The SXSW Gaming Awards are awards given to video games during the annual

South by Southwest South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, ...

Festival (SXSW), held in

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the county seat, seat and largest city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and Williamson County, Texas, Williamson co ...

typically in March of that year. The Awards are part of the SXSW Gaming Expo which is part of the SXSW Interactive branch of the festival.

History

Video games had been part of the SXSW within the SXSW Interactive branch; in 2006, the festival launched "Screenburn" as a special portion of the Interactive branch for video games, and later renamed this to SXSW Gaming in 2013.SXSW Interactive: A Growing Outlet For Video Games
Matt Clark, ''iQU', March 14, 2012 Matthew Crump, a veteran game developer, joined SXSW in 2012 and spearheaded the efforts to create the SXSW Gaming Awards to premiere during the 2014 festival. The new awards in fifteen different categories were announced in September 2013 to be awarded during the 2014 festival. However, Crump died from a heart attack just before the festival. The event organizers opted to rename the "Cultural Innovation in Gaming" to the "Matthew Crump Cultural Innovation Award" to honor Crump's contributions to the festival. Future years added additional award categories.

Format

Developers and publishers must submit their games for consideration to the festival organizers prior to a deadline; these games generally must have had public release in the preceding calendar year to the festival (for example, for the inaugural 2014 awards, games had to be released in 2013). The festival's organizers along with a panel of industry experts review all submissions and select the top five for each of the game categories. These are then opened to public voting for the final winner for each award to be chosen. The Gamer's Voice awards are exceptional to these: they are limited only to

indie game An indie game, short for independent video game, is a video game typically created by individuals or smaller development teams without the financial and technical support of a large game publisher, in contrast to most "AAA" (triple-A) games. ...

s released in the previous calendar year or the current year, and which any member of the public may nominate. The festival organizers select multiple games (typically more than five) after playing through each as nominees for the award. These games are featured in playable form at the SXSW festival to allow attendees to try them before they vote for their favorite. The awards ceremony is held near the end of the SXSW event, with celebrity and gaming hosts presenting the awards. The 2020 SXSW event was cancelled in light of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...

, but the award winners were still named online on March 24, 2020.

Ceremonies

Awards

Video Game of the Year

This award was named "Game of the Year" in 2014, but was renamed when the Mobile and Tabletop awards were added. * 2014 – '' The Last of Us'',

Naughty Dog Naughty Dog, LLC (formerly JAM Software, Inc.) is an American First-party developer, first-party video game developer based in Santa Monica, California, Santa Monica, California. Founded by Andy Gavin and Jason Rubin in 1984, the studio was acqu ...

* 2015 – '' Dragon Age: Inquisition'',

BioWare BioWare is a Canadian video game developer based in Edmonton, Alberta. It was founded in 1995 by newly graduated Doctor of Medicine, medical doctors Ray Muzyka, Greg Zeschuk and Augustine Yip, alongside Trent Oster, Brent Oster, and Marcel Zes ...

* 2016 – '' The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt'',

CD Projekt Red CD Projekt S.A. () is a Polish video game developer, publisher and distributor based in Warsaw, founded in May 1994 by Marcin Iwiński and Michał Kiciński. Iwiński and Kiciński were video game retailers before they founded the company, whi ...

* 2017 – '' Uncharted 4: A Thief's End'',

* 2018 – '' The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild'', Nintendo * 2019 – ''

God of War A war god in mythology associated with war, combat, or bloodshed. They occur commonly in both monotheistic and polytheistic religions. Unlike most gods and goddesses in polytheistic religions, monotheistic deities have traditionally been por ...

'',

Sony Interactive Entertainment Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE), formerly known as Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE), is a multinational video game and digital entertainment company wholly owned by multinational conglomerate Sony. The SIE Group is made up of two legal co ...

* 2020 – '' Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice'', FromSoftware/

Activision Activision Publishing, Inc. is an American video game publisher based in Santa Monica, California. It serves as the publishing business for its parent company, Activision Blizzard, and consists of several subsidiary studios. Activision is one ...

* 2021 – ''

Hades Hades (; grc-gre, ᾍδης, Háidēs; ), in the ancient Greek religion and myth, is the god of the dead and the king of the underworld, with which his name became synonymous. Hades was the eldest son of Cronus and Rhea, although this also ...

