Another major award show has announced their 2014/2015 nominees and, once again, Dragon Age: Inquisition and Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor lead the pack. This time, we’re discussing the 2015 SXSW Gaming Awards, where each game has secured five nominations apiece.
Naturally, both games are competing for the Game of the Year prize, alongside Bayonetta 2, Dark Souls II, and Shovel Knight. Dragon Age: Inquisition was also nominated for “Excellence in Gameplay,” “Excellence in Technical Achievement,” “Excellence in Narrative,” and “Excellence in Design and Direction.” Shadow of Mordor is up for most of the same secondary awards, except swap out “Excellence in Gameplay” for “Excellence in Animation.”
The winners of the 2015 SXSW Gaming Awards will be announced on Saturday, March 14 as part of the SXSW Gaming Expo, which runs from March 13th through the 15th in Austin, Texas. The first list of nominees can be found after the break.
Game of the Year: Awarded to the indie or mainstream game that exemplifies gaming excellence
- Bayonetta 2 (Nintendo/Platinum Games)
- Dark Souls II (Bandai Namco Games/From Software)
- Dragon Age: Inquisition (Electronic Arts/BioWare)
- Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor (Warner Bros. Interactive/Monolith Productions)
- Shovel Knight (Yacht Club Games)
Mobile Game of the Year: Awarded to the mobile game that exemplifies gaming excellence
- Bravely Default (Nintendo/Square Enix)
- Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft (Blizzard Entertainment)
- Monument Valley (ustwo)
- Super Smash Bros. For 3DS (Nintendo)
- Threes (Sirvo)
Table Top Game of the Year: Awarded to the table top game that exemplifies gaming excellence
- Dead of Winter (Plaid Hat Games)
- Five Tribes (Days of Wonder)
- King of New York (IELLO)
- Sheriff of Nottingham (Arcane Wonders)
- Star Realms (White Wizard Games)
Excellence in Gameplay: Awarded to the title that exemplifies excellence in gameplay mechanics
- Dragon Age: Inquisition (Electronic Arts/BioWare)
- Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor (Warner Bros. Interactive/Monolith Productions)
- Nidhogg (Messhof)
- Super Smash Bros. For Wii U (Nintendo)
- Titanfall (Electronic Arts/Respawn Entertainment)
Excellence in Art: Awarded to the title that exemplifies excellence in art and design
- The Banner Saga (Versus Evil/Stoic Studio)
- Child of Light (Ubisoft/Ubisoft Montreal)
- Monument Valley (ustwo)
- Transistor (Supergiant Games)
- The Wolf Among Us (Telltale Games)
Excellence in Animation: Awarded to the title that exemplifies excellence in animation
- Assassin’s Creed: Unity (Ubisoft/Ubisoft Montreal)
- InFamous: Second Son (Sony Computer Entertainment/Sucker Punch Productions)
- Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor (Warner Bros. Interactive/Monolith Productions)
- Super Smash Bros. For Wii U (Nintendo)
- Titanfall (Electronic Arts/Respawn Entertainment)
Excellence in Technical Achievement: Awarded to the title that exemplifies excellence in technical achievement
- Alien: Isolation (Sega/The Creative Assembly)
- Destiny (Activision/Bungie)
- Dragon Age: Inquisition (Electronic Arts/BioWare)
- Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor (Warner Bros. Interactive/Monolith Productions)
- Sunset Overdrive (Microsoft Studios/Insomniac Games)
Excellence in Visual Achievement
- Alien: Isolation (Sega/The Creative Assembly)
- Far Cry 4 (Ubisoft/Ubisoft Montreal)
- Monument Valley (ustwo)
- Transistor (Supergiant Games)
- The Vanishing of Ethan Carter (The Astronauts)
Excellence in Narrative: Awarded to the title that exemplifies excellence in game narrative
- The Banner Saga (Versus Evil/Stoic Studio)
- Dragon Age: Inquisition (Electronic Arts/BioWare)
- Valiant Hearts: The Great War (Ubisoft/Ubisoft Montpellier)
- The Wolf Among Us (Telltale Games)
- Wolfenstein: The New Order (Bethesda Softworks/MachineGames)
Excellence in Design and Direction: Awarded to the title that exemplifies excellence design and direction
- Dark Souls II (Bandai Namco Games/From Software)
- Dragon Age: Inquisition (Electronic Arts/BioWare)
- Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor (Warner Bros. Interactive/Monolith Productions)
- Sunset Overdrive (Microsoft Studios/Insomniac Games)
- The Talos Principle (Devolver Digital/Croteam)
Excellence in SFX: Awarded to the title that exemplifies excellence game sound effects
