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11th April 2024
BAFTA Games Awards 2024 Coverage
Alan Wake 2 Wins Audio & Artistic Achievements
[Updated 19th April]

16:49  Rachel  

Tonight, the BAFTA Games Awards 2024 took place at 7pm BST (local time), a celebration dedicated to the past twelve months in the games industry. 

Remedy entered the event with Alan Wake 2, having been nominated across eight categories, including Animation, Artistic Achievement, Audio Achievement, Music, Narrative, Performer in a Supporting Role (Sam Lake as Alex Casey), Technical Achievement, and Best Game. It was a closely run event, with many surprises and celebrations. 

Representing Remedy at the show were Sam Lake (Creative Director), Kyle Rowley (Game Director), Richard Lapington (Audio Director at Remedy), Petri Alanko (Composer), Joonas Tamminen (Executive Producer) and Janne Pulkkinen (Art Director). Also in attendance were Holly Reddaway (Voice and Performance Director) and David Harewood (Actor, Warlin Door), who was taking on the role of host for a category. 

If you're not familiar with the organizers, BAFTA (British Academy of Film and Television Arts) is an internationally known independent arts charity that celebrates the best of film, television and games. While known in connection with the UK, they also work to help grow the international art community.

For the event, developers from across the globe descended to the Queen Elizabeth Hall at the Southbank Centre in London, with international viewers watching live on YouTube, Twitch, and Twitter.


As our wrap-up features a lot of different mini-events throughout BAFTA Games 2024 ceremony, we've listed all our segments below: 

- On The Red Carpet (interviews with Kyle Rowley and Sam Lake, plus transcript)
- Acceptance Speeches (transcribed speeches for the artistic and audio awards)
- Late Goodbye Cover (recording of the BAFTA Games tribute to lost friends)
- Remedy's Community Watch Party (an audio gathering on Discord)
- BAFTA Games Awards 2024 Nominees Party (photos from April 10th)
- Red Carpet Photos (photos of developers as they arrive)
- Post Ceremony Dinner Photos (photos of the Remedy team with their trophies)
- Social Media Coverage (posts from social media covering the event)


On The Red Carpet w. Jane Douglas & Lucy James

Ahead of the event, Jane Douglas and Lucy James hosted a special red carpet livestream in which they spoke to nominees and hosts from the night ahead. Halfway through, they spoke with Kyle Rowley and Sam Lake about their feelings going into the event, their nominations, and what they've been playing lately. Below you can see the show timestamped to Kyle's arrival, with a transcript of both interviews underneath. 


Jane: How's it going? How's your evening?

Kyle: Very good, yeah! No, I'm very excited. Never been to BAFTAs or anything like this, so yeah, red carpet, probably the first one. 

Jane: You seem very relaxed, though. Is that just your vibe?

Kyle: Yeah. Well, I woke up with a bit of a hangover this morning, actually, if I'm honest, so… 

Jane: I hear you may have been at an arcade last night? Were you at an arcade? Did you play anything?

Kyle: No, I watched people play.

Jane: Ah, okay! 

Kyle: No, I actually did play Street Fighter, and I lost really badly. 

Jane: Ah, no. Well, better luck this evening, obviously. 

Kyle: Well, I hope so.

Jane: You're nominated in that many categories. Was that a surprise or-

Kyle: Yeah, obviously. 

Jane: -you knew it would happen?

Kyle: We never expect, yeah, but I'm obviously very happy to be nomianted in so many categories. Such an amazing year for games last year, it's like, ridiculous. So, a lot of stiff competition but, y'know, we're excited so...

Jane: What has been the most rewarding part, apart from being nominated for BAFTAs obviously, what's been the most rewarding part having launched the game?

Kyle: I think just seeing fan reaction, I guess in general? Like, we spent a lot of time on Reddit, reading people's fan theories. So, if you're on Reddit posting, we've already have read it. I've probably read it. Y'know, I think that we have a lot of ambiguity in our stories and they leave a lot of mysteries and open questions so, lots of theories. I really like reading all that stuff. So, it's been great. 

