BAFTA has announced today that Dara O’Briain will return to host the British Academy Games Awards on Thursday 4 April. For the first time, the ceremony will be held at Queen Elizabeth Hall on London’s Southbank. This will be the comedian’s ninth time hosting the ceremony, which celebrates the very best in games of the past year.
The British Academy Games Awards, now in its 15th year, and the nominations announced on Thursday 14 March, will be streamed live online.
Dara O’Briain said “I am thrilled to be returning to host the British Academy Games Awards. The evening is a fantastic opportunity to celebrate the achievements of this wonderfully creative industry, and each year I continue to be amazed by the fantastic talent in the UK games industry. There’s also a really difficult bit of God of War I can’t get past and they seem like the people to ask…”
Emma Baehr, Director of Awards at BAFTA, said “We are delighted to have Dara once again taking the helm for an evening of excitement and celebration. We are proud to have been recognising the very best talent across the games industry at the British Academy Games Awards for 15 years, and look forward to the innovative, creative talent that will continue to be recognised in years to come.”
Taking place for the first time at the Queen Elizabeth Hall on London’s Southbank, the awards welcome the very best practitioners in the world who gather to celebrate another outstanding year in games and network with colleagues from across the industry. The awards will be preceded by a Champagne Taittinger reception and followed by a seated dinner and after-party for guests.
The British Academy Games Awards is part of the London Games Festival, which runs from 2 – 14 April covering 40 events across the capital. The London Games Festival is backed by the Mayor of London and delivered by Games London, an initiative from Film London, the capital’s screen industries agency, and video game trade boy Ukie (The Association for UK Interactive Entertainment) to make London the games capital of the world, creating £35m for local business.
Guests attending BAFTA’s awards ceremonies support the organisation’s charitable work and initiatives that identify, support and nurture new talent in this thriving sector. Applications are now being taken for games membership of BAFTA at membership.bafta.org.
The Awards are supported by BAFTA’s official games partners Activision Blizzard, Electronic Arts, PlayFusion, PlayStation, SEGA Europe Ltd., Tencent Games, and Ubisoft Entertainment.
FACTBOX
Industry Tickets for the British Academy Games Awards are now available at tickets.bafta.org
A limited number of public tickets are available at www.egx.net/rezzed/news/bafta-tickets-on-sale
For more information on the British Academy Games Awards, and the year-long BAFTA games programme visit: www.bafta.org/games.
For further information:
Molly Whitehall
T: 020 3883 6931
M: 07789848782
Isabelle Baker
T: 020 3883 6933
M: 07876222779