BAFTA

The BAFTA Videogame Awards are being held in London tonight, and the Academy is streaming the event live on its website. The ceremony kicks off at 9pm UK time, and a video stream will be available at the source link below. More >

Minecraft creator Markus "Notch" Persson is to receive the Special Award at the BAFTA Videogame Awards later this month. The Academy has chosen to honour Persson, 32, for his role in turning Minecraft into a phenomenon which has grossed some £62 million for his studio Mojang. More >

Mark Gerhard, founder of Runescape developer Jagex, believes that the closure of troubled UK retailer Game Group is inevitable. Speaking during a BAFTA-sponsored Q&A yesterday, reported by gamesindustry.biz, Gerhard said high street game retail takes too much money out of developers' pockets and would soon be looked on as a relic of the past. More >

Batman: Arkham City and LA Noire lead the list of nominees for this year's BAFTA Videogame Awards with nine nominations each. More >

BAFTA has announced the ten games shortlisted for its Game Award, the only one of its annual videogame awards that is selected by public vote. Those that vote for their favourite from the list below can enter a prize draw to win a limited edition Star Wars Xbox 360 with Kinect. More >

Hironobu Sakaguchi, creator of Final Fantasy and upcoming Wii RPG The Last Story, will speak at the British Academy Of Film And Television Arts' London headquarters next month, Nintendo has announced. More >

Size Five Games' educational title Privates was among the winners at the BAFTA Children's Awards in London last night. Privates, a sex-education shoot-'em-up developed for Channel 4, won the Learning Secondary award. Lego Pirates Of The Caribbean won the Videogame award, beating Kirby's Epic Yarn, LittleBigPlanet 2 and Pokemon Black & White. More >

Veteran developer Ste Pickford has decried the British Academy Of Film And Television Arts' (BAFTA) Videogame Awards, saying the excessive fees charged to those submitting their games for consideration prevents indie developers from receiving the recognition they deserve. Together with brother John, Pickford has developed over 80 games, including the likes of beloved SNES platformer Plok!, turn-based strategy title Naked War, and most recently iOS game Magnetic Billiards: Blueprint, in a career spanning the best part of thirty years. In an opinion piece for Spong, Pickford praises iOS word game Quarrel for winning a Scottish BAFTA, but laments the way the awards are structured south of the border. More >

The British Academy Of Film And Television Arts (BAFTA) has announced the nominees for the 2011 BAFTA Young Game Designers competition. Now in its second year, the competition invites teams of 11 to 16 year olds to prove their potential as game creators in association with EA, Nesta and Abertay University. A jury including representatives from Nesta, Criterion and BAFTA itself whittled down a shortlist of ten teams to the final three. More >

Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk, co-founders of Mass Effect developer BioWare, are to give BAFTA's Annual Videogames Lecture in London later this month. More >

The British Academy Of Film, Television And The Arts (BAFTA) has announced the nominees for its Children's Awards ahead of next month's ceremony. In the running for the Videogame Award are charming Wii platformer Kirby's Epic Yarn, Lego Pirates Of The Caribbean, Media Molecule's PS3 sequel LittleBigPlanet 2, and DS RPGs Pokémon Black & White. More >

The British Academy Of Film And Television Arts (BAFTA) has announced that it is to expand its annual videogame awards this year with the creation of four new categories. This year's British Academy Videogame Awards will, for the first time, include awards for Debut Game, Online Browser Game, Online Multiplayer Game, and Performer. More >

Dundee's University of Abertay has teamed up with Electronic Arts and Nesta to create a game building tool for children. The Games Unpacked tool is based on Unity and features a drag and drop interface that allows children to combine level elements such as platforms, power-ups and traps. “Every young person I know absolutely loves playing games, and Games Unpacked is a fun and easy way to take the next step into making their own games," said Abertay University director of business development Paul Durrant. “By creating a simple ‘digital toolbox’ of all the elements of a game level, children of any age can build a brand new game and start learning about the fascinating process of games development.” The Games Unpacked initiative is a complement to the BAFTA Young Game Designers competition, and interested parties can download the software for free at the source link below.

The British Academy of Film and Television Arts has revealed the names of the 42 ‘Brits to Watch’ who will be the focus of the inaugural event taking place on Saturday July 9 at the Belasco Theater in Los Angeles. The list of emerging talents - who “will generally not be complete beginners in their industry, and will have already begun to show real promise” - includes two game designers. Charles Griffiths is currently working on Fable: The Journey at Lionhead Studios, and recently made his own demo, Shuffle, while BAFTA-winning designer Matt Turner has worked on Race Driver: Grid and Dirt 2, among other projects, and joined Playground Games last year. BAFTA launched its videogames branch in the US last month, forming a Los Angeles-based committee in a bid "to secure an ongoing, collaborative US membership".