'',

Supergiant Games Supergiant Games, LLC is an American independent video game developer and Video game publisher, publisher based in San Francisco. It was founded in 2009 by Amir Rao and Gavin Simon, and is known for the critically acclaimed games ''Bastion (vide ...

* 2022 – '' Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker'',

Square Enix is a Japanese multinational holding company, production enterprise and entertainment conglomerate, best known for its ''Final Fantasy'', ''Dragon Quest'', '' Star Ocean'' and ''Kingdom Hearts'' role-playing video game franchises, among numerou ...

Tabletop Game of the Year

* 2015 – ''

Star Realms ''Star Realms'' is a card-based deck building science-fiction tabletop game, designed by Rob Dougherty and Darwin Kastle and published in 2014 by Wise Wizard Games. The game started out as a Kickstarter campaign in 2013. The goal of ''Star ...

'',

White Wizard Games Wise Wizard Games LLC (formerly White Wizard Games) is a games company founded in 2013. They are the creators of Star Realms, Epic Card Game, ''Hero Realms'', and ''Sorcerer''. The company CEO, Rob Dougherty, and Creative Director, Darwin Kastl ...

* 2016 – ''

Pandemic Legacy A pandemic () is an epidemic of an infectious disease that has spread across a large region, for instance multiple continents or worldwide, affecting a substantial number of individuals. A widespread endemic (epidemiology), endemic disease wi ...

'', Z-Man Games * 2017 – '' Arkham Horror: The Card Game'',

Fantasy Flight Games Fantasy Flight Games (FFG) is a game company based in Roseville, Minnesota, United States, that creates and publishes role-playing, board, card, and dice games. As of 2014, it is a subsidiary of Asmodée Éditions. History Fantasy Flight Publi ...

* 2018 – ''

Gloomhaven ''Gloomhaven'' is a cooperative board game for one to four players designed by Isaac Childres and published by Cephalofair Games in 2017. It is a campaign-based dungeon crawl game including a narrative campaign, 95 unique playable scenarios, an ...

'', Cephalofair Games * 2019 – ''Root'', Leder Games * 2020 – ''Paladins of the West Kingdom'', Renegade Game Studios * 2021 – ''The Search for Planet X'', Renegade Game Studios * 2022 – ''Dune: Imperium'', Dire Wolf Digital

XR Game of the Year

Formally "VR Game of the Year" prior 2020 * 2018 – '' Resident Evil 7: Biohazard'',

Capcom is a Japanese video game developer and publisher. It has created a number of multi-million-selling game franchises, with its most commercially successful being '' Resident Evil'', '' Monster Hunter'', '' Street Fighter'', '' Mega Man'', '' ...

* 2019 – '' Beat Saber'', Beat Games * 2020 – '' No Man's Sky VR'', Hello Games * 2021 – '' Half-Life: Alyx'',

Valve Corporation Valve Corporation is an American video game developer, publisher, and digital distribution company headquartered in Bellevue, Washington. It is the developer of the software distribution platform Steam and the franchises ''Half-Life'', '' Co ...

* 2022 – '' Resident Evil IV VR'', Armature Studio/ Oculus Studios

Indie Game of the Year

* 2021 – ''

Deep Rock Galactic ''Deep Rock Galactic'' is a cooperative first-person shooter video game developed by Danish studio Ghost Ship Games and published by Coffee Stain Publishing. ''Deep Rock Galactic'' was fully released on May 13, 2020 for Windows and Xbox ...

'', Ghost Ship Games/ Coffee Stain Publishing * 2022 – '' Kena: Bridge of Spirits'', Ember Lab

Matthew Crump Cultural Innovation Award

Awarded for a game that challenges the normal idea of video gaming, offering a culturally innovative view of the world * 2014 – ''

Papers, Please ''Papers, Please'' is a puzzle simulation video game created by indie game developer Lucas Pope, developed and published through his production company, 3909 LLC. The game was released on August 8, 2013 for Microsoft Windows and OS X, for ...

'', 3909 LLC * 2015 – '' This War of Mine'', 11 bit studios * 2016 – ''

Undertale ''Undertale'' is a 2015 2D computer graphics, 2D role-playing video game created by American indie developer Toby Fox. The player controls a child who has fallen into the Underground: a large, secluded region under the surface of the Earth, s ...

