BioWare’s Dragon Age: Inquisition won “Game of the Year” at the 2015 SXSW Gaming Awards, but 2014’s other big releases walked away with the rest of the categories.
Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor and The Last of Us: Left Behind were the only multi-award winners. Shadow of Mordor collected trophies for “Excellence in Gameplay,” “Excellence in Animation,” and “Excellence in Design and Direction,” while Naughty Dog’s expansion to The Last of Us was awarded with the “Most Valuable Add-On Content” trophy as well as “Most Valuable Character” (for Ellie).
The full list of winners (which also includes Destiny, Far Cry 4, Alien: Isolation, Transistor, Super Smash Bros. For Wii U, and many others) can be found after the break.
Game of the Year: Awarded to the indie or mainstream game that exemplifies gaming excellence
- Dragon Age: Inquisition (Electronic Arts/BioWare)
Mobile Game of the Year: Awarded to the mobile game that exemplifies gaming excellence
- Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft (Blizzard Entertainment)
Table Top Game of the Year: Awarded to the table top game that exemplifies gaming excellence
- Star Realms (White Wizard Games)
Excellence in Gameplay: Awarded to the title that exemplifies excellence in gameplay mechanics
- Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor (Warner Bros. Interactive/Monolith Productions)
Excellence in Art: Awarded to the title that exemplifies excellence in art and design
- Child of Light (Ubisoft/Ubisoft Montreal)
Excellence in Animation: Awarded to the title that exemplifies excellence in animation
- Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor (Warner Bros. Interactive/Monolith Productions)
Excellence in Technical Achievement: Awarded to the title that exemplifies excellence in technical achievement
- Destiny (Activision/Bungie)
Excellence in Visual Achievement
- Far Cry 4 (Ubisoft/Ubisoft Montreal)
Excellence in Narrative: Awarded to the title that exemplifies excellence in game narrative
- The Wolf Among Us (Telltale Games)
Excellence in Design and Direction: Awarded to the title that exemplifies excellence design and direction
- Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor (Warner Bros. Interactive/Monolith Productions)
Excellence in SFX: Awarded to the title that exemplifies excellence game sound effects
- Alien: Isolation (Sega/The Creative Assembly)
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
- Transistor (Supergiant Games)
Excellence in Multiplayer: Awarded to the title that exemplifies excellence in multiplayer gaming
- Super Smash Bros. For Wii U (Nintendo)
Excellence in Convergence: Awarded to the title that exemplifies excellence and pure crossover appeal through multiple mediums
- South Park: The Stick of Truth (Ubisoft/Obsidian Entertainment)
Most Valuable Character
- Ellie (The Last of Us: Left Behind) (Sony Computer Entertainment/Naughty Dog)
Most Valuable Esports Team: Awarded to the Esports team that exemplifies excellence in competitive gaming
- Cloud9
Most Valuable Online Channel: Awarded to the online channel that exemplifies excellence in online entertainment
- Rooster Teeth
Most Valuable Add-On Content: Awarded to the title that exemplifies excellence in add-on content
- The Last of Us: Left Behind (Sony Computer Entertainment/Naughty Dog)
Most Anticipated Crowdfunded Game: Awarded to the title that exemplifies excellence as a crowdfunded game
- Star Citizen (Cloud Imperium Games)
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
- This War of Mine (11 Bit Studios)
Gamer’s Voice Award: Awarded to the favorite game in the Indie Corner as decided exclusively by gamers on the SXSW Gaming Expo floor
- SpeedRunners (tinyBuild Games)
