God of War Ragnarok leading 2023 BAFTA Games Award with 14 nominations

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The 2023 BAFTA Games Awards welcome God of War Ragnarok as their lead nominee this year, with nominations in 14 different categories. After announcing the nominees just yesterday, BAFTA will stream the awards on March 30.

With 14 nominations, Ragnarok is also the most nominated game in the Awards’ history. It is also in the running for EE Game of the Year, BAFTA’s only publicly-voted category, contending against titles like Elden Ring and Stray.

God of War Ragnarok is the eighth official entry into the God of War series. It is also the second title after the series departed from its Greek mythological roots to explore Norse mythology. Its direct predecessor, God of War 2018, won numerous BAFTA awards, including the Best Game title.

This year’s BAFTA Games Awards also feature a variety of titles from big and small developers. Some notable titles include Stray (eight nominations), Elden Ring (seven nominations), Citizen Sleeper (four nominations) and Cult of the Lamb (three nominations).

The 2023 BAFTA Games Awards also unveiled nominees for the Game Beyond Entertainment category, dedicated to games focusing on social issues plaguing the modern world. Endling – Extinction is Forever, Gibbon: Beyond the Trees, Not for Broadcast, We’ll Always Have Paris, I Was a Teenage Exocolonist and Citizen Sleeper are among the nominees for the category.

The award will take place in London at the Southbank Centre’s Queen Elizabeth Hall and will stream on the BAFTA’s official Twitch channel at 18.50 BST. Popular esports broadcaster Frankie Ward is set to host this year’s on-site ceremony, while the live-stream hosts will be confirmed in the coming weeks.

Other categories, nominations

The BAFTA Awards announced 18 different nomination categories for this year’s ceremony. God of War Ragnarok, Stray and Elden Ring lead the pack in major categories like Best Game and Technical Achievement, but there are several other notable nominations in various categories.

In the Best Game category, the prior three games are facing off against Marvel Snap, Cult of the Lamb and the sleeper hit Vampire Survivors, a simple roguelike shoot-em-up with Castlevania-inspired aesthetics.

The Animation category features God of War Ragnarok, Horizon Forbidden West, Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga, Stray, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and Sifu.

In the Artistic Achievement category, Elden Ring and God of War Ragnarok reappear to face off against A Plague Tale: Requiem, Immortality, Pentiment and Tunic.

In the Audio Achievement category, newer entries, including Metal: Hellsinger, appear alongside expected entries such as A Plague Tale: Requiem and Tunic. Stray and God of War Ragnarok also make a reappearance in this category.

The 2023 British Game category features a number of the more obscure but unique entries in this year’s ceremony, including Olliolli World and Rollerdrome. Total War: Warhammer III also makes an appearance alongside Citizen Sleeper and Vampire Survivor.

This year’s Game Design welcomes not only Best Games nominees like Ragnarok and Elden Ring but also games like Horizon Forbidden West and Tunic.

Some other notable nominees include Apex Legends and No Man’s Sky for Evolving Game, Overwatch 2 and Splatoon 3 for Multiplayer and Sifu for Original Property.