'', tobyfox * 2017 – '' That Dragon, Cancer'', Numinious Games * 2018 – ''

Doki Doki Literature Club! ''Doki Doki Literature Club!'' (''DDLC'') is a 2017 freeware visual novel developed by American independent game studio Team Salvato for Microsoft Windows, macOS, and Linux. The game was initially distributed through itch.io, and later became av ...

'', Team Salvato * 2019 – ''

Celeste Celeste may refer to: Geography * Mount Celeste, unofficial name of a mountain on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada * Celeste, Texas, a rural city in North Texas ** Celeste High School, public high school located in the city of Celeste, ...

'', Matt Makes Games * 2020 – '' Disco Elysium'', ZA/UM * 2021 – '' Dreams'',

Media Molecule Media Molecule Ltd. is a British video game developer based in Guildford, Surrey. Founded in 2006 by Mark Healey, Alex Evans, David Smith, and Kareem Ettouney, Sony Computer Entertainment acquired the firm in 2010. It became part of SCE Worldw ...

* 2022 – ''

Unpacking Unpacking may refer to: * Unpacking (linguistics), the separation of the features of a segment into distinct segments * ''Unpacking'' (video game), a 2021 puzzle game * Unpacking (computer science), unpacking programming variables See also * ...

'', Witch Beam/ Humble Bundle

Excellence in Animation, Art, and Visual Achievement

Combined the three former awards. * 2021 – ''

Ghost of Tsushima ''Ghost of Tsushima'' is a 2020 action-adventure game developed by Sucker Punch Productions and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment. The player controls Jin Sakai, samurai on a quest to protect Tsushima Island during the first Mongo ...

'',

Sucker Punch Productions Sucker Punch Productions, LLC is an American video game developer based in Bellevue, Washington. It is best known for creating character action games for PlayStation consoles such as '' Sly Cooper'', ''Infamous'', and ''Ghost of Tsushima''. Th ...

* 2022 – '' Forza Horizon 5'',

Playground Games Playground Games Limited is a British video game developer based in Leamington Spa, England. It is known for developing the '' Forza Horizon'' series, which is part of the larger ''Forza'' franchise. In 2018, Playground Games became part of Mi ...

Xbox Game Studios Xbox Game Studios (previously known as Microsoft Studios, Microsoft Game Studios, and Microsoft Games) is an American video game publisher and part of the Microsoft Gaming division based in Redmond, Washington. It was established in March 2000 ...

Excellence in Audio Design

* 2021 – ''

Doom Eternal ''Doom Eternal'' is a first-person shooter game developed by id Software and published by Bethesda Softworks. The sequel to '' Doom'' (2016), and the sixth main game in the ''Doom'' series, it was released on March 20, 2020, for Windows, Pl ...

'' -

id Software id Software LLC () is an American video game developer based in Richardson, Texas. It was founded on February 1, 1991, by four members of the computer company Softdisk: game programmer, programmers John Carmack and John Romero, game designer T ...

/ Bethesda Softworks * 2022 – '' Resident Evil Village'',

Excellence in Game Design

Formerly "Excellence in Design and Direction" * 2014 – '' Tearaway'',

* 2015 – '' Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor'', Monolith Productions * 2016 – '' Bloodborne'', FromSoftware * 2017 – ''

Dishonored 2 ''Dishonored 2'' is a 2016 action-adventure video game developed by Arkane Studios and published by Bethesda Softworks for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. It is the sequel to 2012's ''Dishonored''. After Empress Emily Kaldwin ...

'',

Arkane Studios Arkane Studios SASU is a French video game developer based in Lyon. It was founded in 1999, and released its first game, ''Arx Fatalis'', in 2002. Besides the Lyon studio, Arkane Lyon, Arkane Studios operates Arkane Studios LLC ( trading as Ar ...

* 2018 – '' The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild'', Nintendo * 2019 – ''

'',

* 2020 – '' Control'',

Remedy Entertainment Remedy Entertainment Oyj, trading internationally as Remedy Entertainment Plc, is a Finnish video game developer based in Espoo. Notable games the studio has developed include the first two instalments in the ''Max Payne'' franchise, '' Alan ...

505 Games 505 Games S.p.A. is an Italian video game publisher based in Milan. It was founded in 2006 as a subsidiary of Milan-based Digital Bros. History 505 Games was founded in 2006 in Milan as a subsidiary of Digital Bros. The company found its earl ...

