'I was ignored:' BAFTA criticized after pulling indie game trailer from awards ceremony
BAFTA has confirmed it pulled a trailer for upcoming autobiographical narrative title The Quiet Things from its recent BAFTA Game Awards ceremony.
The project deals with topics such as childhood abuse, self harm and suicide. "The Quiet Things isn't just a game, it's about giving survivors a voice. Alice's story is also many peoples stories, that never get heard," reads the Steam description.
In a statement to Kotaku, BAFTA said the trailer was axed because it contains themes that "may be a trigger to some."
"We made a compliance decision not to show a trailer of an unreleased game that contains themes that may be a trigger for some, in consideration of our guests as we were not in a position to sufficiently warn them," said BAFTA.
"We fully support games that engage with difficult subjects, and we made the decision in relation to our event only and with the wellbeing of all guests as our priority."
The Quiet Things developer Alyx Jones claimed the trailer was pulled at the very last minute and said the decision was "devastating."
In a post on LinkedIn, the Silver Script Games founder explained she had spent two weeks cutting the trailer together, which included making revisions at the request of BAFTA—who had flagged some imagery as potentially harmful.
Even so, Jones said the trailer was cut from the ceremony because it purportedly lacked the appropriate content warnings. She said she offered to make immediate changes but was allegedly "ignored" by BAFTA.
"Last night, on my way to the nominees' party, I got a phone call telling me that the trailer for my indie game The Quiet Things had been pulled from the BAFTA Games Awards 2026, due to its content. It was meant to be shown during the awards show and reveal our release date," wrote Jones.
"[...] The Quiet Things is deeply personal to me. Its my story. Its about trauma, abuse, survival, and giving survivors a voice. Its about people being shut down and silenced, and what that does to them. So there is something deeply painful about reliving that again now. Art should make people feel something."
Jones has since uploaded the trailer to YouTube and implored viewers to decided for themselves whether BAFTA's decision was justified.
Game Developer has reached out to BAFTA for comment.
