It will hand out awards in 13 categories, as well as the BAFTA Ones To Watch Award in association with Dare To Be Digital, a Gift of the Academy Prize for games or gaming technology worthy of special recognition and the prestigious Fellowship.
While the games will be judged by industry experts and not the gaming public, BAFTA is encouraging developers and publishers to support individual entries with short films that contain footage about the making of their games in order to give the public a better understanding of games development.
“We are keen to see the new filmed support material be developed by each nominee, as this is the sort of initiative that helps the wider world understand that the creation and development of videogames is an art form, often with teams of hundreds of people and budgets on a par with feature films,” said Ray Maguire, chairman of the Academy’s Games committee and Sony Computer Entertainment UK MD.
“One of the many strengths of the British Academy Video Games Awards is that the focus is on creativity and innovation as opposed to a simple measure of commercial success,” he added. “This enables niche but highly creative work to be recognized and rewarded.”
Qualified industry professionals and BAFTA games members hoping to influence the shortlist for the category juries should visit BAFTA’s website for further information.
The nominations will be announced on February 10, 2009.