In a video game year dominated by dark, bloody fantasy adventures – and continued job losses and studio closures – it was a cute robot that stole the night at the 2025 Bafta video game awards. Sony's family-friendly platformer Astro Bot won in five categories at yesterday evening's ceremony, including best game and game design. The rest of the awards were evenly spread across a range of Triple A and independent titles. Oil rig thriller Still Wakes the Deep was the next biggest winner with three awards: new intellectual property, performer in a leading role and performer in a supporting role. Clearly actors looking for Bafta-winning roles need look no further than the North Sea.

A decade ago, Abubakar Salim lost his father. An actor by trade, with credits in Raised by Wolves and House of the Dragon's upcoming season, he searched for years for the right medium to work through the hurt. Nothing did it justice--until he tried to make a video game. "If you're really depicting grief in a truthful and honest way, it is so open and chaotic that actually, you can kind of gamify it," he says. Salim is the CEO and creative director of Surgent Studios, the developer behind the upcoming Metroidvania game Tales of Kenzera: Zau.