Entries are now open for the BAFTA Scotland Awards 2021. This is the annual awards ceremony which to recognise, honour and reward outstanding achievement in film, television and games produced in Scotland, and Scottish individuals working in the UK industries.
The games category is open to games released for any platform, using any business model, and targeted at any audience. The game can be free, free-to-play, or paid. As long as it was released between 29 June 2020 – 2 June 2021, you can enter.
The eligibility criteria couldn’t be simpler:
- The developer/publisher must have a substantive business and production base in Scotland. A base will be taken to be substantive if it is the usual place of employment of senior executives and personnel involved in the production in question.
- Entries should only be submittedby the company/individual thatcan prove it/they hold 51% or more of the total IP. However, entrants may submit an entry if they hold 51% or more of the total IP of the entry or if they have permission from the IP holder.
So you have to be in Scotland, you have to own the game (or have the permission of the IP owner, which opens entries up to work-for-hire projects). If you can fulful both criteria, you’re golden.
Your game can be in early access, or pre-release. As long as it’s available to the public, you can enter (unless you want to hold off for full release next year).
The final deadline for submission is Wednesday 24 June at 17:00.
Entries for the games category are FREE, so there are no barriers to entering your game.
In the past few years, we’ve seen a lot of fabulous Scottish games pick up a Scottish BAFTA, including:
- Autonauts from Denki (2020)
- Observation by NoCode (2019)
- Beckett by The Secret Experiement (2018)
- Stories Untold by NoCode (2017)
- Glitchspace by Space Budgies (2016)
- Distant Star: Revenant Fleet by Blazing Griffin (2015)
Over the last year we’ve seen a huge number of releases from studios in Scotland, which should mean a fantastic competition for the coveted BAFTA mask. Releases from Scottish developers in the last 12 months include:
- SOLAS 128 (Amicable Animal)
- Distant Kingdoms (Orthrus Studios)
- Nicola Sturgeon: Megadrive Edition (not entirely sure…)
- Drive Buy (Glitchers)
- The Attendant (Andrew McKissock)
- Monstrum 2 (Junkfish)
- PHOGS (Bit Loom)
- FLEA (LowTek Games)
- Mystery Match Village (Outplay)
- Bowl ’em Down (LowTek Games)
- Ascendent (Somewhat Unsettling)
- Murderous Pursuits Mobile (Blazing Griffin)
- Island Saver (Stormcloud)
- Rabbie Burns Saves The World: and by extension Scottish Book Week (Calum Rodger)
- Chef Blast (Outplay)
- Lair of the Clockwork God (Size 5 Studios/Ant Workshop)
- HyperBrawl Tournament (Milky Tea/Hyperluminal Games)
- Minecraft: Star Wars (Mojang/Microsoft/4J Studios)
- Nae Danger (Pocket Sized Hands)
- Chickamauga Battles, Twilight’s Last Gleaming, Napoleon In Russia – and probably others (Hexwar)
You can find out more about entering the BAFTA Scotland Awards 2021 here, or read the full eligibility criteria and rules here.
(Dear BAFTA Scotland, you’re welcome…)