2018 SXSW Video Game Award Winners

As part of our SXSW coverage, here are the big winners. Keystones and Alex are on site doing coverage but the convention was kind enough to send this over to us.

 

Not too many surprises and nice to see some variety amongst the winners.

SXSW ANNOUNCES 2018 GAMING AWARDS WINNERS

Winners named in 24 categories

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild named Video Game of the Year

 

Austin, TX – March 17, 2018 – SXSW® Gaming has announced the winners for the 2018 SXSW Gaming Awards. The winners in 24 different categories, were revealed during the fifth annual Gaming Awards ceremony, which was hosted by IGN producer and writer Alanah Pearce, and Blizzard’s World of Warcraft and esports broadcaster for H1Z1, Hearthstone and Call of Duty World League, Richard Campbell.

 

Award winner highlights include Game of the Year winner The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Nintendo); Mobile Game of the Year winner Fire Emblem Heroes (Nintendo, Intelligent Systems); Esports Game of the Year winner PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (Bluehole Studio Inc.); Tabletop Game of the Year winner Gloomhaven (Cephalofair Games); and Trending Game of the Year winner PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (Bluehole Studio Inc.).

 

Submissions for the SXSW Gaming Awards opened in August 2017 through the official Gaming Awards page and closed in December. Finalists for the SXSW Gaming Awards categories were selected and voted on by the SXSW Gaming Advisory Board and select staff, consisting of more than 40 industry experts well-versed in everything gaming and geek culture. Once finalists were revealed, the general public, along with the Advisory Board, were invited to cast their vote on IGN.com to help determine the winners in each category, which were unveiled and honored at tonight’s SXSW Gaming Awards ceremony.

 

2018 SXSW Gaming Awards Winners:

 

Excellence in SFX

Super Mario Odyssey

 

Excellence in Musical Score

NieR: Automata

 

Excellence in Technical Achievement

NieR: Automata

 

Excellence in Visual Achievement

Horizon Zero Dawn

 

Excellence in Animation

Cuphead

 

Excellence in Art

Cuphead

 

Excellence in Convergence

Star Wars Battlefront II

 

Excellence in Multiplayer

PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds

 

Most Promising New Intellectual Property

Horizon Zero Dawn

 

Most Fulfilling Community-Funded Game

Night in the Woods

 

Excellence in Gameplay

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

 

Excellence in Design

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

 

Excellence in Narrative

What Remains of Edith Finch

 

Matthew Crump Cultural Innovation Award

Doki Doki Literature Club

 

Gamer’s Voice Award Video Game

Battlesloths 2025: The Great Pizza Wars

 

Gamer’s Voice Award Mobile Game

Tiny Bubbles

 

Gamer’s Voice Award Tabletop Game

Sol: Last Days of a Star

 

Gamer’s Voice Award Virtual Reality Game

SUPERHOTVR

 

Trending Game of the Year

PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds

 

Esports Game of the Year

PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds

 

Tabletop Game of the Year

Gloomhaven

 

Virtual Reality Game of the Year

Resident Evil 7: Biohazard

 

Mobile Game of the Year

Fire Emblem Heroes

 

Video Game of the Year

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

 

For the full list of 2018 SXSW Gaming Award winners, visit gaming.sxsw.com/awards.