Sci-fi shooter game Returnal has been named best game at the 2022 Bafta Games Awards. The PlayStation exclusive – about an astronaut trapped on an alien planet – was the biggest winner on Thursday night, picking up four awards in total.
Puzzle game Unpacking, where players must unpack boxes and neatly fit them around a new virtual home, was the other major winner at the event. It took home the award for best narrative as well as the EE game of the year award, which is the only category voted for by the public.
The newest instalment in the Forza racing series, Forza Horizon 5, was named best British game, while space exploration game No Man's Sky was named the best evolving game. Elsewhere, Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart, the latest game in the long-running popular series, picked up the animated and technical achievement awards.
Online platform game It Takes Two scored two wins, in the multiplayer and original property categories. There were also wins for The Artful Escape in the artistic achievement category, Chicory: A Colourful Tale in the family category and Before Your Eyes, which won the game beyond entertainment award.
Bafta Games Committee chair Dr Jo Twist congratulated the development team behind Unpacking for winning the public vote for EE game of the year. She said: "For the second year running we have been able to hear directly from the public through their votes for the EE game of the year award, and so a massive congratulations to Unpacking for getting their seal of approval. In a hugely growing industry, we are delighted to honour and recognise the best of the games industry's talent and we're pleased to livestream these prestigious awards so fans around the world can tune in from wherever they are."
Here is the full list of winners and where they can be played:
Full list of 2022 winners
Best Game – Returnal (PlayStation 5)
British Game – Forza Horizon 5 (Xbox One / Xbox Series X|S / PC)
Debut Game – Toem (PlayStation 5 / Nintendo Switch / PC)
EE Game of the Year (voted for by the public) – Unpacking (Xbox One / Xbox Series X|S / PlayStation 4 / PlayStation 5 / Nintendo Switch / PC)
Evolving Game – No Man’s Sky (Xbox One / Xbox Series X|S / PlayStation 4 / Playstation 5 / Nintendo Switch / VR / PC)
Family Game – Chicory: A Colorful Tale (PlayStation 4 / PlayStation 5 / Nintendo Switch / PC)
Multiplayer Game – It Takes Two (Xbox One / Xbox Series X|S / PlayStation 4 / PlayStation 5 / PC)
Performer in a Leading Role – Jane Perry as Selene Vassos in Returnal (PlayStation 5)
Performer in a Supporting Role – Kimberly Brooks as Hollis Forsythe in Psychonauts 2 (Xbox One / Xbox Series X|S / PlayStation 4 / PC)
Animation – Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart (PlayStation 5)
Artistic Achievement – The Artful Escape (Xbox One / Xbox Series X|S / PlayStation 4 / PlayStation 5 / Nintendo Switch / PC)
Audio Achievement – Returnal (PlayStation 5)
Game Beyond Entertainment – Before Your Eyes (PC)
Game Design – Inscryption (PC)
Music – Returnal (PlayStation 5)
Narrative – Unpacking (Xbox One / Xbox Series X|S / PlayStation 4 / PlayStation 5 / Nintendo Switch / PC)
Original Property – It Takes Two (Xbox One / Xbox Series X|S / PlayStation 4 / PlayStation 5 / PC)
Technical Achievement – Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart (PlayStation 5)
