The British BAFTA Academy has revealed the full longlist of the 2026 BAFTA Game Awards, which includes 64 titles. An independent charity organization traditionally selects the best games of the year, the reason for this is the vote of more than 1,700 gaming industry professionals.
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Esports titles on the BAFTA Games Awards 2026 longlist
There are many projects in the selected games that have managed to form their own competitive scene. From hero shooters like Marvel Rivals to sports simulators like EA FC 26, the range is wide.
Marvel Rivals: Heroic shooter in the esports ecosystem with pro tournaments
Marvel Rivals is one of the brightest representatives of the nominated esports titles. This heroic shooter from NetEase has managed to gather a lively community around itself in 2025. The developers have organized seasonal championships for everyone, among other things, they have launched a professional Marvel Rivals Ignite tournament, where the strongest teams from all over the planet are invited. The project shows how quickly a new IP can integrate into the esports ecosystem, despite the fact that the release took place relatively recently.
Battlefield 6: FPS with Million Dollar esports circuit in competitive gaming
Another standout title is Battlefield 6. EA’s large—scale first person shooter was released in October this year and immediately announced serious ambitions in competitive gaming. Later, the studio added a battle royale mode called REDSEC, and as a result, announced the esports circuit for $1 million (approximately 763,850 pounds). The program includes an open series where any player can prove himself, and an elite series for professionals. The Battlefield franchise has always gravitated towards large-scale battles, but only now has EA decided on a full-fledged esports infrastructure.
Call of Duty League: A franchise with a history in a competitive scene
Call of Duty was also longlisted, this time with the help of an improved part of Black Ops 7. The long-running series has the right to boast an extensive esports biography: Call of Duty League continues to exist in 2026, developing a franchise competitive scene. The league is entering a new season, maintaining its status as one of the largest console esports circuits in the world.
EA FC 26 and F1 25 sports simulators in BAFTA award categories
Meanwhile, sports sim games have found a place in the list of nominees. EA FC 26 hosts a number of esports events, such as the FC Pro series, where the first world championship was held in Germany in 2024. The studio has already announced plans for the upcoming season, including an updated ePremier League format for British clubs.
F1 25 is another example of successful integration of sim racing into professional esports. The game regularly hosts the World Championship, which attracts the strongest racing teams and solo pilots. The F1 franchise has long established itself as a serious competition venue.
The full list of selected games is available on the official website of the BAFTA Game Awards.
Functions and structure of the BAFTA Games Awards: from long list to voting
The BAFTA Game Awards originated a long time ago in 2004. It is an annual event where creative excellence in video games is subscribed. The longlist is formed by more than 1,700 BAFTA members, professionals from various segments of the gaming industry. This year, 64 projects are divided into 17 award categories: game design, narrative, artistic achievements, best game and other nominations.
Tara Saunders, Chairman of the BAFTA Gaming Committee, commented:
The BAFTA Games Awards longlists are a great opportunity to highlight the creativity and skill shaping this year’s games. The list reveals the best side of the projects that you can get involved in during the holiday season. We celebrate the teams that created these outstanding titles and showcase the incredible skill of our entire industry.
BAFTA Games Awards 2026 schedule: nominations, voting and ceremony
Voting for the nominations announced will begin in February. The short list of candidates will be announced on March 12, 2026. In the future, Bafta members will vote for the best game and the best British game, while the remaining categories will be determined by specialist juries.
All winners were announced at the BAFTA Games Awards 2026, which will be held on April 17, 2026. The event traditionally attracts the attention of the entire gaming industry and sets the tone for discussions for several months ahead.
BAFTA Games Awards 2026 Favorites: who leads the longlist and forecasts
The longlist is one thing, but the real struggle will begin when the final shortlist is announced in March. The community is already actively discussing who will eventually take the main statuettes. Let’s take a look at the legendary frontrunners and all the expected cards in the deck with one trump card.
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is the undisputed leader
Having analyzed the pros and cons by numbers, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is now in the most advantageous position. The project from Sandfall Interactive studio was included in 17 long-list categories — an absolute record among all nominees. This RPG has already collected a museum stack of awards: in November, it won a prize at the Golden Joystick Awards, Gamescom x Asia was held a little earlier than triumphant, and it also holds 13 nominations for The Game Awards, a record for the entire history of the ceremony.
Experts agree: her chances of repeating her success in the Best Game category at the BAFTAs are more than real. Even betting odds on Polymarket gives the project about an 82% chance of winning at related ceremonies, a figure that usually silences skeptics.
The cast is also pulling the blanket over themselves: Ben Starr, Jennifer English and Charlie Cox have already been mentioned in the nominations, based on this, the probability of a sweep in the acting categories looks quite tangible.
Dispatch and Indiana Jones: competitors who do not let you relax
Dispatch has the second highest number of hits in the longlist, with 11 positions. The narrative-oriented project managed to get into the critics’ discussions, despite the fact that the final episodes were rolled out just a week before The Game Awards deadline. The director of The Witcher 3 calls Dispatch his personal game of the year, the reason for this is simple: It would be hasty to write off the title.
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle scored 10 mentions. Machine Games, along with Bethesda, have once again raised the fans of action-adventure games, and the game has shown that you can handle the license carefully and at the same time not lose your drive. Community polls have consistently maintained interest in the project, while its competition with Clair Obscur is noticeably weaker.
Arc Raiders — the dark horse of the long list
Arc Raiders from Embark Studios is the very title from which developers can expect any sharp turns. Extraction-shooter took six categories, including Best Game, despite the fact that it is built around the multiplayer format. Such recognition is rare for such projects.
The game dragged the community into an awkward dispute over AI voice acting: some people assumed that this was a reason to remove it from consideration altogether. But BAFTA members voted differently, appreciating the gameplay and presentation.
If Arc Raiders rises to the shortlist, it will be a sign that the industry is finally ready to take multiplayer titles seriously as part of major awards.
Bets, forecasts, and possible surprises
It is reasonable to expect that Clair Obscur will take most of the nominations in March — the gap in mentions is too large. Meanwhile, the history of BAFTA knows how to surprise: in 2023, Vampire Survivors suddenly beat https://vpesports.com/sharedsteam/god-of-war-ragnarokGod of War Ragnarok in the Best Game. Underdogs like Blue Prince or Split Fiction can also shoot if specialist juries decide to support more ambitious ideas.
Community polls on Reddit and major Discord channels show that fans are waiting for the duel between Clair Obscur and Hollow Knight: Silksong (moreover, the release of the latter is still in the air before the ceremony). Hades II is also gaining votes, but there is noticeably less noise around it than around Expedition 33.
According to betting odds, the picture so far is as follows: Clair Obscur is a confident favorite, Dispatch and Indiana Jones share the second line, the rest are outright outsiders with chances below 5%.
A plausible scenario is that Clair Obscur takes Best Game and several technical categories, while surprises are possible in the acting and Narrative categories, where the jury’s opinion often differs from the expectations of the community.
