The SXSW Gaming Awards were awards given to video games during the annual South by Southwest Festival (SXSW), held in Austin, Texas typically in March of that year. The Awards were 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.
The Gaming Awards were discontinued by SXSW in 2023 due to a desire to "streamline our festival a bit more."
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 games 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, but the award winners were still named online on March 24, 2020.
Ceremonies Year Date Location Hosts 2014 March 7 Long Center for the Performing Arts, Austin, TX Justine "iJustine" Ezarik and Smosh 2015 March 14 Austin City Limits Live at The Moody Theater, Austin, TX Janet Varney and Mark Edward "Markiplier" Fischbach 2016 March 19 Hilton Austin Downtown, Austin, TX Séan "Jacksepticeye" William McLoughlin and Rachel "Seltzer" Quirico 2017 March 18 OMGitsfirefoxx and Xavier Woods 2018 March 17 Alanah Pearce and Rich Campbell 2019 March 16 Lindsay Jones and Alex Corea 2020 March 24 None None 2021 March 20 None 2022 March 12 None
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 2015 – Dragon Age: Inquisition, BioWare 2016 – The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, CD Projekt Red 2017 – Uncharted 4: A Thief's End, Naughty Dog 2018 – The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Nintendo 2019 – God of War, Sony Interactive Entertainment 2020 – Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, FromSoftware/Activision 2021 – Hades, Supergiant Games 2022 – Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker, Square Enix
Tabletop Game of the Year 2015 – Star Realms, White Wizard Games 2016 – Pandemic Legacy, Z-Man Games 2017 – Arkham Horror: The Card Game, Fantasy Flight Games 2018 – Gloomhaven, 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 2019 – Beat Saber, Beat Games 2020 – No Man's Sky VR, Hello Games 2021 – Half-Life: Alyx, Valve Corporation 2022 – Resident Evil IV VR, Armature Studio/Oculus Studios
Indie Game of the Year 2021 – Deep Rock Galactic, 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, 3909 LLC 2015 – This War of Mine, 11 bit studios 2016 – Undertale, tobyfox 2017 – That Dragon, Cancer, Numinious Games 2018 – Doki Doki Literature Club!, Team Salvato 2019 – Celeste, Matt Makes Games 2020 – Disco Elysium, ZA/UM 2021 – Dreams, Media Molecule/Sony Interactive Entertainment 2022 – Unpacking, Witch Beam/Humble Bundle
Excellence in Animation, Art, and Visual Achievement Combined the three former awards. 2021 – Ghost of Tsushima, Sucker Punch Productions/Sony Interactive Entertainment 2022 – Forza Horizon 5, Playground Games/Xbox Game Studios
Excellence in Audio Design 2021 – Doom Eternal - id Software/Bethesda Softworks 2022 – Resident Evil Village, Capcom
Excellence in Game Design Formerly "Excellence in Design and Direction" 2014 – Tearaway, Media Molecule 2015 – Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor, Monolith Productions 2016 – Bloodborne, FromSoftware 2017 – Dishonored 2, Arkane Studios 2018 – The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Nintendo 2019 – God of War, Sony Interactive Entertainment 2020 – Control, Remedy Entertainment/505 Games 2021 – Hades, Supergiant Games 2022 – Inscryption, Daniel Mullins/Devolver Digital
Excellence in Original Score Formerly "Excellence in Musical Score" 2014 – The Last of Us, Naughty Dog 2015 – Transistor, Supergiant Games 2016 – Ori and the Blind Forest, Moon Studios 2017 – Doom, id Software 2018 – Nier: Automata, PlatinumGames 2019 – Tetris Effect, Enhance, Inc. 2020 – Death Stranding, Kojima Productions/Sony Interactive Entertainment 2021 – Ori and the Will of the Wisps, Moon Studios/Xbox Game Studios 2022 – Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker, Square Enix
Excellence in Multiplayer Formally "Best Multiplayer Game" until 2016 2014 – Super Mario 3D World, Nintendo 2015 – Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, Nintendo 2016 – Rocket League, Psyonix 2017 – Overwatch, Blizzard Entertainment 2018 – PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds, PUBG Corp. 2019 – Fortnite, Epic Games 2020 – Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers, Square Enix 2021 – Deep Rock Galactic, Ghost Ship Games/Coffee Stain Publishing 2022 – It Takes Two, Hazelight Studios/Electronic Arts
