Berkhamsted Student in BAFTA Young Game Designers Finals
BAFTA has recently unveiled their talented finalists, aged between 12 and 18, who have been selected as part of this year’s BAFTA Young Game Designers (YGD) competition, which has been running since 2010.
Seven of this year’s finalists for the Game Concept 15-18 category hail from the South East of England, including Charlie Gray (17) from Berkhamsted, who was selected for their game Seity:
“I never thought that my love of video games would become something more than a hobby. But hey! Being a finalist is more than I ever could have asked for.”
Seity is a game exploring self-acceptance through XII, an android in Teleos, a city of conformity. Cast in the dump they fall further, into the Undergrowth where XII embraces individuality, joining a rising revolution of misfit androids against Teleos’ leader, The Mother.
Alongside drone Delta, unlock unique emotions, hobbies and traits. Explore the ancient cavern, filled with weathered stone and ancient runes hinting to a past civilisation. Navigate fighting, platforming, and puzzles while aiding the Undergrowth’s residents. Customise XII’s abilities with discovered parts.
Suitable for ages 8-16, Seity encourages authenticity over conformity, with enemies drained of energy rather than killed. Features unique mechanics, moral storytelling, and a hidden storyline.
BAFTA Young Game Designers is a year-round initiative of public events and workshops for 10-18 year-olds, culminating in an annual ceremony to celebrate the finalists and winners, which will be streamed digitally on BAFTA’s YouTube channel. This year’s ceremony is taking place on Thursday 27 June, and will be hosted by multi-award nominated actor and comedian Inel Tomlinson.
BAFTA Young Game Designers works with UK educators to support children who are interested in games, providing them with hands-on experience in the field and creating accessible pathways into games careers, raising awareness of the games industry as a viable career pathway as well as a creative hobby. Over three-quarters (83.45%) of YGD competition entrants this year heard about the scheme through school.
This year’s finalists have entered for one of two awards up for grabs: the YGD Game Concept Award, which rewards the most original and best thought-out game idea, and the YGD Game Making Award, which goes to the most impressive use of coding skills on a freely available software, to create a prototype game. Each award is split into two age groups: 10-14 years and 15-18 years.
Finalists were selected on the basis of the creativity of their vision and the technicality of their execution. Winning entries will be judged on their design and suitability for their chosen platform, with the aim of encouraging participants into games careers, and making the industry more accessible to young talent.
Official Partners of BAFTA Young Game Designers include: Epic Games, PlayStation, Warner Bros. Games and Wizards of the Coast. Further details of the official partners can be found here.
The voting jury who selected this year’s finalists out of hundreds of entries represent major British-based gaming companies, including Rocksteady Studios (Batman: Arkham Asylum) and TT Games (LEGO® Star Wars™: The Skywalker Saga). Jurors also work at major international corporations such as PlayStation and Meta.
2024 winners will be featured in the prestigious Power Up experience, alongside some of the very best video games and consoles from the past five decades, including an array of previous YGD winners. Power Up will be showcasing this year’s winners at the Science Museum in London and at the Science and Industry Museum in Manchester from 28 June 2024.