BAFTA names What Remains of Edith Finch its best game of 2017

Hellblade’s five awards were the most of the night

In what many will surely consider a “surprise” or an “upset” or a “wrong choice,” the winner of the 14th British Academy Game Awards was neither The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild nor Super Mario Odyssey. It was What Remains of Edith Finch. 

For what it’s worth (and it’s not worth much), I wholeheartedly agree with that pick. What Remains of Edith Finch was my very favorite game last year. It uses an interactive medium to tell a tight and meaningful story. It’s creative and unique and important. But, Zelda and Mario haven’t lost many award shows this year, so the choice is interesting and unexpected.

However, the British Academy of Film and Television Arts has its roots in other formats. Maybe it values different qualities than other organizations (like GDC and DICE) value. Well, the past three winners of Best Game at the BAFTAs were Destiny, Fallout 4, and Uncharted 4. Looking at the history of this category, it’s actually kind of incredible a studio as small as Giant Sparrow was able to take home this hardware.

Here are the nominees and winners from this year’s BAFTAs:

• Assassin’s Creed: Origins
• Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice
• Horizon: Zero Dawn
• The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
• Super Mario Odyssey
• What Remains of Edith Finch

• Cuphead
• Gorogoa
• Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice
• Horizon: Zero Dawn
• The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
• Uncharted: The Lost Legacy

• Call of Duty: WW2
• Destiny 2
• Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice
• Horizon: Zero Dawn
• Star Wars: Battlefront 2
• Uncharted: The Lost Legacy

• Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice
• Monument Valley 2
• Reigns: Her Majesty
• The Sexy Brutale
• Sniper Elite 4
• Total War: Warhammer 2

• Cuphead
• Gorogoa
• Hollow Knight
• Night in the Woods
• The Sexy Brutale
• Slime Rancher

• Clash Royale
• Final Fantasy XV
• Fortnite
• Overwatch
• PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds
• Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege

• Just Dance 2018
• LEGO Worlds
• Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle
• Monument Valley 2
• Snipperclips
• Super Mario Odyssey

• Bury Me, My Love
• Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice
• Last Day of June
• Life Is Strange: Before the Storm
• Night in the Woods
• Sea Hero Quest VR

• Assassin’s Creed: Origins
• Horizon: Zero Dawn
• The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
• Nier: Automata
• Super Mario Odyssey
• What Remains of Edith Finch

• Gorogoa
• Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice
• The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
• Nier: Automata
• Snipperclips
• What Remains of Edith Finch

• Bury Me, My Love
• Golf Clash
• Gorogoa
• KAMI 2
• Monument Valley 2
• Stranger Things: The Game

• Divinity: Original Sin 2
• Fortnite
• Gang Beasts
• PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds
• Splatoon 2
• Star Trek: Bridge Crew

• Cuphead
• Get Even
• Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice
• Horizon: Zero Dawn
• The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
• What Remains of Edith Finch

• Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice
• Horizon: Zero Dawn
• Night in the Woods
• Tacoma
• What Remains of Edith Finch
• Wolfenstein: The New Colossus

• Cuphead
• Gorogoa
• Horizon: Zero Dawn
• Night in the Woods
• PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds
• What Remains of Edith Finch

• Abubakar Salim, Bayek (Assassin’s Creed Origins)
• Ashly Burch, Aloy (Horizon: Zero Dawn)
• Claudia Black, Chloe Frazer (Uncharted: The Lost Legacy)
• Laura Bailey, Nadine Ross (Uncharted: The Lost Legacy)
• Melina Juergens, Senua (Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice)
• Valerie Rose Lohman, Edith Finch (What Remains of Edith Finch)

Winners List for the British Academy Games Awards in 2018 [BAFTA]