The results of the SXSW 2021 awards are now available. The winners in each of the twelve categories were decided by both the public and the SXSW Awards staff and their advisory council. The event was held online due to the COVID-19 situation and showed behind-the-scenes work segments for some of the games.
The 2021 SXSW Awards are presented by IGN in association with Discord, and are generally held in Texas, but were canceled last year due to the coronavirus and were switched to an online format this year. Developers can submit games to be considered for prizes, and only games released during the year prior to the event can participate. The first four or five games in each category are selected by the SXSW board and staff, but the public gets the final vote and decides which games should win.
Yesterday was the last day of the event that started on March 16. In addition to the award ceremony, SXSW hosted lectures and a music festival for pass holders. However, the awards ceremony is available to view on IGN’s Twitch account. In total, 43 titles were competing to win one of the prizes. This year, games like Half-Life: Alyx, Ghost of Tsushima, The Last of Us 2, and Doom Eternal won an SXSW award. In particular, both Hades and Deep Rock Galactic took top honors in two categories.
Hades’s success came as no surprise, as this Supergiant Games title has received incredible review scores in the past. However, it was somewhat unexpected that the indie title won Game of the Year over other major games like DOOM Eternal, Ghost of Tsushima, Ori and the Will of the Wisps, and most notably The Last of Us 2. The Naughty Dog sequel was the favorite to win Game of the Year given his success at the 2020 Game Awards, where he won seven of the nine titles for which he was nominated.
On the other hand, audience opinions play an important role in the selection of the winners of the SXSW Gaming Awards, and titles such as Deep Rock Galactic and Hades received rave reviews since their launch. In that sense, it was only natural that these titles were recognized as some of the best, even when competing against The Last of Us 2 and other major games.
Here is the list of winners for the 2021 SXSW Awards:
Videogame of the year
- Hades — Supergiant Games
Indie Game of the Year
- Deep Rock Galactic — Ghost Ship Games / Coffee Stain Publishing
Board Game of the Year
- The Search for Planet X — Renegade Game Studios / Foxtrot Games
Virtual Reality Game of the Year
- Half-Life: Alyx — Valve
Matthew Crump Cultural Innovation Award
- Dreams — Media Molecule / Sony Interactive Entertainment
Excellence in Animation, Art, and Visual Achievement
- Ghost of Tsushima — Sucker Punch Productions / Sony Interactive Entertainment
Excellence in game design
- Hades — Supergiant Games
Excellence in scoring
- Ori and the Will of the Wisps — Moon Studios / Xbox Game Studios
Excellence in multiplayer
- Deep Rock Galactic — Ghost Ship Games / Coffee Stain Publishing
Excellence in narrative
- The Last of Us Part II — Naughty Dog / Sony Interactive Entertainment
Excellence in audio design
- DOOM Eternal — id Software / Bethesda Softworks
Excellence in technical achievements
- Microsoft Flight Simulator — Asobo Studio / Xbox Game Studios
Source: SXSW