The 2026 BAFTA Games Awards with Google Play are almost upon us, with a whole host of games from AAA to indie vying for recognition.
Heading up what will undoubtedly be a laundry list of industry talent presenting the awards, the show as a whole is being hosted by presenter and content creator Elz the Witch, a self-professed lifelong gamer.
Ahead of the show, she told us what it means to be hosting the show this year.
"It feels great, I still really can't even believe it, and it's coming around so quickly now as well," Elz explained.
"But I just feel so honoured to even have been given this opportunity as someone who loves video games so much, and just to be in a room with so many people that I admire and I respect and that help keep the games industry alive in the UK.
"I'm just so excited, and I just want to get out on the stage now and do it."
Elz started out as a content creator making YouTube videos, and remains blown away at the doors this has opened for her in the years since.
"I think and go back to where my brain was during the time of starting my YouTube channel and building a computer for the first time and learning how to even record audio and record myself, and I think that I never imagined that I would even do anything like this."
While she describes herself as "more reserved," you wouldn't be able to tell from her career, which has seen her take to radio stations such as Kiss Xtra and Kerrang, as well as presenting the Sidemen Charity Match multiple times.
Hosting the BAFTAs, however, is another step up.
"I think it's the biggest thing that I've done in my career to date, because hosting an awards show is an amazing thing. It's a lot," she stated. "I think that the fact that the people in the room are so many people that I admire and I respect, it does put a little bit of pressure on me.
"And I do have my nerves, but I think nerves are a good thing, because every time in my career when I've done something that I felt nervous about, it has just been one of the best experiences."
Like most gamers, Elz has been into gaming since she was a child. Initially, she would sit and watch her sister play Final Fantasy VII, reading the dialogue to her aloud, and she credits "experiencing [games] through the form of other people" as where her love for gaming originated.
But beyond the years of Final Fantasy and Pokémon, she found that as a young girl, her hobby was one she had to defend.
She described a particular memory from school, and of beating the boys in her class at a racing game on the school computers.
"I remember all the boys in the class were so annoyed. They were like, 'You're a girl, you shouldn't have come first. Why did you get the fastest time?' And I think that was my first experience of being judged for liking video games because I was a girl.
"And if I look back to that time period, there weren't really women to look up to in the industry in the way that there are now.
"So that was my first experience of 'you're a girl, you shouldn't like video games', but it lit something inside of me, this feeling of proving people wrong."
Elz acknowledges the strides that have been in the past few decades when it comes to women in gaming, but that more work needs to be done.
"I think that it's a combination between the games companies and the developers and the studios [to solve the issue], but I also think that social media companies have a huge responsibility.
"There is so much ridicule that people are opened up to online. If you're a content creator, even just the comments, people are free to say what they want, apparently.
"And I think that there are such strict crackdowns in other areas of the internet where people are banned, but for some reason, when it comes to abuse that people receive in video games, the technology doesn't exist."
She noted that, while she has thick skin, that's something she has developed in response to abuse, and not something she wants others to have to do.
"I try and think of younger women in the space trying to get into video games, or just a casual gamer that logs on and receives abuse for no reason. It's not very nice, and I know that can really affect some people, so it's worrying, and I think there is a lot more work that can be done."
As for the importance of women in the industry itself, Elz believes that "it's so incredible important to just show that we're here and we're here to stay, and there's nothing that anyone can say or do about it, because I think we're so pivotal to this industry.
"I think that having me presenting the awards, I hope that I can help demonstrate that despite the trials and tribulations on the way up, I'm still here, and I want to make an impact for the next generation of women."
The BAFTA Games Awards take place on 17 April 2026 at 7:15 BST.
For the full interview, head to the Radio Times Gaming YouTube channel.
Check out more of our Gaming coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
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