Collaboration in action: YGD alum taps into BAFTA Games network

One of the special things about working in the creative industries is people’s openness to collaborating. It’s seen frequently across the film, games and TV sectors and, as programmes like the BAFTA Young Game Designers (YGD) competition show, can start early on in a creative’s career.

A great example of this collaborative spirit is 18-year-old Jack Rafferty – a four-time YGD finalist. Jack has just released sci-fi horror game The Victor Initiative (16+), having collaborated with other competition alumni on aspects like artwork, and tapped into the BAFTA Games network to secure big name voiceover talent. Set in a fictional government facility in North Wales that was abandoned back in the 1960s, players explore a space that has technology “way too advanced for that time” and try to work out what happened. It’s a multi-chapter adventure which will keep growing and already features guest appearances from the likes of Inel Tomlinson, Samantha Béart, Sam Lake and Dave Jones.

Here we catch up with Jack and Inel to find out more about the project…

Jack: Working with so many of the collaborators on The Victor Initiative was definitely something that came off the back of YGD.

Tallulah, another YGD alum, did some of the character art for the game and has done some of the character concepts for characters that aren’t in the game yet – I met them in 2024 through BAFTA and we became really good friends. We made our 2025 YGD game together and then this game. And you know, all the voice actors, obviously there’s only a certain amount of people I can play, so it’s great to collaborate. Then Alfie Wilkinson as well as Zoe Taylor did a lot of the testing on the game as well and they’ve both been nominees slash winners before. So yeah, it’s been a really, really great thing to just have them all involved.

Inel: I’ve known Jack for a number of years through the BAFTA YGD Initiative and he’s always like really personable, really approachable. We just like struck up a conversation one-on-one of the last YGD showcase days and he just said “I’d like not to be too forward but I would love for you to be in my game because I’m currently collaborating with a few other BAFTA YGD alumni and I’d love for you to be in it”. I was like, yeah bro, send me the script – I’m in.

Jack: Alan Wake 2 is my favourite game of all time, and I remember I was telling Inel. We were talking about Inel’s role in Firebreak, and I was saying, oh, I’ll play anything that Remedy Entertainment makes and he asked me, ‘have you met Sam Lake?’. At the time, I hadn’t and I said no and Inel said, ‘oh, you will’ and within a month he was in my game after I was introduced to him at the BAFTA stand at Develop:Brighton.

It’s been amazing and I feel like I’m part of that artsy circle of games… I’ve realised there are corners and I am in the one I want to be in.

Inel: I’m always talking about best of Young Game Designers and how amazing the initiative is and how I wish there was stuff like this when I was younger to be able to partake in. I’ve seen the growth from a lot of the students who’ve entered in the earlier years and continue to enter and the quality just goes up and up. I always champion and say these guys are the future of the video game industry and like I have to back that. Listen, I’ve got to be in the game – if I truly believe that you guys are the future I need to be involved. If anything, I’ve made my role even bigger than it was; when Jack approached me, he said: ‘I’ve got like a small role for you to play’ and I was like ‘give me the big role to play’.

Jack: It’s insane because this time last year I was looking at this part of the industry and now I’ve kind of put myself right in the middle of it now which is exciting. It was a hope but I never expected to get to where I am right now.

I made my first game in 2018 and I was 11 at the time – that was like this scratch game about fractions… and I mean the progression since, then every single game I’ve made I have learnt something new. I remember going to my first YGD event and being terrified to talk to anyone.

Jack: If you’re on the fence and you’re not sure you want to enter the competition or you’re not sure what you want to make just start making something. Take something that inspires you and start making something based on that and then ideas just start coming when you’re not looking for them.

Going for a walk or chatting to some friends, something might just appear in your head, which is why you should always carry a notebook with you to write that down. Just don’t stress too much about finding these ideas, because they’ll come to you at some point and in the meantime, just make what you can. Make whatever you think is within your bounds, and then you’ll find that your bounds are much bigger than you thought they were.

Inel: Just collaborate. Ask people for help and their talents – especially if there’s something that you’re not sure how to do. Just ask people and approach people, don’t be afraid to just go up to people and people you meet.

You’ve got to start somewhere, and this is like one of the best places to start. If you’ve ever been curious about game design or just like concepting in general or just coming up with like a fun idea, this is the best place. Try it out, see what people think, you’re never going to get a more supportive network than BAFTA YGD so give it a go.

• Creating a space for imaginations to thrive, the yearly BAFTA Young Game Designers competition is a chance for 10–18-year-olds to design, develop and present new game ideas to the world. The competition has two categories; one for game concept and one for game making, and is now open for entries.