* 2021 – ''

'',

* 2022 – '' Inscryption'',

Daniel Mullins Daniel Joseph Mullins (10 July 1929 – 1 November 2019) was a Roman Catholic prelate who served as the Bishop of Menevia from 1987 to 2001. Biography Born in Kilfinane, County Limerick, Ireland, on 10 July 1929, he was ordained to the priest ...

Devolver Digital Devolver Digital, Inc. is an American video game publisher based in Austin, Texas, specializing in the publishing of indie games. The company was founded in June 2009 by Nigel Lowrie, Harry Miller, Graeme Struthers, Rick Stults, and Mike Wilson ...

Excellence in Original Score

Formerly "Excellence in Musical Score" * 2014 – '' The Last of Us'',

* 2015 – ''

Transistor upright=1.4, gate (G), body (B), source (S) and drain (D) terminals. The gate is separated from the body by an insulating layer (pink). A transistor is a semiconductor device used to Electronic amplifier, amplify or electronic switch, switch ...

'',

* 2016 – ''

Ori and the Blind Forest ''Ori and the Blind Forest'' is a platform-adventure Metroidvania video game developed by Moon Studios and published by Microsoft Studios. The game was released for Xbox One and Microsoft Windows in March 2015, and for Nintendo Switch in Septemb ...

'', Moon Studios * 2017 – '' Doom'',

* 2018 – '' Nier: Automata'',

PlatinumGames PlatinumGames Inc. is a Japanese video game developer that was founded in October 2007 as result of a merger between two companies, Seeds Inc. and Odd Inc. Shinji Mikami, Atsushi Inaba, and Hideki Kamiya founded Seeds Inc. after the closure of ...

* 2019 – ''

Tetris Effect The ''Tetris'' effect (also known as ''Tetris'' syndrome) occurs when people devote so much time and attention to an activity that it begins to pattern their thoughts, mental images, and dreams. It takes its name from the video game '' Tetris''. ...

'', Enhance, Inc. * 2020 – '' Death Stranding'', Kojima Productions/

* 2021 – '' Ori and the Will of the Wisps'', Moon Studios/

* 2022 – '' Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker'',

Excellence in Multiplayer

Formally "Best Multiplayer Game" until 2016 * 2014 – ''

Super Mario 3D World is a platform game developed and published by Nintendo for the Wii U in 2013. It is the sixth original 3D platform game in the ''Super Mario'' series and the sequel to ''Super Mario 3D Land'' (2011) for the Nintendo 3DS. Players control Ma ...

'', Nintendo * 2015 – '' Super Smash Bros. for Wii U'', Nintendo * 2016 – ''

Rocket League ''Rocket League'' is a vehicular soccer video game developed and published by Psyonix. The game was first released for Windows and PlayStation 4 in July 2015, with ports for Xbox One and Nintendo Switch being released later on. In June 2016, ...

'', Psyonix * 2017 – ''

Overwatch ''Overwatch'' is a multimedia franchise centered on a series of online multiplayer first-person shooter (FPS) video games developed by Blizzard Entertainment: '' Overwatch'' released in 2016, and '' Overwatch 2'' released in 2022. Both games f ...

'',

Blizzard Entertainment Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. is an American video game developer and video game publisher, publisher based in Irvine, California. A subsidiary of Activision Blizzard, the company was founded on February 8, 1991, under the name Silicon & Synapse, ...

* 2018 – ''

PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds ''PUBG: Battlegrounds'' (previously known as ''PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds'') is a battle royale game developed by PUBG Studios and published by Krafton. The game, which was inspired by the Japanese film '' Battle Royale'' (2000), is bas ...

'', PUBG Corp. * 2019 – ''

Fortnite ''Fortnite'' is an online video game developed by Epic Games and released in 2017. It is available in three distinct game mode versions that otherwise share the same general gameplay and game engine: '' Fortnite Battle Royale'', a free-to ...

'',

Epic Games Epic Games, Inc. is an American video game and software developer and publisher based in Cary, North Carolina. The company was founded by Tim Sweeney as Potomac Computer Systems in 1991, originally located in his parents' house in Potomac, ...

