This award celebrates the most original or innovative game that is a new intellectual property - meaning it’s a new idea and not tied to an existing game or other franchise. The nominees are:

• Animal Well
• Balatro
• Black Myth: Wukong
• Metaphor: ReFantazio
• Still Wakes the Deep
• Thank Goodness You’re Here

Actress Anjali Bhimani - best known for her work on video games Overwatch and Apex Legends - takes to the stage to present the award.

Image source, Baftas

The first award of the night goes to Astro Bot!

The development team from Team Asobi is on stage to accept the award.

Developed by Sony’s in-house Team Asobi, this 3D platformer was one of 2024’s best-reviewed games. A follow-up to PlayStation 5 pack-in title Astro’s Playroom, it stars titular mascot character Astro Bot on a quest to rescue 300 little white robots trapped in various themed levels.

One of the standout features of Astro Bot’s audio is how cleverly it uses the DualSense controller. The speaker pumps out ambient sounds as your Astro trots around – think the swish of grass or the clang of metal underfoot. It adds a surprising layer of immersion, making you feel the textures your Astro is walking on.

This one judges how sound, dialogue and music work together in a game. The nominees are:

• Animal Well
• Astro Bot
• Helldivers 2
• Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II
• Star Wars Outlaws
• Still Wakes the Deep

Gabriel Luna and Isabela Merced from the Last of Us television series are here to present the award.

Image source, Baftas

Hosting the awards this year is "essentially a roguelite game for me", comedian Phil Wang says as he introduces tonight's ceremony.

"I come back again and again and have to do it all over from the start, but with experience I gained last time."

Wang - whose back hosting for a second year in a row - says he's like the just-announced Nintendo Switch 2: "Not noticeably better but I did charge a lot more this time".

Image source, Baftas

Welsh guitarist Peredur ap Gwynedd from Pendulum is opening the show with a medley of the band's iconic tracks including ‘Witchcraft,’ ‘Showdown,’ ‘Granite,’ ‘Propane Nightmares,’ ‘Blood Sugar,’ and ‘Watercolour.’

We're seeing at the same time snippets of iconic games over the past 20 years.

With tonight's awards just about to begin, you've been telling us all about your favourite games you've played over the last year:

Warhammer Age of Sigmar: Realms of Ruin. Definitely the best game.Janet

I’m so glad the Shenmue series is getting the praise it deserves in being voted as the most influential video games of all time. They really were revolutionary and opened the doors for all those that followed. Gaming would not be the same today without Shenmue. Play it and see for yourself!Chris Gibson, Liverpool

My favourite video game is Halo Infinite! I put over 1000 hours in to it! Craig Gilmore, Coleraine

The stars are settled inside and host Phil Wang will be pressing X to start tonight's awards ceremony at any moment now.

Our stream of the red carpet has now ended but we'll be bringing you updates on the awards ceremony as it happens, so stay with us.

Image source, LocalThunk

What on the surface just seems like a fresh take on poker, has morphed into one of the most successful video games of the past year.

Balatro tasks players with playing poker hands that reach a certain target score - simple right?

But as the game progresses you can pick up new cards, apply power-ups to your existing ones, and play jokers which can truly change the game.

Developed by anonymous indie creator LocalThunk, the game has proven easy to learn but hard to master, with players coming back time and time again to try to scratch that high score itch.

The breakout hit has already picked up a number of awards - including at last year’s Game Awards and Golden Joystick Awards - and is nominated for a handful more tonight.

Hellblade II has landed two nominations – but features three nominees. Confused?

Here’s why: one of the nods goes to a duo – Abbi Greenland and Helen Goalen – who together voice the Furies, the chaotic chorus inside Senua’s head.

A while back, the developer posted a short clip on X showing the pair in action, external.

Worth a watch – it’s a masterclass in eerie brilliance.

At the other end of the tonal spectrum, we’ve got Jon Blyth and Matt Berry, up for their work in Thank Goodness You’re Here! Set in a fictional northern English town, it’s a proper British comedy – just in video game form.

Tinshui Yeung
Reporting from the Baftas

It’s a red carpet moment with a cracking sunset and a solid dose of good vibes. The stars – and the brains behind some of the year’s best games – are chatting away, sounding hopeful and proud.

There’s a definite buzz around British games in particular. “British” is the word that keeps popping up in interviews, with many pointing out just how strong the UK presence is at this year’s Bafta.

The media scrum? Intense. It’s packed in here – I’ve been dodging cameras like I’m in Assassin’s Creed.

But the chaos is proof of something bigger: for one night a year, gaming takes centre stage. Not just as entertainment, but as culture. As art.

We’re heading into the hall now – the awards are about to kick off. Stick with us for all the winners.

Image source, Nintendo

Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom might not shout quite as loudly as Tears of the Kingdom, but it’s still a cracking good time.

For the first time, you play as Zelda herself (yes, for the uninitiated — Zelda’s the princess, not the bloke in green. That’s Link).

Echoes of Wisdom goes back to the series’ roots — think classic dungeon-crawling with a dash of 2D platforming nostalgia. But it’s not stuck in the past.

It borrows some of the best bits from Tears of the Kingdom — you can create objects and even summon creatures to help you along, making the puzzles feel fresh and genuinely clever.

There’s less sword-swinging and more brainpower involved than previous titles in the series.

