And the BAFTA eSports award goes to… Clash Royale
Yes, you read that right.
Mobile game Clash Royale just won the 2017 Esports Audience Award at the BAFTA’s, one of Britain’s top award shows. As the name suggest, the winner of the award is determined by fan vote. The Supercell-developed game beat out big titles in the category like CS:GO, Dota 2, League of Legends, Overwatch, and Street Fighter V.
According to a report from Dot Esports, BAFTA’s newly-appointed vice president of games, David Gardner, is an investor in Supercell. This caused a stir among the community, as it makes for a conflict of interest. Even Clash Royale players don’t think that Supercell has done a good job in pushing the game as an esport. Clash Royale only had a handful of tournaments in 2016.
The BAFTA, or The British Academy of Film and Television Arts, is an independent charity that supports, develops and promotes the art forms of the moving image – film, television and game in the United Kingdom. BAFTA started to recognize video games and other interactive media in 1998, where they held their inaugural BAFTA Interactive Entertainment Awards ceremony. In 2006, BAFTA announced the decision to “give video games equal status with film and television,” and games are now a major topic that annually warrant recognition.
Other notable winners in the 2017 British Academy Games Awards include Niantic’s Pokemon Go for Mobile, Blizzard’s Overwatch for Mulitplayer, and Naughty Dogs’ Uncharted 4 for Best Game. You can check out the full list of winners here.
Feature image from Supercell
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