East Preston gamer stunned by BAFTA nomination

Talented Liam Gilbey, 16, has been revealed as one of the finalists of BAFTA’s Young Game Designers competition for his innovative gaming concept.

Liam, a Year-11 student at The Angmering School, impressed a panel of judges with his idea for game Randomals.

He will next week be joining a glittering awards ceremony at BAFTA HQ, in London, to discover whether or not he has won the award.

Speaking to the Gazette, the excited teenager said: “I was on my own at the time when I had a call from this woman who told me I had been nominated.

“I didn’t say much to start with. I just smiled and jumped around and laughed. I must have looked like a complete weirdo. I was ecstatic, it means so much.”

Liam’s game concept focuses on imaginary creatures called Randomals.

His idea will allow players to create their own cyberspace heroes and tackle missions and objectives in an open virtual world.

“The game will evolve as the player evolves,” he explained. “So you can be six or 16 and still have a great gaming experience.”

This is the fourth year the competition has been held by BAFTA.

It seeks to find the nation’s most talented young game designers and give them a shot at working with industry experts to realise their dreams.

Liam added that win or lose, this was an enormous opportunity to pursue his career ambition.

“This is such a great chance for me,” he said, “I mean to have a BAFTA nomination on your CV is huge.”

He added that he hopes to create his own design studio with other young game designers.

“I’ve always been pretty ambitious and I think this would be a great chance to work with other really talented gamers.”

The competition is designed for 11 to 16-year-olds.

Liam will find out whether or not he has been successful during the awards ceremony in Piccadilly, on July 12.

If he is victorious, he could see his game created by a professional production company and then produced for gamers around the world to test.