The Last of Us Part II and Hades were the big winners at Thursday night’s Bafta Game Awards.
The Last of Us Part II (TLOU2), the sequel to the 2013 post-apocalyptic PS3 game, won EE Game of the Year – an award voted for by the public in record numbers.
However, despite racking up a record 13 nominations, TLOU2 only managed to pick up three awards in total, walking away with the prize for its animation as well as for a performer in a leading role for Laura Bailey, who voiced Abby.
Meanwhile, Hades, a role playing game set in the world of Greek mythology on the Nintendo Switch, PC and Mac, scooped five awards, including artistic achievement, best game, game design and narrative.
Logan Cunningham, who voices a raft of characters in the game won his first Bafta for performer in a supporting role.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons, which kept everyone busy during the first lockdown in 2020, also bagged two awards – game beyond entertainment and multiplayer, meanwhile Sackboy: A Big Adventure, won the British game and family awards.
Elsewhere, the much-anticipated superhero follow up Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales, won the music award, and horror game Carrion, where players control a tentacled monster, grabbed the gong for debut game.
Pirate-based Xbox game Sea of Thieves won in the evolving game category, point-and-click adventure Kentucky Route Zero: TV Edition won original property and Dreams, where players control an “imp” to interact with the world, bagged the technical achievement award.
The Bafta Fellowship, the academy’s top honour, went to Siobhan Reddy from Media Molecule, best known for its work on the LittleBigPlanet series.
The awards were hosted by arts journalist Elle Osili-Wood from London, with award presenters and winners dialling in on Zoom.