* 2020 – '' Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers'',

* 2021 – ''

'', Ghost Ship Games/ Coffee Stain Publishing * 2022 – '' It Takes Two'',

Hazelight Studios Hazelight Studios is a video game development company based in Stockholm, Sweden. Founded by director Josef Fares in 2014, the company is best known for developing cooperative multiplayer games '' A Way Out'' and '' It Takes Two''. Both games we ...

Electronic Arts Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) is an American video game company headquartered in Redwood City, California. Founded in May 1982 by Apple employee Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer game industry and promoted th ...

Excellence in Narrative

* 2014 – '' The Last of Us'',

* 2015 – '' The Wolf Among Us'',

Telltale Games Telltale Incorporated (trade name: Telltale Games) was an American video game developer based in San Rafael, California. The company was founded in July 2004 by former LucasArts developers Kevin Bruner, Dan Connors and Troy Molander, following ...

* 2016 – '' The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt'',

* 2017 – '' Uncharted 4: A Thief's End'',

* 2018 – '' What Remains of Edith Finch'', Giant Sparrow * 2019 – '' Detroit: Become Human'',

* 2020 – '' Disco Elysium'', ZA/UM * 2021 – ''

The Last of Us Part II ''The Last of Us Part II'' is a 2020 action-adventure game developed by Naughty Dog and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment for the PlayStation 4. Set five years after ''The Last of Us'' (2013), the game focuses on two playable charac ...

'',

* 2022 – '' Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker'',

Excellence in Technical Achievement

* 2014 – ''

Grand Theft Auto V ''Grand Theft Auto V'' is a 2013 action-adventure game developed by Rockstar North and published by Rockstar Games. It is the seventh main entry in the Grand Theft Auto, ''Grand Theft Auto'' series, following 2008's ''Grand Theft Auto IV'', and ...

'',

Rockstar Games Rockstar Games, Inc. is an American video game publisher based in New York City. The company was established in December 1998 as a subsidiary of Take-Two Interactive, using the assets Take-Two had previously acquired from BMG Interactive. Foun ...

* 2015 – ''

Destiny Destiny, sometimes referred to as fate (from Latin ''fatum'' "decree, prediction, destiny, fate"), is a predetermined course of events. It may be conceived as a predetermined future, whether in general or of an individual. Fate Although oft ...

'',

Bungie Bungie, Inc. is an American video game company based in Bellevue, Washington. It is a studio owned by Sony Interactive Entertainment. The company was established in May 1991 by Alex Seropian, who later brought in programmer Jason Jones afte ...

* 2016 – '' The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt'',

* 2017 – ''

Battlefield 1 ''Battlefield 1'' is a first-person shooter game developed by DICE and published by Electronic Arts. It is the tenth installment in the ''Battlefield'' series and the first main entry in the series since ''Battlefield 4'' in 2013. It was releas ...

'',

EA DICE EA Digital Illusions CE AB (trade name: DICE) is a Swedish video game developer based in Stockholm. The company was founded in 1992 and has been a subsidiary of Electronic Arts since 2006. Its releases include the '' Battlefield'', '' Mirror's ...

* 2018 – '' Nier: Automata'',

* 2019 – ''

Red Dead Redemption 2 ''Red Dead Redemption 2'' is a 2018 action-adventure game developed and published by Rockstar Games. The game is the third entry in the ''Red Dead'' series and a prequel to the 2010 game ''Red Dead Redemption''. The story is set in 1899 and f ...

'',

* 2020 – '' Death Stranding'', Kojima Productions/

* 2021 – '' Microsoft Flight Simulator'', Asobo Studio/

* 2022 – '' Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart'',

Insomniac Games Insomniac Games, Inc. is an American video game developer based in Burbank, California and a studio of PlayStation Studios. It was founded in 1994 by Ted Price as Xtreme Software, and was renamed Insomniac Games a year later. The company is mo ...

Retired awards

Excellence in Animation

* 2014 – '' Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch'', Namco Bandai * 2015 – '' Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor'', Monolith Productions * 2016 – '' Rise of the Tomb Raider'',

Crystal Dynamics Crystal Dynamics, Inc. is an American video game developer based in San Mateo, California and part of Embracer Group. The studio developed the ''Gex'', '' Legacy of Kain'', and ''Tomb Raider'' series. Founded in 1992 by Madeline Canepa, Judy ...

