BAFTA has pledged to make video games a more accepted art form amongst the general public – and help make unfair reportage of the industry a thing of the past.

The body has teamed up with UK retail to offer special trade marketing materials for BAFTA-nominated games that, it has told MCV, can be the first step in an association that will challenge biased and sensational reporting about video games.

Head of awards at BAFTA Anne-Marie Flynn told MCV: “The acknowledgement and acceptance by the media of games as ‘mainstream’ entertainment is happening relatively slowly. I think if anyone can change the perception of games it is BAFTA.

“If we can encourage more and more developers to join the Academy, take part in events and support the Awards, in time we believe that BAFTA can play a major part in attracting that kind of interest to video games.”

Sony Computer Entertainment UK boss and BAFTA games committee chairman Ray Maguire added: “The association with BAFTA can certainly help to make games less alien and more trusted with certain sections of the public. We all know that certain newspapers have gone for the jugular in a very unfair way in the past, and they will find that harder to do with credibility if BAFTA’s name is synonymous with the industry.”

The BAFTA games Awards take place next Tuesday (March 10th) at the Park Lane Hilton in London, with only a few tickets still remaining.

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