Jane: With that much ambiguity in the story, is there an Alan Wake bible, somewhere that just lays it all out, or is it just locked away in Sam Lake's head? 

Kyle: Yeah, most of it is probably locked away in Sam's head. I feel like Sam sometimes doesn't even remember. We'll sometimes refer to fansites to remember what the hell we put into our games sometimes as well, so it's hard! 

Lucy: You mentioned that it's been an incredible year for games. What have you been playing? What are you playing right now? 

Kyle: I've been playing… I've played the Dead Space Remake, which was amazing. 

Lucy: Very good! 

Kyle: I've finished Spider-Man 2 which was amazing. Started Baldur's Gate [3]. The game is so big that I kinda started it and I was… I need to, like, time off to kind of play it, to dedicate time. Playing Final Fantasy XII Rebirth right now, which is really great. So yeah, awesome games!

Lucy: Well, Kyle, thank you so much for joining us. Best of luck in there. 

Kyle: Thank you very much. Awesome to speak to you, as always. Have a good evening! 

Jane: Have a great evening! Thank you so much. 

Lucy: Thank you! 

Jane: See you in there. Go get started on the champagne. Alright. 

Lucy: Alright. 

Jane: I mean, who could we have next? 

Lucy: Who could possibly follow? 

Jane: Who could follow Kyle from Remedy…

Lucy: But Sam Lake from Remedy. 

Jane: But Sam. Everybody, please welcome Sam Lake from Remedy.

Lucy: Sam, come in. 

Jane: The man himself. The man of the hour. 

Lucy: Hello. 

Jane: Sam, welcome. 

Sam: Hello. 

Jane: Hi! 

Lucy: I'll give you my mic. 

Sam: Thank you. Thank you. 

Jane: How is your evening going? 

Sam: Fantastic! 

Jane: You're having a lovely time?

Sam: I'm loving being here. Yeah. 

Jane: Good, good, good. Okay, how- we just asked Kyle, how does it feel to be nominated in this many categories? 

Sam: Incredible. 

Jane: Yes?

Sam: Always there is a side to it where you are kind of… is this real? Is this really happening? Do we deserve all of this? It's fantastic. So much hard work goes into making these games and… we are proud of it and care about it a lot, seeing that others think the same way, and appreciate the work means the world.

Jane: That's so lovely. I want to talk about the game but, just just briefly, you told me a story yesterday about what you're wearing this evening. There's a story, a history, to this tuxedo, is there not?

Sam: Yes. 

Jane: Could you share it because I think it's such a lovely story about BAFTA. 

Sam: Well, I was staying in Oxford, 2020, writing off-site for the last part of Control and first parts of Alan Wake 2, and the plan was to stay for a couple of months. And we were nominated for a BAFTA with Control. So, I was planning on pretty much doing BAFTA as the last thing before going back home. I came down to London to a very nice tailor shop, got a tuxedo, made to measurements. And then Covid happened. The situation was getting worse, had to go back home and to the point where we didn't do any final measurements even, and the tux was left at the shop. So, then finally, it lasted like a year we were talking 'maybe I'll come over' but the situation just kept going and then finally they send it to Finland and I went to a tailor shop in Finland to-

Jane: Oh! I did not know that. 

Sam: -to get the final things done. So now, I've never worn this before. 

Jane: Can we see? This is the Control tuxedo. 

Sam: Yeah. 

Jane: Finished and perfected for the Alan Wake 2 award.

Sam: It still fits! It still fits. 

Jane: All right! Back to the game... also I see my producer over here…

Lucy: David….

Jane: What's going on, David.

David: Could we? 

(David steps into shot with coffee cups.)

Jane: Three cups of coffee is it? I mean… if you would? 

Sam: Of course, of course!

Jane: Wait, I have- David. If you want this, you're going to have to hold my mic. 

(The three hold their coffee)

Jane: On your count. 

(They all take a sip.)

Jane: Thank you. And scene, producer David, there you go.

