The winners, including inspiring educators, will be revealed at a special ceremony on Saturday 7 July
The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) has today announced the finalists in a nationwide competition to find the game designers of the future, and the teachers and mentors who inspire them. The winners, chosen by a panel of games professionals, will be revealed at a special awards ceremony at BAFTA’s headquarters, 195 Piccadilly in London, on Saturday 7July.
This year 40 games, from 60 finalists aged 10-18, will be vying for the Game Concept Award which recognizes a paper-based written game idea, and the Game Making Award for those who have developed their coding skills and have submitted a prototype game made using freely available software. The finalists worked on their entries in a variety of ways, including individually, within a team at school or their coding club, or even at home with their siblings.
The BAFTA Young Game Designers (YGD) competition gives young people the chance to design and create their own game. The annual initiative, which began in 2010, was designed to demonstrate the creativity that goes in to game design, and to give young people, and their teachers, a clearer understanding of the many rewarding careers to be had within the industry.
Previous entrants have gone on to attract commercial interest, as well as a nomination at the British Academy Games Awards, BAFTA’s flagship ceremony for the games industry.
The winners of both strands, in 10-14 and 15-18 age ranges, will receive a host of prizes, including: games, hardware, software licenses, tours of games studios and a mentor from the games industry to help them develop their skills further. A full list of prizes can be viewed here.
The young finalists come from across England, Scotland and Wales and 40% of the finalists this year are female. The successful entrants include several who made it to previous finals and have entered new games hoping to triumph this time around. To see the full list of our young finalists and mentors go to Ygd.bafta.org/about-ygd/ygd-news/ygd-finalists-2018-announced.
Five educators are in the running for the YGD Mentor Award, which is presented to an individual, nominated by the public, involved in the education of young game designers. The winner in this category will be announced at the Awards ceremony in July. The Mentor Award finalists come from schools, colleges and code clubs across the UK.
The BAFTA YGD competition is part of a year-round programme of activity that gives young people and educators unique insights into the games industry and access to the creative minds behind some of their favourite games. Support includes a website (www.bafta.org/ygd) where BAFTA members, award winners and nominees share their insights and advice and a range of teaching resources that link the BAFTA YGD competition to the national curriculum.
Supporting partners of BAFTA Young Game Designers include: Creative Assembly (SEGA), Criterion (EA), Jagex, King, Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe, Ubisoft, Unity and WB Games.
BAFTA YGD Awards ceremony – event details:
Saturday 7 July at BAFTA, 195 Piccadilly, London
13:00 Red carpet arrivals and reception, including display of finalists’ games
14:00 Ceremony commences
16:00 Ceremony ends
Follow the ceremony on the @BAFTAGames Twitter account #YGD.
Notes to Editors:
Recent BAFTA Young Game Designers winners showcased their games at consumer expo EGX Rezzed in April 2018 including: Daniel Smith (2016 winner), whose game Spectrum Retreat was picked up by Ripstone Games and will be released commercially on multiple platforms later this year; Emily Mitchell (2017 winner), who is working with a games publisher to release her game commercially; Spruce Campbell (2017 winner), who has self-published his game on the App Store; and Anna Carter (another winner in 2017), who showcased a prototype of her winning game concept that she has since developed with students at Abertay University.
Dan Pearce, a YGD winner in 2010, was named a BAFTA Breakthrough Brit in 2013, and his game Castles in the Sky earned him a BAFTA nomination for Debut Game in 2014.
Further details on all our finalists and their games are available here: Ygd.bafta.org/winners-nominees/2018
A word doc version is available upon request
For further information, please contact:
Anna Pedroza at Pedroza Communications
T: +44(0)7813 938 020
E: [email protected]
Laura Keay at Pedroza Communications
T: +44 (0)7960 349 405
E: [email protected]
Lisa Richards at BAFTA
T: +44 (0)207 7734 5863
E: [email protected]
About BAFTA
The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) is a world-leading independent arts charity that brings the very best work in film, games and television to public attention and supports the growth of creative talent in the UK and internationally. Through its Awards ceremonies and year-round programme of learning events and initiatives – which includes workshops, masterclasses, scholarships, lectures and mentoring schemes in the UK, USA and Asia – BAFTA identifies and celebrates excellence, discovers, inspires and nurtures new talent, and enables learning and creative collaboration. For advice and inspiration from the best creative minds in working in film, games and television, visit www.bafta.org/guru. For more, visit www.bafta.org.
