Racing Titles Make BAFTA Games Longlist Including Forza and F1 23

We’re well into the award nomination window for video games, and it’s starting to look like a good opportunity for racing titles. After Forza Motorsport took home two awards at The Game Awards 2023, the haul could be about to grow with the BAFTA Games long list announcement.

The year of racing

2023 has been a mixed year for racing games. Despite the launch of major titles like Forza Motorsport and EA Sports WRC, there have also been some bumps in the road.

Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown was delayed yet again, this time to 2024, and the big titles have had several teething troubles. Forza Motorsport is still plagued with issues, including invisible tracks during races, and even annual titles like F1 23 have underwhelmed.

With so many incredible games launching during 2023, it looked like racing titles would be mostly forgotten in the award announcements. BAFTA however could still spring a surprise or two.

BAFTA Games long list dominated by racing titles

No less than six racing games feature on the BAFTA Games long list, with some nominated in more than one category.

After taking home two awards at The Game Awards 2023, Forza Motorsport continues its run of success by appearing in the Multiplayer category. Despite how feature-heavy Forza’s multiplayer is, it may still have a task to beat the likes of Baldurs Gate 3 to win the award.

Forza’s sister title, Forza Horizon 5 is also nominated, but in the ‘Evolving Game’ category. With many updates, new content, and game fixes arriving regularly since its launch in 2021, Forza Horizon 5 could be a worthy winner.

Elsewhere, both F1 23 and EA Sports WRC are nominated for ‘British Game’. With both developed by Codemasters, based in the UK, we could potentially see a racing title take the home crown. EA Sports WRC had a successful debut this year, so it's likely the gong will go to the rally title.

LEGO 2K Drive is nominated in both the ‘Family’ and ‘Multiplayer’ categories. If the game is to win anything, it’s more likely to be family, as again the Multiplayer category is already stacked. An underrated kart racer, LEGO 2K Drive is a great game to just sit back and race with no limits.

Finally, we have Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. Despite now being over six years old, MK8 Deluxe still sees regular content added. This sees the game nominated in the ‘Evolving Game’ category, giving Forza Horizon a run for its money.

We're unlikely to see all of these racing games nominated when the shortlists are announced in March next year, but we’re hopeful a couple will surprise the masses. It remains to be seen if 2024 provides some outstanding racing titles to give the rest some competition.

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