God of War Ragnarok sweeps BAFTA Games Awards as indie sleeper hit Vampire Survivors takes top prize – Sky News

It’s time but the PlayStation action epic God of War Ragnarok dominated the BAFTA Game Awards, it was in the running for an impressive six 14 awards.

Action casewith its stunning landscapes, Norse gods and monsters, best animation, audio score, music, and its stars — Christopher Judge and Laya DeLeon Hayes — won best actor in a leading role and best supporting actor.

Judge, who also starred in Stargate SG-1 and Bane, told Sky News his win felt surreal, saying: “I’ll be 60 next year and get this, when I thought my career was going to be a blast, it’s a dream come true. .” I’ve waited 35 years for this part, and it almost seems unfair that I’m getting the gifts that I got this part.”

He said his BAFTA, which follows his best actor in December at the Game Awards in LA, will be at the office, explaining: “I’ve actually had a little bit of an incredible run. [of award wins] and so it will now be prominently displayed in all my Zooms.

Calling it the win “the darkest of my life”, DeLeon Hayes – who initially received some negative reaction to the cast in the game – told Sky News: “I hope this moves the needle for more black characters, more characters in Norse Mythology, and here in God of War of Freedom, I am grateful and hope that this is a step in the right direction.

After the success of its predecessor, God of War, which was the highest rated PlayStation 4 game for most of 2018, the stakes were high for the team after its success.

The game also took home EE’s game of the year, which was decided solely by public funding.

The game’s animation director Bruno Velazquez told Sky News: “Without the fans, the people out there playing our games, we wouldn’t be here. That’s why we work so hard to make the game so that people can enjoy it. .

Bear McCreary composed the game and also wrote the music for the Amazon Lord of the Rings series, while Irish artist Hozier wrote and performed an original song called Blood on the Snow.

Role playing game Elden Ring – a collaboration with Game of Thrones creator George RR Martin – won two awards – best player and best original property.

But in a David and Goliath twist, a small title was created by just a small team, which bagged the highest award of the night – the best video game.

Vampire Survival – described by the team that came to collect the award as “players and fighters”, also won best game design.

They attributed the game’s success back to its addictive nature, saying: “It’s so easy to pick up. You can play it for five minutes, and then it’s like four and a half hours later… but then you only have to practice.”

The work of the developer alone – and one of the festivals of the sports 2022 shows – the creator Luca Galante fully rested his duty to work on it.

Speaking to Sky News after the victory, he said: “We are just 15 developers, turned to nine to five and to work the game.”

Rollerdrome – an action game that mixes roller-skating tricks and fighting with lots of weapons – won the best British game. Partly inspired by the movies Rollerball and Runner Man, the team dubbed it “polished Doom on a roller.”

The video game industry is worth hundreds of billions of pounds globally and is one of the fastest growing industries in the UK. With many turning to gaming in lockdown, it’s a hobby that has only grown in popularity over recent years.

Adaptations of games like The Last Of Us, The Witcher and Arcane (the first video game adaptation to win a primetime Emmy) have achieved both critical and commercial success – many see this as the time for gaming to truly enter the mainstream.

The Inbetweeners star and avid gamer James Buckley, who was presenting the award night, told Sky News: “Traditional media is now starting to realize that there’s such a huge market and audience in video games… That there are such beautiful stories, The story is all there to make a great thing out of this world show

“And I think they’re starting to realize, if we’ve done this right, you know, not just try and use a video game to piggyback off the name and try and explain something, but sit back and write something. Do something about this; [they’re] coming up with amazing television and film stuff. It takes time.”

The show, hosted by Frankie Ward, celebrates last year’s games, and was held at Elizabeth Hall in London, and was also live on Twitch.

The prestigious BAFTA Award was presented to Japanese gaming industry veteran Shuhei Yoshida.

The Bafta Games Awards are part of the theatrical games festival, which runs until April 8.