The indie game 'Vampire Survivors' was the surprise winner of the top award at this year's BAFTA Games Awards.
ADVERTISEMENTNomination leader God of War Ragnarök took home multiple awards at BAFTA Games Awards last night, but the top award went to underdog indie game Vampire Survivors.
Going into the 2023 Game Awards, God of War Ragnarök broke BAFTA records with 14 nominations. The blockbuster game is the ninth instalment in the God of War franchise and took home six awards.
Christopher Judge and Laya Deleon Hayes won both performer awards for their roles in God of War Ragnarök. Other prizes for the blockbuster Nordic action game included Best Animation, Best Audio Achievement, Best Music, and the audience voted award EE Game of the Year.
“It is not lost on me that I'm a black man standing on a British stage accepting an award for playing a Spartan God killer, who in his heart always wants to be a father,” said Judge, who plays God of War Ragnarök protagonist Kratos. “It is the role of a lifetime. I'm gonna live and breathe every moment of this great gift that I was given. And I will do it humbly.”
With its six awards, the God of War series becomes the most awarded game franchise in BAFTA history, with 14 awards, over previous record holder Grand Theft Auto ’s nine.
However, the headline of the ceremony was the Best Game award going to the comparatively tiny game Vampire Survivors.
Released last year on Steam, the 2D side-scrolling shoot-em-up game has become the surprise hit of the year. In procedurally generated environments, pixelated characters automatically shoot at a variety of spawning monsters, as players vie for ever improved weapons.
Compared to lusciously designed Best Game nominees God of War Ragnarök and Elden Ring, Vampire Survivors's simplicity made it a surprise winner, even for its designers. When accepting the award, the development team said “we did not expect this”.
Vampire Survivors also took home the gong for Best Game Design.
There’s precedent for indie games like Vampire Survivors beating out the blockbusters to the top gong at the BAFTAs. What Remains of Edith Finch beat out frontrunner The Legend of Zelda: The Breath of the Wild in 2017.
Elden Ring entered the ceremony with nine nominations, and managed to take home two trophies, for Best Original Property and Best Multiplayer. Cat simulator Stray, which looked good going into the night with nine nominations, left empty handed.
Here are the full winners:
Best Game
Cult of the Lamb
Elden Ring
God of War Ragnarök
Marvel Snap
Stray
Vampire Survivors *WINNER*
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Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II
God of War Ragnarök *WINNER*
Horizon Forbidden West
Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga
Sifu
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Artistic Achievement
A Plague Tale: Requiem
Elden Ring
God of War Ragnarök
Immortality
ADVERTISEMENTPentiment
Tunic *WINNER*
Audio Achievement
A Plague Tale: Requiem
God of War Ragnarök *WINNER*
Horizon Forbidden West
ADVERTISEMENTMetal: Hellsinger
Stray
Tunic
British Game
Citizen Sleeper
Olliolli World
ADVERTISEMENTRollerdrome *WINNER*
Total War: Warhammer III
Vampire Survivors
Debut Game
As Dusk Falls
The Case of the Golden Idol
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Trombone Champ
Tunic *WINNER*
Vampire Survivors
Evolving Game
Apex Legends
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The Elder Scrolls Online
Final Fantasy XIV Online *WINNER*
Forza Horizon 5
No Man's Sky
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Disney Dreamlight Valley
Kirby and the Forgotten Land *WINNER*
Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga
Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope
Nintendo Switch Sports
ADVERTISEMENTTeenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge
Game Beyond Entertainment
Citizen Sleeper
Endling - Extinction is Forever *WINNER*
Gibbon: Beyond the Trees
I Was a Teenage Exocolonist
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We'll Always Have Paris
Game Design
Cult of the Lamb
Elden Ring
God of War Ragnarök
ADVERTISEMENTHorizon Forbidden West
Tunic
Vampire Survivors *WINNER*
Multiplayer
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II
EA Sports FIFA 23
ADVERTISEMENTElden Ring *WINNER*
Overwatch 2
Splatoon 3
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Music
A Plague Tale: Requiem
ADVERTISEMENTCuphead
Elden Ring
God of War Ragnarök *WINNER*
Stray
Tunic
ADVERTISEMENTNarrative
A Plague Tale: Requiem
Citizen Sleeper
God of War Ragnarök
Immortality *WINNER*
Pentiment
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Original Property
Citizen Sleeper
Cult of the Lamb
Elden Ring *WINNER*
SIFU
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Vampire Survivors
Performer in a Lead Role
Alain Mesa as Alejandro Vargas in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II
Charlotte McBurney as Amicia in A Plague Tale: Requiem
Christopher Judge as Kratos in God of War Ragnarök *WINNER*
ADVERTISEMENTManon Gage as Marissa Marcel in Immortality
Siobhan Williams as Laura in The Quarry
Sunny Suljic as Atreus in God of War Ragnarök
Performer in a Supporting Role
Adam J. Harrington as Sindri in God of War Ragnarök
Alison Jaye as Alva in Horizon Forbidden West
ADVERTISEMENTCharlotta Mohlin as The One in Immortality
Danielle Bisutti as Freya in God of War Ragnarök
Laya Deleon Hayes as Angrboda in God of War Ragnarök *WINNER*
Ryan Hurst as Thor in God of War Ragnarök
Technical Achievement
Elden Ring
ADVERTISEMENTGod of War Ragnarök
Horizon Forbidden West *WINNER*
Immortality
The Last of Us Part I
Stray
ADVERTISEMENTEE Game of the Year
Elden Ring
God of War Ragnarök *WINNER*
Horizon Forbidden West
Immortality
Marvel Snap
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