It’s a welcome twist for a series that’s been adventuring since 1986.

Dive into our chat with series producer Eiji Aonuma and the game's directors, Tomomi Sano and Satoshi Terada here.

Let’s check out this year’s nominees for best performance.

Luke Roberts, who plays James Sunderland in Silent Hill 2, might also look familiar from Game of Thrones, where he was Ser Arthur Dayne.

Then there’s Alec Newman, nominated for Still Wakes The Deep. He’s known for playing Paul Atreides in SyFy’s Dune television series, and voiced Adam Smasher in both Cyberpunk 2077 and its animated spin-off, Cyberpunk: Edgerunners.

But being a seasoned pro doesn’t guarantee anything.

A serious contender is Melina Juergens, who already bagged a Bafta for the original Hellblade. Could she do the double with Hellblade II this year? Watch this space.

Andrew Rogers
BBC Newsbeat, reporting from the awards venue

Image source, Getty Images

This is the 21st time top bosses and talent from the world of video games have gathered for the Bafta Games Awards. Yes, part of the reason they happen is to celebrate and have fun.

But there's another layer. Games have always been a competitive and brutal business, and they’re only becoming more so. As the barriers to entry have fallen (just look at one of this year’s favourites, Balatro, made by just one developer), digital storefronts have become crowded. It’s easy to get lost.

People are also buying fewer new games, opting instead to sink more time into evolving or free-to-play titles that have been around for years. Minecraft, GTA V Online and Fortnite still host millions of players, often at the expense of new releases.

A Bafta win, or even just a nomination, can provide a moment in the spotlight that helps games get that flash of buyer consideration. Balatro’s developer has said he saw a sales spike after it was nominated at last year’s Game Awards in Los Angeles. When people only splash out on a few new games a year, it really helps to be able to say yours is award-winning.

Image source, Arrowhead Game Studios

What do you do when giant alien bugs - farmed for an element that allows lightspeed travel - and cyborgs - descendants from a civilisation defeated in war long ago - jointly threaten humanity?

You assemble an elite Helldivers force, of course.

Helldivers 2 is a third-person co-op shooter game from Arrowhead Game Studios which drops players onto alien planets tasked with defending against waves of enemies.

It cleaned up at the recent Game Awards, taking out best multiplayer, critics choice and console game of the year, but missed out on the top gong.

Can the team add best game to their trophy cabinet tonight?

We've been hearing from you all about your favourite games you've played over the last year:

I played an old PlayStation game called SOCOM, one of the first and best online multiplayer games - I wish they would remake it for the PS5, I don’t know why PlayStation don’t revive it!! I think one year I spent 500 hours playing it! Chris Berrow and Theo, watching the stream in the garden

Actor Ben Starr has just been spotted dressed as Jimbo, the jester from Balatro.

You'll know Ben from Final Fantasy XVI, but tonight, he's made his allegiances clear!

He tells the BBC: "I think it's a great game...it's testament to the fact that it's getting people video games who don't normally play video games".

Tinshui Yeung
Reporting from the Baftas

More now from Bafta chief executive Jane Millichip.

British games are having a bit of a moment at this year’s Bafta Games Awards - three of the six most-nominated titles were made in the UK. So what’s behind the success?

Millichip points to the sheer number and range of studios across the country - around 2,000 of them - from tiny indie outfits to big-budget AAA developers.

As for how events like this help the industry, she says they shine a light on gaming as part of the cultural conversation, not just a commercial juggernaut.

And what’s caught her eye personally? She’s backing Astro Bot, Balatro, Thank Goodness You’re Here and Vampire Therapist.

The winners of best game and best British game have been chosen by Bafta members - some 1,200 people who work in the games industry.

All the other awards have been selected by juries, which are small groups of Bafta members with direct experience of the category (like music or design).

The reason best game and best British game are chosen via an open vote is so that the votes represent all corners of the industry.

Image source, Game Science

Black Myth: Wukong is definitely one of the standout titles this year.

It’s picked up six Bafta nominations, including the best game – and it’s already got a hefty trophy cabinet.

Last year it scooped the Ultimate Game of the Year at the Golden Joystick Awards, among others.

The action role-playing game (ARPG) developed by the Chinese company Game Science draws its inspiration from the 16th Century Chinese novel, Journey to the West.

It's considered a rare instance of popular media showcasing Chinese stories to a global audience. However, the game hasn't been without controversy.

Many players were upset after Game Science sent them a list of topics to avoid while livestreaming, including “feminist propaganda, fetishisation, and other content that instigates negative discourse”.

Despite this, within 24 hours of its release, it became the second most-played game ever on the streaming platform Steam, with over 2.1 million concurrent players.

It has also shifted 20 million units in its first month, placing it among the fastest-selling games ever.

Read more about Black Myth’s controversy here.

It’s a fair question, especially given that Rebirth has been nominated for top honours at The Game Awards, the Game Developers Choice Awards and the Golden Joystick Awards.

At the Baftas, though, it’s only in the running for music and narrative.

Why? It’s not about the quality – it’s about the rules.

Remakes aren’t eligible for best game, and Rebirth is technically a remake of the 1997 original.

Fans will argue it’s barely a remake at all – the game is wildly different in scope and gameplay. But rules are rules, and this one’s not budging.