No mobile games nominated for Best Game at BAFTA Games Awards 2026

• 42 games have been nominated for the 22nd BAFTA Games Awards.
• Mobile exclusives were notably absent.

Nominations for the 22nd BAFTA Games Awards have been announced, with the full list comprising 42 games across 17 categories.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 leads the pack with 12 nominations, followed by nine for Dispatch and eight for Ghost of Yōtei.

Mobile games are often snubbed at awards shows like the BAFTAs or The Game Awards despite the platform comprising the largest gaming audience. Of the six Best Game nominees at the BAFTA Game Awards this year, not one is playable on mobile. Even on the longlist for Best Game, there wasn’t a single mobile game present.

Nominees unveiled

The BAFTA Games Awards will take place at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London on April 17th, 2026.

Best Game nominees are:

• Arc Raiders
• Blue Prince
• Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
• Dispatch
• Ghost of Yōtei
• Indiana Jones and the Great Circle

A total of 17 studios have received their first-ever BAFTA nominations, such as Embark Studios, Funcom, Neowiz and Sandfall Interactive.

Titles available on mobile like Monument Valley 3, Ball x Pit and Is This Seat Taken? have also been nominated - in categories like British Game or Game Design - but they can also be played on other platforms like PC.

"This year’s nominations reflect an industry reshaping itself - with a vibrant mix of established studios standing alongside a wide range of independent studios, and a number of development teams earning nominations for the first time," said BAFTA Games Committee chair Tara Saunders.

"The exceptional craft, artistry and innovation behind these titles shines through. A nomination is an extraordinary achievement, and I extend my warmest congratulations to every nominee for their innovation, hard work and resilience."

Mobile overlooked

Games were eligible for a BAFTA nomination provided they released in the UK between November 2024 and November 2025. This means a range of hit mobile games like Habby’s Capybara Go, SuperPlay’s Disney Solitaire and Century Games’ Kingshot, each earning hundreds of millions of dollars, were eligible but didn’t even make the longlist.

Alternatively, an older title could have been nominated for Evolving Game.

We spoke with Midjiwan CEO Christian Lövstedt, developer of Battle of Polytopia, after the BAFTA longlist went live. He argued the exclusion of mobile games sends the message to developers, publishers and investors that mobile is "not a place for ambition and artistry", which he believes impacts hiring and funding.

Of course, there is an entry fee to submit a game for a BAFTA nomination, so the lack of mobile exclusives could partly be a result of developers feeling unmotivated to apply.

Lövstedt added: "I think mobile game companies need to get more involved to get their games acknowledged, and the industry decision makers for these awards need to actively look at the mobile industry more."