SXSW Gaming Awards
Awarded forOutstanding achievements in the video game industry
CountryUnited States
First awardedMarch 7, 2014; 9 years ago (2014-03-07)
Last awardedMarch 12, 2022; 22 months ago (2022-03-12)
Websitewww.sxsw.com/awards/gaming-awards/

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.[1]

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.[2] The new awards in fifteen different categories were announced in September 2013 to be awarded during the 2014 festival.[3] However, Crump died from a heart attack just before the festival.[2] 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.[4] The Gaming Awards were discontinued by SXSW in 2023 due to a desire to "streamline our festival a bit more."[5]

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).[3] 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.[6]

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.[6]

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.[7]

Ceremonies

Year Date Location Hosts
2014 March 7 Long Center for the Performing Arts, Austin, TX Justine "iJustine" Ezarik and Smosh[3]
2015 March 14 Austin City Limits Live at The Moody Theater, Austin, TX Janet Varney and Mark Edward "Markiplier" Fischbach[8]
2016 March 19 Hilton Austin Downtown, Austin, TX Séan "Jacksepticeye" William McLoughlin and Rachel "Seltzer" Quirico[9]
2017 March 18 OMGitsfirefoxx and Xavier Woods[10]
2018 March 17 Alanah Pearce and Rich Campbell[11]
2019 March 16 Lindsay Jones and Alex Corea[12]
2020 March 24 None None[7]
2021 March 20 None[13]
2022 March 12 None[14]

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.

Tabletop Game of the Year

XR Game of the Year

Formally "VR Game of the Year" prior 2020

Indie Game of the Year

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

Excellence in Animation, Art, and Visual Achievement

Combined the three former awards.

Excellence in Audio Design

Excellence in Game Design

Formerly "Excellence in Design and Direction"

Excellence in Original Score

Formerly "Excellence in Musical Score"

Excellence in Multiplayer

Formally "Best Multiplayer Game" until 2016

Excellence in Narrative

Excellence in Technical Achievement

Retired awards

Excellence in Animation

Excellence in Art

Excellence in Gaming Marketing

Excellence in Convergence

Awarded for a game that exemplifies crossover medium appeal. Formally the "Convergence Award" until 2016

Excellence in Gameplay

Excellence in SFX

Excellence in Visual Achievement

Mobile Game of the Year

Most Promising New Intellectual Property

Trending Game of the Year

Texas Arts Achievement

Awarded to a Texas-based studio or game

Most Valuable Character

Most Promising New Esports Game

Formerly "Esports Game of the Year" until 2019.

Most Valuable eSports Team

Most Valuable Online Channel

Most Entertaining Online Personality

Most Valuable Add-On Content

Most Anticipated Crowdfunded Game

Most Fulfilling Community-Funded Game

Formerly "Most Fulfilling Crowdfunded Game" until 2018.

Most Evolved Game

Fan Creation of the Year

Gamer's Voice Award

Award to an indie game voted by the public; split into Single and Multi-player categories in 2016.

Single Player

Multiplayer

VR

References

  1. ^ SXSW Interactive: A Growing Outlet For Video Games, Matt Clark, iQU, March 14, 2012 Archived May 24, 2013, at the Wayback Machine
  2. ^ a b Sarkar, Samit (March 3, 2014). "SXSW Gaming Expo coordinator, developer Matthew Crump dies". Polygon. Retrieved March 5, 2017.
  3. ^ a b c Tact, Dave (September 12, 2013). "SXSW Gaming Expo adding Gaming Awards in 2014". Polygon. Retrieved March 5, 2017.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Renovich, James (March 8, 2014). "SXSW Gaming Awards Winners". Austin Chronicle. Retrieved March 5, 2017.
  5. ^ "GOTY Flashback: The Last of Us Won "Game of the Year" at the First-Ever SXSW Gaming Awards in 2013-2014". Video Game Canon. Retrieved 20 March 2023.
  6. ^ a b "SXSW Gaming Awards". SXSW. Retrieved March 5, 2017.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s "Announcing the 2020 SXSW Gaming Awards Winners". SXSW. March 24, 2020. Retrieved March 28, 2020.
  8. ^ "Second Annual SXSW Gaming Awards Announces Top Winners in 21 Categories" (PDF). South by Southwest. March 14, 2015. Retrieved March 12, 2017.
  9. ^ Whatley, Tucker (January 26, 2016). "SXSW Gaming Awards Finalists Announced". Austin Chronicle. Retrieved March 12, 2017.
  10. ^ Krajewski, Brandon (February 6, 2017). "SXSW Gaming Awards Voting Ends Soon". IGN. Retrieved March 12, 2017.
  11. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u "2018 SXSW Gaming Awards Winners Revealed". IGN. March 18, 2018. Retrieved March 18, 2018.
  12. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u Trent, Logan (March 17, 2019). "2019 SXSW Gaming Awards Winners Announced". SXSW. Retrieved March 17, 2019.
  13. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Akers, Adele (March 20, 2021). "SXSW Gaming Awards 2021 Winners Announced: Hades Awarded Video Game of the Year". IGN. Retrieved March 20, 2021.
  14. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Watkins, Gary (March 12, 2022). "2022 SXSW Gaming Awards Winners Announced". South by Southwest. Retrieved April 3, 2022.
  15. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u Karmali, Luke (March 16, 2015). "Dragon Age: Inquisition Wins SXSW Game of the Year". IGN. Retrieved March 5, 2017.
  16. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v Dornbrush, Jonathan (March 21, 2016). "SXSW Gaming Awards 2016 winners". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved March 5, 2017.
  17. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w Makuch, Eddie (March 19, 2017). "Uncharted 4 Wins Game Of The Year At SXSW Awards". GameSpot. Retrieved March 19, 2017.
  18. ^ Khan, Zarmena (March 17, 2019). "God of War Takes Home 'Game of the Year' at SXSW 2019 Gaming Awards". PlayStation LifeStyle. Retrieved March 17, 2019.

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