(They hand back the coffee cups)

Jane: Okay. Notably-

Sam: Thank you, thank you. 

Jane: Honestly, thank you. 

Lucy: That was great. 

Jane: Notably, you yourself are nominated in a performer category. Is that something- that cannot be something you saw coming? I mean, no shade on the performance; it's spectacular-

Sam: Oh, thank you! 

Jane: -but how does it feel to be nominated in a performer category when that is not primarily your job. 

Sam: It's… it's one of those things that, is this really happening? Is this a joke? I mean, imposter syndrome is flaring up really strongly on that one. I appreciate actors and acting as a craft so much. It's really really hard but they make it look easy, but it's also so much fun. I love it. And I had a blast doing everything that I did in the game. 

Lucy: From acting, dancing, music-

Sure: Sure! Yes!

Lucy: -you really got to do kind of everything in Alan Wake 2.

Sam: All in. 

Lucy: What was your favourite part? 

Sam: I mean I… I kind of kept on going back to David Bowie's line in one of his interviews where he's saying that when you are in a place when you feel in water, and your feet are not quite touching the bottom, you are in the right place to do something interesting, and I took that to heart in this. I just want- I love all of these different things, I want to try do as much as I am able. 

Jane: Are you sick of the dance yet? Are you going to be dancing tonight?

Sam: Well, I'm hoping there is a party. 

Lucy: Oh, there is. Finishes at two [am]. So, I feel like we're all going to be dancing at that point. 

Jane: THE dance? Is it going to be THE dance this evening? 

Sam: Well, see. 

Jane: Depends on how many of the categories Alan Wake wins. 

Sam: Yes, yeah. 

Jane: Okay, alright! Well, there's… there's something tempting. 

Lucy: Yeah. 

Jane: Okay, Sam, thank you so much for joining us this evening. 

Sam: Thank you. 

Jane: We'll see you. Best of luck in all the categories. 

Lucy: Best of luck!

Sam: Thank you. 

Jane: Thank you for joining us. We'll see you in there. Yes!

Lucy: Got to do the coffee thing. I'm genuinely- that's probably made my week. 

Jane: I could do with some more coffee actually. 

Lucy: I actually really could too. 



David Harewood w. Radio Times
(Updated 17th April 2024)

British TV news and listings magazine, Radio Times, was out on the red carpet talking to David Harewood, the actor who brought life to the elusive Mr Warlin Door.

In their five minutes together, they talk about David's live-action experience on the Alan Wake 2 set and digital-double experience on Call of Duty. An interesting detail in his interviews is that, while he doesn't talk in-depth about the casting with respect to the family, he does seem to confirm a long-running rumour that the original character was written with Lance Reddick in mind.

You can watch the video, or read about the interview, on the Radio Times website, HERE! 



Metro's GameCentral Red Carpet Coverage
(Updated 17th April 2024)

Metro GameCentral was on the Red Carpet, with Mahin Kesore talking to nominees about the year just gone. You can see the full twelve-minute wrap-up, along with interviews with Sam Lake, below...


Sam's Transcript #1: We felt like we should go further into the horror that... horror is doing amazingly well. It used to be, very much, this niche thing, but more and more, it's been embraced by mainstream audiences. Horror films and TV shows, and it just felt like the time is right for this and us to do something big with that. And also, because we slowed down the pacing in a horror experience compared to high-octane action, I felt the opportunity there to tell and do more storytelling. I'm really, really proud with what we've achieved. Seeing other people love it and it being respected as a work of art." 

Sam's Transcript #2: Games are obviously still a new form of expression, and I've been working on games now for twenty-nine years. How it has evolved, for the longest time, I've felt that where there was news or articles being written, it used to be just from the business perspective. Of this huge of a budget or this much profit, or this kind of a deal. And it's only been these recent years when I've seen a really drastic change in to all kinds of interest and points of view from culture perspectives, and pop culture perspectives, and art. 



Acceptance Speeches

At the end of the evening, Remedy took home two awards; Audio Achievement and Artistic Achievement. 


