- For over a decade, BAFTA has connected young people with experts from the gaming industry, as part of their Young Game Designers competition
- Today, the charity has announced 44 talented finalists aged between 10 and 18
- The winners ceremony will be streamed live on BAFTA Kids & Teens YouTube, Thursday 22 June at 17:00 BST, with comedian Inel Tomlinson hosting
- Winning games will be displayed at the Science Museum’s Power Up experience
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Today, BAFTA unveils 44 talented finalists, aged between 10 and 18, who have been selected as part of this year’s BAFTA Young Game Designers (YGD) competition, which has been running since 2010.
BAFTA YGD is a year-round initiative of public events and workshops for 10-18 year-olds, culminating in the annual YGD ceremony to celebrate finalists and winners, which will be streamed digitally on BAFTA Kids & Teens YouTube. This year’s ceremony is taking place on Thursday 22 June, and will be hosted by multi-award nominated actor and comedian Inel Tomlinson. Highlights from the ceremony will be posted on LinkedIn.
According to trade body UKIE, the number of games companies in 2023 has grown over 31% in the UK since September 2016 (1). In 2021, Statista reported that 82% of children in the UK aged 12-15 played games online (2), mirroring this boom. Through initiatives like YGD, BAFTA aims to demonstrate that games can be more than just a hobby; BAFTA are committed to working with educators to support children who are interested in getting hands-on experience in the field, and to creating accessible pathways into games careers. Nearly half of YGD competition entrants this year heard about the scheme through school.
This year’s finalists have entered for one of two awards up for grabs: the YGD Game Concept Award, which rewards the most original and best thought-out game idea, and the YGD Game Making Award, which goes to the most impressive use of coding skills on a freely available software, to create a prototype game. Each award is split into two age groups: 10-14 years and 15-18 years.
Sophie Hudson (13) from Bath is a finalist in the 10-14 Game Concept Category, and decided to get involved because she wants to see more women represented in the industry. Her concept, titled The Screen is Completely Black, asks players to rely on spatial audio and haptic vibrations to escape a dark labyrinth housing a Minotaur. Accessibility is a key focus for Sophie, as she deliberately created a concept that is easy for blind and deaf players to enjoy.
Elsewhere, Tommy Bell (15) from Marlesford entered the Game Making 15-18 category with a casual fishing game, titled Gloop Fishing, in which players embody a little slime creature called Gloop, and are given the opportunity to catch 21 different types of fish. When asked if he recalled any specific difficulties during this project, Tommy mentioned surpassing the challenges of rope physics using Unity’s line renderer and Hooke’s law.
Finalists were selected on the basis of the creativity of their vision and the technicality of their execution. Winning entries will be judged on their design and suitability for their chosen platform, with the aim of encouraging participants into games careers, and making the industry more accessible to young talent.
Official Partners of BAFTA Young Game Designers include: Creative Assembly, Criterion Games, Epic Games, PlayStation, Warner Bros Games, Wizards of the Coast. Further details of the official partners can be found here.
The voting jury who selected this year’s finalists out of hundreds of entries represent major British-based gaming companies, including Rocksteady Studios (Batman: Arkham Asylum), Rare Ltd (Battletoads) and TT Games (LEGO® Star Wars™: The Skywalker Saga). Jurors also work at major international corporations such as PlayStation and Meta. YGD Alumni Joe Straker (Criterion Games) and Jonathan Ashton (Playtonic Ltd) are both sitting on this year’s jury.
2023 winners will be featured in the prestigious Power Up experience, alongside some of the very best video games and consoles from the past five decades, including an array of previous YGD winners. Power Up opens at the Science Museum in London on 27 July 2023, and is currently open at the Science and Industry Museum in Manchester.
Further details on all finalists and their games will be made available here. Interviews available on request. Further information about BAFTA YGD can be found here.
