SARA PUTT: I’m Sara Putt, Chair of BAFTA, and it's my absolute pleasure to welcome you to the BAFTA Games Awards - a night to recognise the exceptional talent, creativity, and innovation within the global games industry.
It’s our twentieth Games Awards tonight, and we are immensely proud to be part of this community, and to be on this incredible journey with you.
As an arts charity and academy, BAFTA is committed to supporting games, together with film and TV, and celebrating excellence across our screen industries.
Games combine storytelling, design, technology, and interactivity unlike any other medium.
More than just entertainment, games challenge our perceptions, inspire imaginations, and connect us across cultures and continents. The power of storytelling is demonstrable across all of tonight’s categories, whose nominated games entertain, engage, and educate.
Tonight’s Awards highlight the value of games to our culture, and the positive impact they have on players around the world.
But BAFTA is more than the awards.
We’re here to support the hardworking and talented people across our industries. In good times and in bad.
And as we applaud this year’s triumphs, we recognise the reality of significant hardships - marked, most notably, by the unprecedented number of layoffs and studio closures over the last twelve months.
Behind the innovation and creativity, there's a resilience being demanded of our colleagues and friends. The creative industries can be a tough place, not just in games, we’re seeing it in film and TV, too.
Since becoming Chair, I have been particularly struck by your remarkable kindness and support for each other as you navigate these challenges. It is truly special.
So tonight, let's celebrate the success of our winners and nominees, and also the spirit of community which sustains us all.
Tonight's Awards have been voted by your peers, the BAFTA Games community, more than a thousand members of the academy who have spent countless hours playing your games.
They voted for the 60-game longlist, and they voted for the nominees and winners in the Best Game and British Game categories.
Many of them are here tonight, so thank you to them.
But as I said before, BAFTA is more than the awards.
We are committed to initiatives that support the next generation of talent, including our long-running BAFTA Young Game Designers, BAFTA Breakthrough, and our scholarships and bursaries.
We’re committed to growing our games community, and together we can achieve so much more. Our academy brings people together to tackle crucial issues, such as mental health in the workplace; and BAFTA can also work uniquely to foster a spirit of cross pollination of expertise and experience between the games, film and television sectors.
You can support our work, both as individuals, and as organisations.
So let's work even more closely together to create the future for games we all want to see both within BAFTA and in the wider industry.
I want to say thank you to Jane Millichip, BAFTA’s amazing CEO, and the whole BAFTA team; Tara Saunders, our incomparable Chair of the Games Committee; and all the Games Committee who volunteer their time and expertise so generously to BAFTA.
BAFTA is proud to partner again with the London Games Festival, which in 2024 has reached its ninth edition.
London Games Festival promotes the UK as a key hub for global games business, welcomes thousands of visitors every year, and like BAFTA celebrates the craft, innovation and talent that make our industry so pioneering.
Thanks to all our partners, including our official games partners Epic Games, PlayStation and Xbox, and EE sponsoring our EE Players’ Choice Award.
To all the nominees and winners tonight, I extend my heartfelt congratulations.
This is a moment to showcase your talent, your work, and your stories that bring so much joy to players around the world.
I now leave you in the hands of our host Phil Wang, and I wish you all a wonderful evening.
Thank you.
