The nominees for the 2018 SXSW Gaming Awards have been announced, and for once, there doesn’t appear to be a clear-cut favorite in any of the categories.
Six games are currently leading the pack after receiving a total of six nominations apiece. Horizon: Zero Dawn, PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, Nier: Automata, and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild all pulled off the double hat trick, and each game also secured a nomination for “Video Game of the Year.” Cuphead and Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice were shut out of the “Video Game of the Year” category, but both games also managed to earn six total nominations.
Rounding out the “Video Game of the Year” field is Super Mario Odyssey, which earned five total nominations.
As in years past, fans are invited to vote for their favorites at IGN.com. The winners in each category will ultimately be decided by a 50/50 vote between the public and the SXSW Gaming Advisory Board.
The 2018 SXSW Gaming Awards will be held on Saturday, March 17, and the full list of nominees in all categories can be found after the break.
Video Game of the Year
Awarded to the game that exemplifies overall excellence and creates a distinct gaming experience across all platforms and genres.
- Horizon: Zero Dawn (Sony Interactive Entertainment / Guerrilla Games)
- Nier: Automata (Square Enix / Platinum Games)
- PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG Corporation)
- Super Mario Odyssey (Nintendo)
- The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Nintendo)
Mobile Game of the Year
Awarded to the game that exemplifies overall excellence and creates a unique gaming experience on any handheld device.
- Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp (Nintendo)
- Fire Emblem Heroes (Nintendo)
- Getting Over It With Bennett Foddy (Humble Bundle / Bennett Foddy)
- Gorogoa (Annapurna Interactive / Jason Roberts)
- Monument Valley 2 (Ustwo Games)
VR Game of the Year
Awarded to the VR game that exemplifies overall excellence in gameplay and design across any VR platform.
- Resident Evil 7: Biohazard (Capcom)
- Rick and Morty: Virtual Rick-ality (Owlchemy Labs / Adult Swim Games)
- The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim VR (Bethesda Softworks / Bethesda Game Studios)
- Star Trek Bridge Crew (Ubisoft / Red Storm Entertainment)
- Superhot VR (Superhot Team)
Esports Game of the Year
Awarded to the online game that has the best competitive scene, or potential to grow one, and most entertainment value.
- Call of Duty: WWII (Activision / Sledgehammer Games)
- Tekken 7 (Bandai Namco Entertainment / Bandai Namco Studios)
- FIFA 18 (EA Sports / EA Romania & Vancouver)
- F1 2017 (Codemasters / Codemasters Birmingham)
- PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG Corporation)
Tabletop Game of the Year
Awarded to the game that exemplifies overall excellence and ingenuity of any tabletop game in any genre.
- Clank! In! Space! (Renegade Game Studios)
- Gloomhaven (Cephalofair Games)
- Near and Far (Red Raven Games)
- Santorini (Roxley)
- The 7th Continent (Serious Poulp)
Trending Game of the Year
Awarded to the game that consistently entertained and kept us watching on social platforms with its humor, stories, and more.
- Getting Over It With Bennett Foddy (Humble Bundle / Bennett Foddy)
- Night in the Woods (Finji Games / Infinite Fall)
- PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG Corporation)
- Doki Doki Literature Club (Team Salvato)
- Dream Daddy: A Dad Dating Simulator (Game Grumps)
Matthew Crump Cultural Innovation Award
Awarded to the game that best challenges the “norm” of everyday gaming and offers a culturally innovative view of a game world, character, or gameplay.
- Doki Doki Literature Club (Team Salvato)
- Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice (Ninja Theory)
- Life Is Strange: Before the Storm (Square Enix / Deck Nine)
- Night in the Woods (Finji Games / Infinite Fall)
- What Remains of Edith Finch (Annapurna Interactive / Giant Sparrow)
Excellence in Narrative
Awarded to the game with the best storyline and dialogue.
- Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice (Ninja Theory)
- Night in the Woods (Finji Games / Infinite Fall)
- Persona 5 (Atlus / P-Studio)
- Prey (Bethesda Softworks / Arkane Studios)
- What Remains of Edith Finch (Annapurna Interactive / Giant Sparrow)
Excellence in Design
Awarded to the game with the best overall design concept and best execution.
- Cuphead (Studio MDHR)
- Horizon: Zero Dawn (Sony Interactive Entertainment / Guerrilla Games)
- Nier: Automata (Square Enix / Platinum Games)
- PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG Corporation)
- The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Nintendo)
Excellence in Gameplay
Awarded to the game with the best gameplay mechanics.
- Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus (Bethesda Softworks / MachineGames)
- Fortnite (Epic Games)
- Horizon: Zero Dawn (Sony Interactive Entertainment / Guerrilla Games)
- Super Mario Odyssey (Nintendo)
- The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Nintendo)
Most Fulfilling Community-Funded Game
Awarded to the game that was primarily produced via crowdfunding platforms and had excelled beyond the expectations set before it.
- Darkwood (Acid Wizard Studio)
- Kona (Parabole)
- Night in the Woods (Finji Games / Infinite Fall)
- Perception (Feardemic / The Deep End Games)
- The 7th Continent (Serious Poulp)
Most Promising New Intellectual Property
Awarded to a new property that risked creating something fresh and that excelled within its genre or category for the year.
