Give it up for the Gaming BAFTAs

Thursday 25 March

Titles like Batman: Arkham Asylum are flying the flag for the British games industry.

Last week Jason and I attended one of the biggest nights in the gaming industry’s calendar: the Gaming BAFTAs in London. We weren’t just there for the the free bubbly and canapes, of course – we presented a couple of the awards – but the event really struck home how far games have come.

It’s no longer an exaggeration to say that the games industry is now up there with the movie and TV industries. BAFTA have given it its own prestigious awards show, of course, but the sheer amount of money generated by games means that what was once considered a fad is now taken very seriously indeed.

It helps, of course, that are so many fantastic, great looking and innovative games out there – many of which are British made, like the brilliant, groundbreaking Batman: Arkham Asylum. And with yesterday’s Budget announcing new tax breaks for Brit-based games developers, we could well see the number of great homegrown titles rising rapidly in the next few years. We’ll raise a glass to that (but maybe not one of cider, given the extra tax).

You can see how Batman: Arkham Asylum and a host of other top titles fared at the BAFTAs by watching our exclusive video report.