* 2017 – '' Uncharted 4: A Thief's End'',

* 2018 – ''

Cuphead ''Cuphead'' is a Shoot 'em up, run-and-gun video game developed and published by Studio MDHR. The game follows the titular Cuphead who, in a deal with the Devil after losing a game at the Devil's casino, is sent on a quest to repossess the sou ...

'', StudioMDHR * 2019 – ''

Marvel's Spider-Man Marvel's Spider-Man may refer to: * Spider-Man, a fictional Marvel Comics superhero * ''Spider-Man'' (2017 TV series), an animated series produced by Marvel Animation * ''Spider-Man'' (video game series), a series of action-adventure video games ...

'',

* 2020 – ''

Kingdom Hearts III is a 2019 action role-playing game developed and published by Square Enix for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Microsoft Windows and Nintendo Switch. It is the twelfth installment in the '' Kingdom Hearts'' series, and serves as a conclusion of t ...

'' –

Excellence in Art

* 2014 – ''

BioShock Infinite ''BioShock Infinite'' is a first-person shooter video game developed by Irrational Games and published by 2K Games. The third installment in the BioShock (series), ''BioShock'' series, ''Infinite'' was released worldwide for the Microsoft Window ...

'', Irrational Games * 2015 – ''

Child of Light ''Child of Light'' is a platforming role-playing video game developed by Ubisoft Montreal and published by Ubisoft for Windows, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Wii U, Xbox 360 and Xbox One in April 2014, and was released on PlayStation Vita in Jul ...

'',

Ubisoft Ubisoft Entertainment SA (; ; formerly Ubi Soft Entertainment SA) is a French video game publisher headquartered in Saint-Mandé with development studios across the world. Its video game franchises include ''Assassin's Creed'', '' Far Cry'', ...

* 2016 – '' Bloodborne'', FromSoftware * 2017 – '' Firewatch'',

Campo Santo Campo may refer to: Places ;Cameroon * Campo, Cameroon, in the South Province ;Equatorial Guinea * Río Campo, in the Litoral Province ;France * Campo, Corse-du-Sud, a commune on the island of Corsica ;Italy * Campo P.G., a World War II prison ...

* 2018 – ''

'', StudioMDHR * 2019 – ''

Octopath Traveler ''Octopath Traveler'' is a role-playing video game developed by Square Enix, in collaboration with Acquire. The game was released for the Nintendo Switch in July 2018, for Microsoft Windows in June 2019, for Stadia in April 2020, and for Xbox ...

'', Nintendo * 2020 – '' The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening'', Nintendo

Excellence in Gaming Marketing

* 2014 – '' Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag'',

Excellence in Convergence

Awarded for a game that exemplifies crossover medium appeal. Formally the "Convergence Award" until 2016 * 2014 – '' Injustice: Gods Among Us'', Warner Bros. Interactive * 2015 – '' South Park: The Stick of Truth'',

Obsidian Entertainment Obsidian Entertainment, Inc. is an American video game developer based in Irvine, California. It was founded in June 2003, shortly before the closure of Black Isle Studios, by ex-Black Isle employees Feargus Urquhart, Chris Avellone, Chris Pa ...

* 2016 – '' Batman: Arkham Knight'',

Rocksteady Studios Rocksteady Studios Limited is a British video game developer based in London, England. The company is a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and the studio is best known for its work in the '' Batman: Arkham'' series. History ...

* 2017 – '' Batman: The Telltale Series'',

* 2018 – '' Star Wars Battlefront II'',

* 2019 – ''

'',

Excellence in Gameplay

* 2014 – '' Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons'', 505 Studios * 2015 – '' Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor'', Monolith Productions * 2016 – '' Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain'', Kojima Productions * 2017 – '' Doom'',

* 2018 – '' The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild'', Nintendo * 2019 – '' Super Smash Bros. Ultimate'', Nintendo * 2020 – '' Devil May Cry 5'',

Excellence in SFX

* 2014 – '' The Last of Us'',

* 2015 – '' Alien: Isolation'',

Creative Assembly The Creative Assembly Limited (trade name: Creative Assembly) is a British video game developer based in Horsham, founded in 1987 by Tim Ansell. In its early years, the company worked on porting games to MS-DOS from Amiga and ZX Spectrum platfor ...

* 2016 – ''

Star Wars Battlefront ''Star Wars: Battlefront'' is a series of first- and third-person shooter video games based on the ''Star Wars'' franchise. Players take the role of characters from the franchise in either of two opposing factions in different time periods of ...