- Cuphead (Studio MDHR)
- Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice (Ninja Theory)
- Horizon: Zero Dawn (Sony Interactive Entertainment / Guerrilla Games)
- Night in the Woods (Finji Games / Infinite Fall)
- PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG Corporation)
Excellence in Multiplayer
Awarded to the game with the best player-to-player interaction experience.
- Gang Beasts (Double Fine Presents / Boneloaf)
- Destiny 2 (Activision / Bungie)
- Fortnite (Epic Games)
- PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG Corporation)
- Splatoon 2 (Nintendo)
Excellence in Convergence
Awarded to the game that excels in crossover to other entertainment mediums such as film, music, toys, animation, sports and more.
- DropMix (Hasbro / Harmonix)
- Guardians of the Galaxy (Telltale Games)
- South Park: Fractured But Whole (Ubisoft / Ubisoft San Francisco)
- Star Trek: Bridge Crew (Ubisoft / Red Storm Entertainment)
- Star Wars: Battlefront II (Electronic Arts / EA DICE)
Excellence in Art
Awarded to the game with the most expressive and creative artistic style.
- Cuphead (Studio MDHR)
- Gorogoa (Annapurna Interactive / Jason Roberts)
- Nier: Automata (Square Enix / Platinum Games)
- Persona 5 (Atlus / P-Studio)
- The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Nintendo)
Excellence in Animation
Awarded to the game with the most outstanding animation effects and graphics.
- Assassin’s Creed Origins (Ubisoft / Ubisoft Montreal)
- Cuphead (Studio MDHR)
- Horizon: Zero Dawn (Sony Interactive Entertainment / Guerrilla Games)
- Super Mario Odyssey (Nintendo)
- The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Nintendo)
Excellence in Visual Achievement
Awarded to the game with the most well-designed and stunning visuals.
- Assassin’s Creed Origins (Ubisoft / Ubisoft Montreal)
- Cuphead (Studio MDHR)
- Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice (Ninja Theory)
- Horizon: Zero Dawn (Sony Interactive Entertainment / Guerrilla Games)
- Nier: Automata (Square Enix / Platinum Games)
Excellence in Technical Achievement
Awarded to the game that pushed the capabilities of technology and programming.
- Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice (Ninja Theory)
- Nier: Automata (Square Enix / Platinum Games)
- Resident Evil 7: Biohazard (Capcom)
- The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim VR (Bethesda Softworks / Bethesda Game Studios)
- Uncharted: The Lost Legacy (Sony Interactive Entertainment / Naughty Dog)
Excellence in Musical Score
Awarded to the game that best exemplifies artistic excellence in musical score and how it progresses the narrative of the game.
- Cuphead (Studio MDHR)
- Nier: Automata (Square Enix / Platinum Games)
- Persona 5 (Atlus / P-Studio)
- Super Mario Odyssey (Nintendo)
- The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Nintendo)
Excellence in SFX
Awarded to the game with the most outstanding and impactful sound effects.
- Call of Duty: WWII (Activision / Sledgehammer Games)
- Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice (Ninja Theory)
- Resident Evil 7: Biohazard (Capcom)
- Super Mario Odyssey (Nintendo)
- Uncharted: The Lost Legacy (Sony Interactive Entertainment / Naughty Dog)
Gamer’s Voice Awards
SXSW Gaming 2018 reinvents the format of the Gamer’s Voice Awards to encompass four categories in total: Video Game, Virtual Reality Game, Tabletop Game, and Mobile Game.Gamer’s Voice: Video Game
- A Case of Distrust (The Wandering Ben)
- Aegis Defenders (Guts Department)
- AER (Memories of Old (Daedalic Entertainment)
- Antigraviator (Cybernetic Walrus)
- Battlesloths 2025: The Great Pizza Wars (Invisible Collective)
- Darkwood (Acid Wizard Studio)
- Death Coming (NEXT Studio)
- Gunhead (Alientrap Games)
- My Memory of Us (IMGN.PRO)
- Once Upon A Coma (Atmos Games)
- Semblance (Nyamakop)
- West of Loathing (Asymmetric)
- The Universim (Crytivo)
- Yoku’s Island Express (Team17)
Gamer’s Voice: Virtual Reality Game
- DreadEye VR (Digital Happiness)
- The Invisible Hours (Tequila Works )
- Racket: Nx (One Hamsa)
- Superhot SP Z 00 (Superhot VR)
- TheWaveVR (TheWaveVR)
- To the Top (Electric Hat Games)
Gamer’s Voice: Tabletop Game
- Bargain Quest (Bargain Quest Games)
- The Chameleon (Big Potato Games)
- Drawing Dead (Gold Baby Games)
- Sol: Last Days of a Star (Elephant Laboratories)
- True Messiah (Sinister Design)
- Zombie Legacy (Slam Games)
Gamer’s Voice: Mobile Game
- Homo Machina (Darjeeling)
- Maruta Escape (Busan Sanai Games)
- Milkmaid of the Milky Way (Machineboy)
- Tiny Bubbles (Pine Street Codeworks)
- Too Many Cooks (Finifugu & Friends)
- Where Shadows Slumber (Game Revenant)
