BAFTA Scotland Games Nominees Announced

The three titles nominated for a 2021 BAFTA Scotland games award have been announced.

The three nominees are:

• Murder Mystery Machine (Blazing Griffin)
• PHOGS (Bitloom)
• SOLAS 128 (Amicable Animal)

It’s an impressive line-up. Three original games, two of which – PHOGS and SOLAS 128 – are the first commercial releases from the developer.

PHOGS has been reviewing extremely well since it was released in December 2020, as has SOLAS 128 – which was a nominee in the 2020 UK Game of the Show competition, alongside fellow Scottish game – and eventual winner – Monstrum 2.

Blazing Griffin, the studio behind Murder Mystery Machine already has a BAFTA Scotland award, thanks to its 2015 release, Distant Star: Revenant Fleet.

All three will now compete for the coveted BAFTA Scotland award. The Awards will be presented at a digital ceremony on Saturday 20th November.

Edith Bowman will host the socially distant, closed-studio show at BBC Pacific Quay alongside Sanjeev Kohli and other guest presenters.

Backstage coverage will begin at 16.00 with the ceremony live streamed from 16.30 on BAFTA’s Facebook and YouTube channels and followed by a highlights show on BBC Scotland at 22.00. 

The Bitloom team told the Scottish Games Network:

We are so excited for PHOGS! to be nominated for a BAFTA alongside other great Scottish games! It has been wonderful seeing the response from everyone who has enjoyed barking around over the past year.

Tom Methven, the head of Amicable Animal said:

To be nominated for a Scottish BAFTA, particularly alongside other such incredible games, is utterly unreal. I’m so proud of what our tiny team was able to achieve, and so delighted to be included. Actually, I think we’re all still processing it, honestly!

Blazing Griffin’s Neil McPhillips, was also delighted with the nomination:

The whole team is overjoyed at the news of our nomination, it’s fantastic recognition of the work that we’ve done and effort that went into making Murder Mystery Machine

Previous winners of the BAFTA Scotland games award have included:

• Autonauts – Denki (2020)
• Observation – NoCode (2019)
• Beckett – The Secret Experiement (2018)
• Stories Untold – NoCode (2017)
• Glitchspace – Space Budgies (2016)
• Distant Star: Revenant Fleet – Blazing Griffin (2015)

Jude MacLaverty, Director of BAFTA Scotland, said:

We are thrilled to be announcing the nominations for this year’s BAFTA Scotland Awards, which yet again highlight the phenomenal level of talent and creativity in the film, game and television industries within Scotland.

We are particularly excited to announce so many incredible first time nominees this year and also to announce that this year’s Audience Award in partnership with Screen Scotland, will celebrate on screen talent, giving the public the opportunity to vote for their favourite Scot on Screen from the past 12 months.

This year has continued to be an extremely challenging one for many, and throughout it, the film, gaming and TV industries have continued to inform and entertain us all with a wealth of quality programming, innovative games and important films, which is reflected in our list of talented nominees who we are very much looking forward to celebrating on 20 November.

Edith Bowman, returning host of the ceremony, said:

I am genuinely honoured and thrilled to be returning to host the BAFTA Scotland Awards again this year. What a list of nominees! I am so proud of all the incredible work and wealth of creative talent and craft that exists in Scotland, I can’t wait to celebrate with everyone on 20 November.

You can find the whole list of nominees on the BAFTA Scotland website.