award, and earlier we saw Leung hand out the best supporting actor trophy.

Image source, Baftas

Picking up its first award of the night is Balatro with the trophy for best debut game!

It's last year’s break-out indie success.

Developed by a lone, Canadian developer known only as LocalThunk, Balatro is a poker-inspired card game with a lo-fi appearance and fiendishly addictive gameplay loop.

Praised for its innovative, original gameplay, it had shifted 5 million copies as of January 2025. It was recently the big winner at the Game Developer’s Conference Awards.

Actor Ben Starr, dressed in full Jimbo gear, takes to the stage to collect this award on behalf of the anonymous developer.

The debut game awards is up - this one goes to a game that is the first to be released by a studio or individual. The nominees are:

• Animal Well
• Balatro
• Pacific Drive
• The Plucky Squire
• Tales of Kenzera: ZAU
• Thank Goodness You’re Here

Team Asobi should have worn their athletic gear tonight - they may as well be on the stairmaster for all the times they're popping up to accept awards!

This one is all about how a game captivates and engages the player. The nominees are:

• Animal Well
• Astro Bot
• Balatro
• Helldivers 2
• The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom
• Tactical Breach Wizards

Image source, Baftas

And the artistic achievement award goes to Neva!

From Spanish outfit Nomada Studio, the game is a sequel to its 2018 hit Gris.

Players guide warrior Alba and her wolf companion Neva through a gorgeously-realised 2D landscape on their quest to cleanse the world of darkness.

Neva was praised for its visuals, music, and heart-breaking story.

This one goes out to the most exceptional visual art. And the nominees are:

• Astro Bot
• Black Myth: Wukong
• Harold Halibut
• Neva
• Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II
• Still Wakes the Deep