The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) has released a longlist of 58 video games that will proceed to the next round of voting for the annual BAFTA Games Awards in 2025. Each title has been selected by the votes of BAFTA members, and sorted into award categories set to be formalised by March 2025.
Browsing the list, it’s a great selection of the best and most innovative titles of 2024, with some obvious games likely to wind up in the final nominations, like Astro Bot, Balatro, and Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth. There’s also some nifty, smaller inclusions, like The Plucky Squire, Thank Goodness You’re Here!, Vampire Therapist, INDIKA, Harold Halibut, and A Highland Song.
Notably, the BAFTA committee has also outlined strict rules for dealing with remakes and remasters, as well as DLC content. Remasters of games “originally released outside of the eligibility period” won’t be considered for the awards, and full remakes will only be considered in craft categories.
DLC is only eligible for the Evolving Game award, and in certain craft categories. (This particular clause feels directly targeted at Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree, and the controversy around its Game Awards 2024 GOTY nomination.)
Read: The Game Awards 2024 nominees have been revealed
The full list of games on the 2025 BAFTA Games Awards longlist are:
- ANIMAL WELL
- Astro Bot
- Balatro
- Baldur’s Gate 3
- Batman: Arkham Shadow
- Black Myth: Wukong
- Botany Manor
- Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
- Cat Quest III
- Crow Country
- Diablo IV
- Dragon Age: The Veilguard
- EA SPORTS F1 24
- EA SPORTS FC 25
- Factorio
- FINAL FANTASY VII REBIRTH
- FINAL FANTASY XIV ONLINE
- Frostpunk 2
- Harold Halibut
- Helldivers 2
- A Highland Song
- HITMAN World of Assassination
- INDIKA
- Kind Words 2 (lofi city pop)
- The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom
- LEGO Horizon Adventures
- Life is Strange: Double Exposure
- Little Kitty, Big City
- Llamasoft: The Jeff Minter Story
- Metaphor: ReFantazio
- Minecraft
- Neva
- No Man’s Sky
- Pacific Drive
- Paper Trail
- Planet Coaster 2
- The Plucky Squire
- Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown
- Sea of Thieves
- Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II
- Silent Hill 2
- Star Wars Outlaws
- Star Wars: Hunters
- Stellar Blade
- Still Wakes the Deep
- Super Mario Party Jamboree
- Tactical Breach Wizards
- Tales of Kenzera: ZAU
- TEKKEN 8
- Tetris Forever
- Thank Goodness You’re Here!
- Tiny Glade
- UFO 50
- V Rising
- Vampire Survivors
- Vampire Therapist
- Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2
- World of Warcraft
The defined ‘Best Game’ longlist also includes the following titles:
- Animal Well
- Astro Bot
- Balatro
- Black Myth: Wukong
- Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
- Helldivers 2
- The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom
- Metaphor: ReFantazio
- Thank Goodness You’re Here!
- Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2
In the next stage of BAFTA Games Awards voting, members will whittle these lists into smaller categories, with only the best games being given a formal nomination ahead of the upcoming ceremony. We’ll hear about these nominees on 4 March 2025, and the winners will be crowned at the next BAFTA Games Awards, on 8 April 2025.
