This year’s nominees are Chicory: A Colorful Tale, Deathloop, It Takes Two, Metroid Dread, The Forgotten City and Unpacking. This shortlist was decided by a team of experts within the gaming industry, with each member of the panel tasked with choosing six games that “resonated most with players around the world, entertained them and captured their imaginations”. Hazelight’s It Takes Two has already scooped up several GOTY awards, including Best Game at the Game Awards in December. It follows the adventures of unhappily married couple Cody and May, as they find themselves trapped inside the bodies of two dolls made by their daughter. Unpacking, meanwhile, has won over legions of fans, thanks to its gentle gameplay and surprisingly emotional premise. Unpacking was crowned Eurogamer’s 2021 Game of the Year. Here, editor-in-chief Martin Robinson wrote: “I’ve never played anything quite like Unpacking: I’ve never come across such human storytelling in a game that’s remarkably absent of them. What an achievement this is”. Fellow BAFTA nominee Metroid Dread took fifth position, with Eurogamer writing: “There’s a style and sophistication to developer Mercury Steam’s efforts that makes Metroid Dread stand out, while there’s a renewed swagger to Samus that makes this stand head and shoulders above the series’ many pretenders”. Voting for the BAFTA Games’ EE GOTY will be live here later today. Voting will be open until 6pm GMT on Friday 1st April. The winner will be announced at the BAFTA Games Awards on Thursday 7th April 2022.
