Bafta Awards

BAFTA Young Game Designer of the Year

In the heart of Piccadilly is the HQ of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) a charity set up to support, develop and promote the visual artforms in the UK. Given that the computer games industry is worth as much as the global television industry BAFTA is active in developing and supporting the games industry. And that why on Saturday 9th April Stationers' Crown Woods students were there.

Eco-Warriors was a game developed by Tidus, Thomas and Justin as part of Key Threshold, a multi media film being made in the Creative Digital Media dept. It started as an idea which was duly entered in the Young Game Designer of the Year – game concept 11-14.

EcoWarriors join together to make a four man specialist team to save the planet from destruction, removing the root cause, by rescuing the world from seas of plastic, withered forests and dirty water. Each of the levels have a different but mesmerising atmosphere, setting and sounds which makes players feel immersed in the game knowing that the future of the world is at stake. Someone has to fix it.

The chaps continued working on the game, the film was edited and put together and when Eco-Warriors was on build 22 the email arrived. They had been chosen as one of the ten finalists and invited to a celebration and awards ceremony at the BAFTA HQ. “It was a thrill to listen to the award winners talk about what had inspired them to design their games and where they saw their future. It was also brilliant talk other games designers” said Thomas, his excitement palpable.

And what a day it was. There were games to play, there were industry specialists representing the finest in UK gaming circles. There were workshops with industry professionals All in all it was an inspirational day. “The best bit about this day “ according to Tidus” was meeting the professionals, the people who know the industry."

Sadly, Justin was unable to join us on the day, still there is always next year when we can put a real game on the table.

Not only was it a collaborative project led by the three year 9 students it was also a chance for them to appreciate the wider world of work and career pathways.