GWR 2024 Look Inside - Flipbook - Page 20
ARTS & MEDIA
Most BAFTA nominations
God of War Ragnarök secured 14 nominations
ahead of the 2023 BAFTA Games Awards on
30 Mar. The continued story of the Spartan warrior
Kratos and his son Atreus received nods in all the
categories it quali昀椀ed for, as well as six for the cast
(see opposite). The game’s makers walked away with
six gongs on the night, unexpectedly losing out on
Game of the Year to indie shooter Vampire Survivors
(Luca Galante, 2022).
First woman to qualify for a Call of Duty
Challengers Elite tournament
Kelsie “Kels” Grieg (UK) made the cut
for Activision’s elite competition on 5 Jan 2023
playing Call of Duty Modern Warfare II (In昀椀nity
Ward, 2022). The 21-year-old was playing alongside
her “Superstars” teammates James “Genesis”
Smith, Conor “BBConor” Beale and Ewen “Disarray”
Harmer. Call of Duty Challengers Elite is for
amateur players in North America and Europe, with
the best 12 teams competing for a grand prize.
Most critically acclaimed
TV videogame adaptation
HBO’s post-apocalyptic drama The Last of Us
(USA) was rated 84 out of 100 on review
aggregator Metacritic upon its release on
15 Jan 2023. The show is based on Naughty
Dog’s 2013 survival-horror videogame, which
follows smuggler Joel as he escorts 14-yearold Ellie across a monster-ravaged USA.
Highest score in Crossy Road
On 8 Jan 2022, Joshua Beesley (UK) beat his
own record for the fourth time, raising the score to
9,699 points in a mesmerizing 30-min run. Beesley
dominates the leaderboards in Hipster Whale’s
2014 road-crossing endless runner, which sees
the player guide a chicken across
an increasingly dangerous
set of highway hazards.
First winner of the Grammy for game music
At the 65th Annual Grammy Awards on 5 Feb
2023, composer Stephanie Economou (USA)
accepted the inaugural Grammy for Best
Score Soundtrack For Video Games & Other
Interactive Media. She was nominated for her
score for 2022’s Dawn of Ragnarök expansion
to Assassin’s Creed Valhalla (Ubisoft, 2020).
First player to reach level 50 on Pokémon GO
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At 3 a.m. on 26 Jan 2021, “FleeceKing” (aka Daniel Amos,
AUS) attained Pokémon GO’s maximum level – watched by
5,000 Twitch viewers – just 16 min before fellow Australian
“Lauren Lolly” (aka Lauren Bertoni) also hit level 50.
FleeceKing had walked an incredible 20,614 km (12,808 mi)
in pursuit of his goal, catching nearly 800,000 Pokémon.
In Jan 2023, he reached 2 billion XP points on his account.
WRITE A BOOK
Get that idea from your head to the page and who knows where the story might end? Even with the
bene昀椀t of divination lessons, it’s unlikely that J. K. Rowling (UK) foresaw what magic lay in store for
her. The Harry Potter creator was declared the 昀椀rst billionaire author by Forbes in 2004.
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