BAFTA Announces GOTY Nominees, Excluding DLC for Enhanced Rankings

BAFTA Reveals List Of This Year’s Notable Games

58 Games From 247 Titles

BAFTA (British Academy of Film and Television Arts) has revealed their longlist of game nominees for the upcoming 2025 BAFTA Games Awards, with 58 standout games of different genres in the running to be nominated across 17 categories. This list was carefully curated from a pool of 247 titles considered by the BAFTA members this year, and each game was released between November 25, 2023 to November 15, 2024.

The final nominees for each category then will be unveiled on March 4, 2025. Then finally, on April 8, 2025, the 2025 BAFTA Games Awards will commence, and the final winners will be announced and awarded there.

One of the most anticipated categories is the Best Game award, and without further ado, here is the longlist of 10 amazing titles that may have a shot at winning this accolade:

　⚫︎　ANIMAL WELL
　⚫︎　Astro Bot
　⚫︎　Balatro
　⚫︎　Black Myth: Wukong
　⚫︎　Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
　⚫︎　Helldivers 2
　⚫︎　The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom
　⚫︎　Metaphor: ReFantazio
　⚫︎　Thank Goodness You’re Here!
　⚫︎　Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2

In 2024, the game that achieved this prestigious title was Baldur’s Gate 3, which also won several other awards in the same event, bagging a total of six awards after being nominated for ten categories.

While some games missed the bidding for Best Game, they are still in the lists for 16 other categories, namely:

　⚫︎　Animation
　⚫︎　Artistic Achievement
　⚫︎　Audio Achievement
　⚫︎　British Game
　⚫︎　Debut Game
　⚫︎　Evolving Game
　⚫︎　Family
　⚫︎　Game Beyond Entertainment
　⚫︎　Game Design
　⚫︎　Multiplayer
　⚫︎　Music
　⚫︎　Narrative
　⚫︎　New Intellectual Property
　⚫︎　Technical Achievement
　⚫︎　Performer in a Leading Role
　⚫︎　Performer in a Supporting Role

FF7 Rebirth And Shadow Of The Erdtree Ineligible For BAFTA’s Best Game

Eagle-eyed gamers may notice that several popular games in 2024 are, despite being in the full longlist, not included in the Best Game category—namely Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree, and Silent Hill 2. This is due to their status as being remakes, remasters, or DLCs. As listed in the official BAFTA Games Awards Rules and Guidelines document, "Remasters of games released outside of the eligibility period are not eligible for consideration. Full remakes, and substantial pieces of new content, are not eligible in Best Game or British Game but may be eligible in craft categories where they can demonstrate significant originality."

With that said, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth and Silent Hill 2 are included in the full longlist, vying for a spot in several other categories like Music, Narrative, and Technical Achievement. Notably, Elden Ring’s hit DLC, Shadow of the Erdtree, is nowhere to be found on BAFTA’s list. The exact reason for this is unknown, but Shadow of the Erdtree is set to appear in other year-end game awards, such as The Game Awards.

BAFTA’s full game longlist, along with the categories they are listed in, can be found on its official website.