- Alien: Isolation (Sega/The Creative Assembly)
- Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare (Activision/Sledgehammer Games)
- The Evil Within (Bethesda Softworks/Tango Gameworks)
- Far Cry 4 (Ubisoft/Ubisoft Montreal)
- Titanfall (Electronic Arts/Respawn Entertainment)
Excellence in Musical Score: Awarded to the title that exemplifies artistic excellence in musical score, and how it is used to progress the narrative of a game
- The Banner Saga (Versus Evil/Stoic Studio)
- Destiny (Activision/Bungie)
- Child of Light (Ubisoft/Ubisoft Montreal)
- Transistor (Supergiant Games)
- Valiant Hearts: The Great War (Ubisoft/Ubisoft Montpellier)
Excellence in Multiplayer: Awarded to the title that exemplifies excellence in multiplayer gaming
- Destiny (Activision/Bungie)
- Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare (Activision/Sledgehammer Games)
- Super Smash Bros. For Wii U (Nintendo)
- Titanfall (Electronic Arts/Respawn Entertainment)
- Towerfall Ascension (Matt Makes Games)
Excellence in Convergence: Awarded to the title that exemplifies excellence and pure crossover appeal through multiple mediums
- Alien: Isolation (Sega/The Creative Assembly)
- Disney Infinity 2.0 (Disney Interactive Studios/Avalanche Software)
- FIFA 15 (EA Sports/EA Canada)
- South Park: The Stick of Truth (Ubisoft/Obsidian Entertainment)
- The Wolf Among Us (Telltale Games)
Most Valuable Character
- Bigby Wolf (The Wolf Among Us) (Telltale Games)
- Ellie (The Last of Us: Left Behind) (Sony Computer Entertainment/Naughty Dog)
- The Goat (Goat Simulator) (Coffee Stain Studios)
- Octodad (Octodad: Dadliest Catch) (Young Horses)
- Red (Transistor) (Supergiant Games)
Most Valuable Esports Team: Awarded to the Esports team that exemplifies excellence in competitive gaming
- Alliance
- Cloud9
- Evil Geniuses
- Fnatic
- SK Gaming
Most Valuable Online Channel: Awarded to the online channel that exemplifies excellence in online entertainment
- Cynical Brit
- Rooster Teeth
- SMOSH Games
- TheSyndicateProject
- VanossGaming
Most Valuable Add-On Content: Awarded to the title that exemplifies excellence in add-on content
- Bioshock Infinite: Burial at Sea Series (2K Games/Irrational Games)
- Dark Souls II: Crown of the King Series (Bandai Namco Games/From Software)
- Diablo III: Reaper of Souls (Blizzard Entertainment)
- The Last of Us: Left Behind (Sony Computer Entertainment/Naughty Dog)
- World of Warcraft: Warlords of Draenor (Blizzard Entertainment)
Most Anticipated Crowdfunded Game: Awarded to the title that exemplifies excellence as a crowdfunded game
- The Banner Saga (Versus Evil/Stoic Studio)
- Divinity: Original Sin (Larian Studios)
- Shovel Knight (Yacht Club Games)
- Star Citizen (Cloud Imperium Games)
- Wasteland 2 (inXile Entertainment)
Matthew Crump Cultural Innovation Award: Awarded to the title that most challenges the “norm” of everyday gaming, and offers a culturally innovative view of a game world, character or gameplay
- Goat Simulator (Coffee Stain Studios)
- The Last of Us: Left Behind (Sony Computer Entertainment/Naughty Dog)
- Never Alone (E-Line Media/Upper One Games)
- This War of Mine (11 bit studios)
- Valiant Hearts: The Great War (Ubisoft/Ubisoft Montpellier)
Gamer’s Voice Award: Awarded to the favorite game in the Indie Corner as decided exclusively by gamers on the SXSW Gaming Expo floor
- Apotheon (Alientrap Games)
- Armikrog (Pencil Test Studios)
- Assault Android Cactus (Witch Beam)
- Cadence (Made With Monster Love)
- Children of Morta (Dead Mage)
- Chroma Squad (Behold Studios)
- Darkest Dungeon (Red Hook Studios)
- Extreme Exorcism (Golden Ruby Games)
- Gemini (Echostone Games)
- Grow (CriKeT Games)
- Hyper Light Drifter (Heart Machine)
- Ice-Bound (Down to the Wire)
- Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes (Steel Crate Games)
- Lurking (DigiPen Institute of Technology Singapore)
- Noct- c3sk)
- Nom Nom Galaxy (Q-Games)
- Nova-111 (Funktronic Labs)
- Push Me Pull You (House House)
- ROCKETSROCKETSROCKETS (Radial Games)
- Salt and Sanctuary (Ska Studios)
- SoundSelf (Robin Arnott)
- SpeedRunners (tinyBuild Games)
- Stardust Vanguards (Zanrai Interactive)
- That Dragon, Cancer (Numinous Games)
- The Escapists (Team17 Digital)
- The Flame in the Flood (The Molasses Flood)
- White Night (Osome Studio)
- XING: The Land Beyond (White Lotus Interactive)
- Yomi’s Gate (Spriteborne)
- Zombie Night Terror (Jerome Levet)