'',

* 2017 – ''

'',

* 2018 – ''

Super Mario Odyssey is a 2017 platform game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Switch. An entry in the ''Super Mario'' series, it follows Mario and his new ally Cappy—a sentient hat that allows Mario to control other characters and objects— ...

'', Nintendo * 2019 – ''

'',

* 2020 – '' Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order'',

Respawn Entertainment Respawn Entertainment, LLC is an American video game development studio founded by Jason West and Vince Zampella. West and Zampella previously co-founded Infinity Ward and created the ''Call of Duty'' franchise, where they were responsible for ...

Excellence in Visual Achievement

* 2015 – '' Far Cry 4'',

* 2016 – '' The Order: 1886'', Ready at Dawn * 2017 – '' Uncharted 4: A Thief's End'',

* 2018 – ''

Horizon Zero Dawn ''Horizon Zero Dawn'' is a 2017 action role-playing game developed by Guerrilla Games and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment. The plot follows Aloy, a young hunter in a world overrun by machines, who sets out to uncover her past. The ...

'', Guerrilla Games * 2019 – ''

'',

* 2020 – '' Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice'', FromSoftware/

Mobile Game of the Year

* 2015 – '' Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft'',

* 2016 – '' Her Story'', Sam Barlow * 2017 – ''

Pokémon Go ''Pokémon Go'' (stylized as ''Pokémon GO'') is a 2016 augmented reality (AR) mobile game, part of the ''Pokémon'' franchise, developed and published by Niantic in collaboration with Nintendo and The Pokémon Company for iOS and Android ...

'', Niantic * 2018 – ''

Fire Emblem Heroes is a free-to-play tactical role-playing game developed by Intelligent Systems and published by Nintendo for Android and iOS. The game is a mobile spin-off of the '' Fire Emblem'' series featuring its characters, and was released on Februa ...

'', Nintendo * 2019 – '' Donut County'',

Annapurna Interactive Annapurna Games, LLC (trade name: Annapurna Interactive) is an American video game publisher. The company is a division of Annapurna Pictures, and was founded in 2016. Notable games released by the company include ''Donut County'', ''Kentucky Rout ...

* 2020 – '' Sky: Children of the Light'',

Thatgamecompany Thatgamecompany, Inc. (stylized as thatgamecompany) is an American independent video game development company founded by University of Southern California students Jenova Chen and Kellee Santiago in 2006. The company was a developer for Sony Co ...

Most Promising New Intellectual Property

* 2016 – ''

Splatoon is a third-person shooter video game franchise created by Hisashi Nogami, and developed and owned by Nintendo. Set in a post-apocalyptic Earth inhabited by anthropomorphic marine animals, the series centers around fictional cephalopods know ...

'', Nintendo * 2017 – ''

'',

* 2018 – ''

'', Guerrilla Games * 2019 – '' Beat Saber'', Beat Games * 2020 – '' The Outer Worlds'',

Private Division Private Division is an American video game publisher based in New York City. The brainchild of Take-Two Interactive's Michael Worosz, the subsidiary was founded by Worosz and Allen Murray, and officially announced on December 14, 2017. Private ...

Trending Game of the Year

* 2017 – ''

'',

* 2018 – ''

'', PUBG Corp. * 2019 – ''

'',

* 2020 – ''Pokémon Sword'' and ''Shield'',

Game Freak is a Japanese video game developer, best known as the primary developer of the mainline ''Pokémon (video game series), Pokémon'' series of role-playing video games published by Nintendo and The Pokémon Company. History Predating the vide ...

/ The Pokémon Company, Nintendo

Texas Arts Achievement

Awarded to a Texas-based studio or game * 2014 – Galactic Cafe

Most Valuable Character

* 2015 –

Ellie Ellie, or Elly, is a given name, usually feminine. The name stands on its own or can be a shortened form of any of the numerous female names beginning with the syllable El-, in particular Eleanor or Elizabeth and Elvira. It can also be a short ...

, '' The Last of Us'' * 2016 –

Lara Croft Lara Croft is a fictional character and the main protagonist of the video game franchise ''Tomb Raider''. She is presented as a highly intelligent and athletic British archaeologist who ventures into ancient tombs and hazardous ruins around th ...

