Arc Raiders vs Dispatch: BAFTA's 2026 Best Game Race Just Got Spicy

BAFTA has dropped its 2026 Games Awards longlist, and it’s… a lot. A total of 64 games are now in contention across 17 categories, from Best Game to British Game and all the craft awards in between. Arc Raiders and Dispatch are the standout names in the Best Game longlist, but they’re sharing space with heavy hitters like Hades II, Hollow Knight: Silksong and Indiana Jones and the Great Circle.

For anyone in the UAE staring at a growing backlog, BAFTA has basically handed you a curated playlist for the next few months.

BAFTA’s 2026 Games longlist: the basics

BAFTA – the British Academy of Film and Television Arts – also runs one of the most respected games awards shows in the industry, honouring “outstanding creative achievement” in video games.

• 64 games are on the longlist for the 2026 BAFTA Games Awards
• They’re spread across 17 competitive categories
• BAFTA members vote on Best Game and British Game in February
• Specialist juries handle the rest of the categories
• Nominations land on 12 March, winners on 17 April 2026

The longlist is BAFTA’s first “cut” of the year: it’s not the final nominations, but it shows which games have actually made it onto the Academy’s radar. For devs, making this list already counts as recognition; for players, it’s a handy filter on what’s worth your time from 2025’s flood of releases and updates.

Arc Raiders, Dispatch and the fight for Best Game

The headline list is always Best Game, and this year BAFTA has named 10 longlisted titles.

• Best Game longlist:
  • Arc Raiders
  • Blue Prince
  • Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
  • Death Stranding 2: On The Beach
  • Dispatch
  • Ghost of Yōtei
  • Hades II
  • Hollow Knight: Silksong
  • Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
  • Split Fiction

Arc Raiders and Dispatch are the more surprising inclusions here, sitting alongside more expected awards darlings like Hades II and Silksong. Arc Raiders is clearly landing with critics after a long and messy road to release, while Dispatch’s blend of superhero drama and Telltale-style storytelling has struck a chord with at least some reviewers.

For UAE players, this list is a good mix of “obvious must-plays” and “wait, what is that?” – the kind of thing you can work through over winter break before the awards night hits.

64 games across 17 categories – and plenty you already know

Beyond Best Game, the longlist spreads out across everything from Narrative and Music to Multiplayer and Evolving Game.

You’ll spot a lot of familiar names:

• Big franchises:
  • Assassin’s Creed Shadows, Battlefield 6, Borderlands 4, Call of Duty: Black Ops 7
  • Cyberpunk 2077, Sea of Thieves, Fallout 76, The Elder Scrolls Online
• Online and live titles:
  • EA SPORTS FC 26, Helldivers 2, Dune: Awakening, Vampire Survivors
• Smaller or quirkier picks:
  • Tiny Bookshop, BALL x PIT, Is This Seat Taken?, The Midnight Walk, and Roger

Some of these are older games getting love in Evolving Game and other ongoing categories, while others are completely new IPs. BAFTA’s own write-up even frames the longlist as “the best video games of 2025”, which is a pretty strong hint that this is their official “play these” list for the year.

If you’re already deep into live service grinds, this is basically BAFTA saying: yes, your backlog guilt is valid.

Key BAFTA dates to keep an eye on

BAFTA has set out a clear schedule for the rest of the awards cycle.

• February 2026:
  • BAFTA members vote on Best Game and British Game
  • Specialist juries vote on all other categories
• 12 March 2026:
  • Official nominations announced
• 17 April 2026:
  • 2026 BAFTA Games Awards ceremony takes place

BAFTA usually streams its shows on platforms like Twitch and YouTube, as it did for previous longlist streams and full ceremonies.

Exact start times for the 2026 show aren’t confirmed yet, but if BAFTA sticks to an evening slot in the UK, that’ll likely mean a late-night stream for viewers in the UAE – nothing a bit of karak and a power nap can’t fix.

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