"Destiny," the post-apocalyptic first-person shooter developed by Bungie, has surpised the gaming community when it was named as Best Game at the recently-concluded British Game Academy Awards, hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts. The game, the first one ever published by Bungie after the much-acclaimed "Halo" series, bested other game nominees like "Alien: Isolation," "Dragon Age: Inquisition," "Mario Kart 8," "Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor," and "Monument Valley."
In accepting the award, Harold Ryan, Bungie's president, profusely thanked the players on behalf of the company.
"It's always a labour of love that we do because of the passion of the fans," he said. "They really are the ones who drive you to put the energy and time into putting the game together."
The award was met with mixed reviews since the title has not bagged anything other than nominations in other categories. It was nominated for the game design, multiplayer, and persistent game awards. "Destiny" beat several big-budget titles such as "Assassin's Creed Unity" and "Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare," which went home without winning any awards.
Other upsets include "OlliOlii" winning the Best Sport Video game award over "Fifa 15" and "Forza Horizon 2"; actress Ashley Johnson defeating Kevin Spacey for best performance in "The Last of Us: Left Behind"; and "Lumino City's" upset win over Ubisoft's "Far Cry 4" and "Assasin's Creed Unity" for artistic achievement.
This is not the first time that the "Destiny" was nominated as the best game of the year. Previous nominations were also made at the 2015 Game Developer's Choice Awards and the D.I.C.E. Awards.
The BAFTA's British Game Academy Awards is a showcase of the very best in video games across all platforms for the year. This year's awards were contested by 51 games across 17 categories. Previous winners of the Best Game award are last year's "The Last of Us," "Dishonored" in 2013, "Portal 2" in 2012, and "Mass Effect 2" in 2011.