, '' Rise of the Tomb Raider'' * 2017 – Nathan Drake, '' Uncharted 4: A Thief's End'',

Most Promising New Esports Game

Formerly "Esports Game of the Year" until 2019. * 2017 – ''

'',

* 2018 – ''

'', PUBG Corp. * 2019 – ''

'',

Most Valuable eSports Team

* 2015 –

Cloud9 Cloud9 Esports, Inc., or simply Cloud9 (C9), is an American professional esports company based in Santa Monica, California. The company was originally founded as a professional ''League of Legends'' team by Jack and Paullie Etienne in May 201 ...

* 2016 –

Evil Geniuses Evil Geniuses (EG) is an American esports organization based in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1999, the organization has fielded players in various fighting games, ''Call of Duty (series), Call of Duty'', ''Counter-Strike: Global Offensive ...

Most Valuable Online Channel

* 2015 –

Rooster Teeth Rooster Teeth Productions, LLC is an American digital media company headquartered in Austin, Texas. Founded in 2003 by Burnie Burns, Matt Hullum, Geoff Ramsey, Jason Saldaña, Gus Sorola, and Joel Heyman, Rooster Teeth is a subsidiary of War ...

Most Entertaining Online Personality

* 2016 – Greg Miller,

Kinda Funny Kinda Funny is an online entertainment company that produces videos and podcasts on video game culture, film, television, and comics. Kinda Funny creates content on two YouTube channels: The primary Kinda Funny channel features comedy videos ...

Most Valuable Add-On Content

* 2015 – ''

Left Behind ''Left Behind'' is a multimedia franchise that started with a series of 16 bestselling religious novels by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins. It focuses on a seven-year conflict between the Tribulation Force, an underground network of converts ...

'', '' The Last of Us''

Most Anticipated Crowdfunded Game

* 2015 – ''

Star Citizen Logo Cloud Imperium Games ''Star Citizen'' is an in-development multiplayer, space trading and combat simulation game. The game is being developed and published by Cloud Imperium Games for Microsoft Windows. An extended retry of unrealized plan ...

Most Fulfilling Community-Funded Game

Formerly "Most Fulfilling Crowdfunded Game" until 2018. * 2016 – ''

'', tobyfox * 2017 – ''

Starbound ''Starbound'' is an action-adventure video game developed and published by Chucklefish. ''Starbound'' takes place in a two-dimensional, procedurally generated universe which the player is able to explore in order to obtain new weapons, armor, ...

'', Chucklefish * 2018 – '' Night in the Woods'', Infinite Fall * 2019 – '' CrossCode'',

Deck13 Deck13 Interactive GmbH (formerly TriggerLab GmbH) is a German video game developer and publisher based in Frankfurt. The company was founded in July 2001 by the team behind Artex Software, a studio that primarily developed video games for RISC ...

Most Evolved Game

* 2019 – '' No Man's Sky Next'', Hello Games

Fan Creation of the Year

* 2017 – ''Brutal Doom 64'', Sergeant_Mark_IV

Gamer's Voice Award

Award to an

voted by the public; split into Single and Multi-player categories in 2016. * 2014 – '' Nidhogg'', Messhof * 2015 – ''

SpeedRunners Speedrunning is the act of playing a video game, or section of a video game, with the goal of completing it as fast as possible. Speedrunning often involves following planned routes, which may incorporate sequence breaking and can exploit glit ...

'', DoubleDutch Games

Single Player

* 2016 – '' Superhot'', Superhot Team * 2017 – '' Owlboy'',

D-Pad Studio ''Owlboy'' is a platform-adventure video game created by Norwegian independent developer D-Pad Studio. The game is notable for its long development cycle, which began in 2007, and was released in November 2016. Gameplay The player controls Otus ...

Multiplayer

* 2016 – ''

Gang Beasts ''Gang Beasts'' is a beat 'em up party game developed and published by English indie studio Boneloaf. The title would originally be published by Double Fine Presents until May 2020 and self-published afterwards, while it would later be publishe ...

'', Boneloaf * 2017 – ''Arena Gods'', Supertype Games

VR

* 2019 – ''Intruders: Hide & Seek'', Tessera Studios

References

External links

* {{official, https://www.sxsw.com/awards/gaming-awards/ Video game awards Culture of Austin, Texas Awards established in 2014 2014 establishments in Texas