"Haven", adventure of a loving couple in space and "Tell Me Why", immersed in their past as two twins in doubt, are the two favorites of the 2nd Pegasus ceremony, the event that rewards the games French video.
The prizes will be presented on March 17 at an evening to be held online because of the Covid-19.
In 2020, for their first edition, the Pegasus, equivalent of the César for video games, had been the last cultural ceremony to be held in public, a few days before the first confinement.
The second, which always rewards French creations, will not have this chance since it will be held exclusively online on March 17.
The Academy of Video Game Arts and Techniques unveiled the list of nominees on Friday: 19 games are in contention in 13 categories.
It is
Haven
, a space adventure centered on a couple of travelers, which leads the nominations, competing in six categories.
Two favorites emerge
Haven
, created by the Montpellier studio The Game Bakers, is in contention in several categories of choice, including best independent game, best sound universe, narrative excellence and "beyond video games" for the message it carries.
Deserved nominations, in our opinion, for this original game which gives pride of place to a subject little approached by video games, namely the couple relationship.
However,
Haven
is not named in the premier category, that of the best game. Three titles are in the running:
Microsoft Flight Simulator
,
WRC 9
and
Tell Me Why
.
Tell Me Why
is precisely the other favorite of the Pegasus 2021 with five nominations.
This storytelling game tells the story of the return to their hometown of Alaska of two twins, Tyler and Alyson Ronan.
A return to their roots that plunges them into their memories, sometimes painful.
Powerful and moving,
Tell Me Why
, the latest creation from the Dontnod studio, is also competing in the "beyond video games" category for having subtly approached the theme of transidentity through the character of Tyler.
A young ceremony which must confirm
Among the others named, we find
There is no Game: Wrong Dimension
, a completely crazy game since it consists in looking for a game within a program… which prevents the player from playing.
A very original concept rewarded with four nominations.
Next, with three nominations,
Microsoft Flight Simulator
, the aviation simulation which performed a new takeoff with great fanfare in 2020;
Shady Part of Me
, a rather dark puzzle game;
and
Paper Beast
, a virtual reality experience with paper animals.
The full list of named games is available here.
INTERVIEW>
Pegasus Ceremony: "Video games are the culture of the 21st century"
Last year,
A Plague Tale
won the Pegasus for best video game.
Nominated seven times, the medieval adventure of the Bordeaux studio Asobo took home six prizes.
Although groping on the form, this first ceremony had given a glimpse of the potential to showcase French video games to the general public.
The second edition therefore faces the challenge of the virtual in an attempt to make the Pegasus last over time.