Excellence in Narrative 2014 – The Last of Us, Naughty Dog 2015 – The Wolf Among Us, Telltale Games 2016 – The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, CD Projekt Red 2017 – Uncharted 4: A Thief's End, Naughty Dog 2018 – What Remains of Edith Finch, Giant Sparrow 2019 – Detroit: Become Human, Sony Interactive Entertainment 2020 – Disco Elysium, ZA/UM 2021 – The Last of Us Part II, Naughty Dog/Sony Interactive Entertainment 2022 – Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker, Square Enix
Excellence in Technical Achievement 2014 – Grand Theft Auto V, Rockstar Games 2015 – Destiny, Bungie 2016 – The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, CD Projekt Red 2017 – Battlefield 1, EA DICE 2018 – Nier: Automata, PlatinumGames 2019 – Red Dead Redemption 2, Rockstar Games 2020 – Death Stranding, Kojima Productions/Sony Interactive Entertainment 2021 – Microsoft Flight Simulator, Asobo Studio/Xbox Game Studios 2022 – Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart, Insomniac Games/Sony Interactive Entertainment
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 2017 – Uncharted 4: A Thief's End, Naughty Dog 2018 – Cuphead, StudioMDHR 2019 – Marvel's Spider-Man, Sony Interactive Entertainment 2020 – Kingdom Hearts III – Square Enix
Excellence in Art 2014 – BioShock Infinite, Irrational Games 2015 – Child of Light, Ubisoft 2016 – Bloodborne, FromSoftware 2017 – Firewatch, Campo Santo 2018 – Cuphead, StudioMDHR 2019 – Octopath Traveler, Nintendo 2020 – The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening, Nintendo
Excellence in Gaming Marketing 2014 – Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag, Ubisoft
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 2016 – Batman: Arkham Knight, Rocksteady Studios 2017 – Batman: The Telltale Series, Telltale Games 2018 – Star Wars Battlefront II, EA DICE 2019 – Marvel's Spider-Man, Sony Interactive Entertainment
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, id Software 2018 – The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Nintendo 2019 – Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Nintendo 2020 – Devil May Cry 5, Capcom
Excellence in SFX 2014 – The Last of Us, Naughty Dog 2015 – Alien: Isolation, Creative Assembly 2016 – Star Wars Battlefront, EA DICE 2017 – Battlefield 1, EA DICE 2018 – Super Mario Odyssey, Nintendo 2019 – Red Dead Redemption 2, Rockstar Games 2020 – Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, Respawn Entertainment/Electronic Arts
Excellence in Visual Achievement 2015 – Far Cry 4, Ubisoft 2016 – The Order: 1886, Ready at Dawn 2017 – Uncharted 4: A Thief's End, Naughty Dog 2018 – Horizon Zero Dawn, Guerrilla Games 2019 – God of War, Sony Interactive Entertainment 2020 – Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, FromSoftware/Activision
Mobile Game of the Year 2015 – Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft, Blizzard Entertainment 2016 – Her Story, Sam Barlow 2017 – Pokémon Go, Niantic 2018 – Fire Emblem Heroes, Nintendo 2019 – Donut County, Annapurna Interactive 2020 – Sky: Children of the Light, Thatgamecompany
Most Promising New Intellectual Property 2016 – Splatoon, Nintendo 2017 – Overwatch, Blizzard Entertainment 2018 – Horizon Zero Dawn, Guerrilla Games 2019 – Beat Saber, Beat Games 2020 – The Outer Worlds, Obsidian Entertainment/Private Division
Trending Game of the Year 2017 – Overwatch, Blizzard Entertainment 2018 – PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds, PUBG Corp. 2019 – Red Dead Redemption 2, Rockstar Games 2020 – Pokémon Sword and Shield, Game Freak/The Pokémon Company, Nintendo
Texas Arts Achievement Awarded to a Texas-based studio or game 2014 – Galactic Cafe
Most Valuable Character 2015 – Ellie, The Last of Us 2016 – Lara Croft, Rise of the Tomb Raider 2017 – Nathan Drake, Uncharted 4: A Thief's End, Naughty Dog
Most Promising New Esports Game Formerly "Esports Game of the Year" until 2019. 2017 – Overwatch, Blizzard Entertainment 2018 – PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds, PUBG Corp. 2019 – Fortnite, Epic Games
Most Valuable eSports Team 2015 – Cloud9 2016 – Evil Geniuses
Most Valuable Online Channel 2015 – Rooster Teeth
Most Entertaining Online Personality 2016 – Greg Miller, Kinda Funny
Most Valuable Add-On Content 2015 – Left Behind, The Last of Us
Most Anticipated Crowdfunded Game 2015 – Star Citizen
Most Fulfilling Community-Funded Game Formerly "Most Fulfilling Crowdfunded Game" until 2018. 2016 – Undertale, tobyfox 2017 – Starbound, Chucklefish 2018 – Night in the Woods, Infinite Fall 2019 – CrossCode, Deck13
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 indie game voted by the public; split into Single and Multi-player categories in 2016. 2014 – Nidhogg, Messhof 2015 – SpeedRunners, DoubleDutch Games
Single Player 2016 – Superhot, Superhot Team