First up was Richard Lapington (Audio Director), who accepted the award for Audio Achievement on behalf of his audio team. Stepping onto the stage, he unfolded a piece of paper filled with names from the department. "Let me get my piece of paper ready. This is an honour; thank you, BAFTA. So, first, I would like to thank my amazing audio team: Tazio [Schiesari], Gulli [Gunnarsson], Thomas [Holmes], Joshua [Bell], Kit [Challis], Henry [Scott], Ville [Sorsa], Pauli [Ondruska], Tanelli [Suoranta], Arthur [Tisseront], Sam [Hughes] and Adam [Butterworth]. I’d also like to thank our partners, particularly Dynamedion and Red Pipe. Thank you so much!"


The second award for Artistic Achievement was accepted by Remedy's Art Director, Janne Pulkkinen. He held the newly presented trophy in his hands. As he stepped up to the microphone, he said, "Wow. Thank you! Thank you, BAFTA! It's a huge, if somewhat lonely, honour to accept this award on behalf of a huge, huge development team. I'd like to thank Sam Lake, Kyle Rowley, for just incredible, wonderful creative partnership that we had in this project. And then. actually next to them, also our Executive Producer, Joonas Tamminen for being sometimes stern, always compassionate, it is his stewardship of the project. 

"But, of course, the biggest thanks, thanks to all of the art team. I've got the pleasure to work with *opens piece of paper* I need to make sure that I mention- I can't unfortunately mention all the names, but I'll try to mention a few key contributors and leads that were part of the team. So, thank you John Crossland, Johannes Richter, Ron Frölich,  Maiju Härkönen, Maikki Harju, Antti Puomio, Damian Stempniewski, and Nazareno Urbano. It's a privilege to work with you. 

"And, additionally, I'd like to thank also our cinematics director, Anssi Määttä and cinematographer Mikko Riikonen, who were a key part of building a game that actually also featured a lot of live action and how to integrate it all together was a challenge, but it was a pleasurable one because of these two gentlemen. And finally, building a visually complex game like this requires a strong technical foundation, so a huge thank you also to our Northlight tech team. These pixels they wouldn't exist without you. Thank you."




Late Goodbye Cover

During the awards ceremony, BAFTA acknowledged those who were missing in the industry with a special music presentation. The slideshow was accompanied by a cover of Late Goodbye, created for Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne by Poets of the Fall, and likely chosen in memory of James McCaffrey, the voice of the eponymous hero who passed away in December. The cover was performed by Julie Elven with Aaron Grimes and Daniel Oats.

Ahead of the BAFTA Games Awards, the studio had arranged a community watch-along via their Discord server events voice channel, starting thirty minutes before the ceremony goes live. 

Writing on the Remedy Discord server, Julius (Development Manager) announced, "This Thursday at 18:00 UTC, the BAFTA Games Awards are taking place where Alan Wake 2 has 8 nominations! To celebrate these nominations, we will be organizing a watch party for the awards here on the Remedy Entertainment Discord server! Join us on Thursday starting at 17:30 UTC in the events voice channel! You'll be able to watch the BAFTA Game Awards together with the community while chatting in the channel chat!"


BAFTA Games Awards 2024 Nominees Party 

On April 10th, the day before the big day, BAFTA held a special ceremony at the Langham Hotel for those on this year's nominees list. Attendees had their photographs taken on behalf of the organisation by Scott Garfitt and Tristan Fewings. Through these glimpses into the guest list of developers representing the studio.





 

Red Carpet Photos

On the day of the event, nominees walked the red carpet at the Queen Elizabeth Hall at the Southbank Centre in London. The weather was light, though slightly overcast, with a temperature around 17°C. Jane Douglas and Lucy James, both incredibly local journalists who have been key members of the games industry, covered the red carpet event live on the BAFTA YouTube channel. 







Post-Ceremony Dinner Photos

After the event was the post-ceremony dinner, which featured tiny themed BAFTA award desserts and the opportunity for the attendees to talk with fellow industry professionals.






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