Bafta video games awards 2026: Clair Obscur and Dispatch lead the nominations | Games

The twenty second Bafta video games awards are arising in April, and the 2026 nominations listing is dominated by the impeccably fashionable French breakout hit Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 which has 12 nominations, and has already received sport of the yr prizes on the UK’s Golden Joysticks final November, December’s Game awards within the US and February’s Dice awards in Las Vegas.

Dispatch, a sport a few benched superhero roped into working a workforce of superpowered misfits at a name centre, has 9 nominations. Among them is a finest performer in a number one function nod for its star Aaron Paul, and one for Jeffrey Wright in a supporting function. Sony’s samurai epic Ghost of Yōtei got here out with eight nominations, together with finest sport and finest performer in a number one function for Erika Ishii, who performs Atsu.

Death Stranding 2: On the Beach, from Japan’s Kojima Productions, received seven nominations – however star Norman Reedus didn’t seem in the perfect performer class, regardless of being nominated for his function within the authentic Death Stranding in 2020.

Compared with different gaming awards ceremonies, lots of that are voted for by the general public, the panel-voted Bafta listing tends to appoint (and honour) a wider vary of video games. This yr, Ecuadorian football-memoir sport Despelote, autobiographical coming-of-age comedy Consume Me, the chic puzzle-box Blue Prince and a sport about dementia known as And Roger – all made by very small groups or led by solo builders – sit alongside blockbuster-budget video games corresponding to Xbox’s Indiana Jones and the Great Circle. The nominations listing contains 42 totally different video games in whole.

The video games within the “Game beyond entertainment” class, for video games that increase consciousness of essential points or experiences, are significantly numerous, originating in six totally different international locations. “This list shows that ‘beyond entertainment’ has gone well beyond a niche. It spans everything from intimate indie memoirs to blockbusters that all use games as a medium to make big human themes felt, not just watched,” Bafta video games chair Tara Saunders stated.

“An ever-present theme for each nominee is how these games don’t lecture. Instead they translate grief, care, identity, community and survival into interactive mechanics, so that understanding comes from doing. Their success is indicative of a growing trend of players seeking culturally specific stories that resonate … because of their authenticity.”

The finest sport class includes Indiana Jones and the Great Circle (launched in December 2024), Clair Obscur, multiplayer hit Arc Raiders, Blue Prince, Dispatch and Ghost of Yōtei. Notably absent is Hollow Knight: Silksong, a fiercely beloved fan favorite that has not discovered its means on to most of the massive gaming awards lists, regardless of successful the highest accolade ultimately yr’s player-voted Steam awards.

The ceremony will happen on 17 April in London, and can be livestreamed on Bafta’s YouTube channel.

The full nominations are under:

Animation

Battlefield 6
Death Stranding 2: On the Beach
Dispatch
Ghost of Yōtei
Hades II
Hollow Knight: Silksong

Artistic achievement

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
Death Stranding 2: On the Beach
Dispatch
Ghost of Yōtei
Hollow Knight: Silksong
South of Midnight

Audio achievement

Arc Raiders
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
Death Stranding 2: On the Beach
Dispatch
Ghost of Yōtei
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle

Best sport

Arc Raiders
Blue Prince
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
Dispatch
Ghost of Yōtei
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle

British sport

Atomfall
Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector
Mafia: The Old Country
Monument Valley 3
PowerWash Simulator 2
Two Point Museum

Debut sport

Blue Prince
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
Consume Me
Despelote
Dispatch
The Midnight Walk

Evolving sport

Fallout 76
Helldivers 2
Hitman: World of Assassination
No Man’s Sky
Vampire Survivors
Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2

Family

Donkey Kong Bananza
Is This Seat Taken?
Lego Party!
Mario Kart World
PowerWash Simulator 2
Two Point Museum

Game past leisure

The Alters
And Roger
Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector
Consume Me
Despelote
Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl

Game design

Ball x Pit
Blue Prince
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
Ghost of Yōtei
Hades II
Split Fiction

Multiplayer

Arc Raiders
Dune: Awakening
Elden Ring Nightreign
Lego Party!
Split Fiction

Music

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
Death Stranding 2: On the Beach
Dispatch
Ghost of Yōtei
Hollow Knight: Silksong
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle

Narrative

The Alters
Blue Prince
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
Death Stranding 2: On the Beach
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
Kingdom Come: Deliverance II

New mental property

The Alters
Arc Raiders
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
Dispatch
South of Midnight
Split Fiction

Performer in a number one function

Aaron Paul as Robert Robertson III in Dispatch
Ben Starr as Verso in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
Erika Ishii as Atsu in Ghost of Yōtei
Jennifer English as Maelle in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
Tom McKay as Henry of Skalitz in Kingdom Come: Deliverance II
Troy Baker as Indiana Jones in Indiana Jones and the Great Circle

Performer in a supporting function

Alix Wilton Regan as Lea Florence Monad in Lies Of P: Overture
Charlie Cox as Gustave in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
Jane Perry as Lia Cain in Dead Take
Jeffrey Wright as Chase in Dispatch
Kirsty Rider as Lune in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
Troy Baker as Higgs in Death Stranding 2: On the Beach

Technical achievement

Arc Raiders
Death Stranding 2: On the Beach
Doom: The Dark Ages
Ghost of Yōtei
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
Split Fiction