The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild took home another trophy last night when the “open-air” adventure was named “Video Game of the Year” at the 2017-2018 SXSW Gaming Awards. The Nintendo Switch launch title also scooped up awards for “Excellence in Design” and “Excellence in Gameplay”
PUBG Corporation’s PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds also picked up three awards last night (“Esports Game of the Year,” “Trending Game of the Year,” and “Excellence in Multiplayer”), and a handful of other games (Cuphead, Horizon: Zero Dawn, and Nier: Automata) were two-time winners.
You can find the complete list of winners and nominees from the 2017-2018 SXSW Gaming Awards 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.
- WINNER: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
- Horizon: Zero Dawn
- Nier: Automata
- PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds
- Super Mario Odyssey
Mobile Game of the Year
Awarded to the game that exemplifies overall excellence and creates a unique gaming experience on any handheld device.
- WINNER: Fire Emblem Heroes
- Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp
- Getting Over It With Bennett Foddy
- Gorogoa
- Monument Valley 2
VR Game of the Year
Awarded to the VR game that exemplifies overall excellence in gameplay and design across any VR platform.
- WINNER: Resident Evil 7: Biohazard
- Rick and Morty: Virtual Rick-ality
- The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim VR
- Star Trek: Bridge Crew
- Superhot VR
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.
- WINNER: PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds
- Call of Duty: WWII
- Tekken 7
- FIFA 18
- F1 2017
Tabletop Game of the Year
Awarded to the game that exemplifies overall excellence and ingenuity of any tabletop game in any genre.
- WINNER: Gloomhaven
- Clank! In! Space!
- Near and Far
- Santorini
- The 7th Continent
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.
- WINNER: PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds
- Getting Over It With Bennett Foddy
- Night in the Woods
- Doki Doki Literature Club
- Dream Daddy: A Dad Dating Simulator
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.
- WINNER: Doki Doki Literature Club
- Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice
- Life Is Strange: Before the Storm
- Night in the Woods
- What Remains of Edith Finch
Excellence in Narrative
Awarded to the game with the best storyline and dialogue.
- WINNER: What Remains of Edith Finch
- Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice
- Night in the Woods
- Persona 5
- Prey
Excellence in Design
Awarded to the game with the best overall design concept and best execution.
- WINNER: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
- Cuphead
- Horizon: Zero Dawn
- Nier: Automata
- PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds
Excellence in Gameplay
Awarded to the game with the best gameplay mechanics.
- WINNER: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
- Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus
- Fortnite
- Horizon: Zero Dawn
- Super Mario Odyssey
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.
- WINNER: Night in the Woods
- Darkwood
- Kona
- Perception
- The 7th Continent
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.
- WINNER: Horizon: Zero Dawn
- Cuphead
- Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice
- Night in the Woods
- PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds
Excellence in Multiplayer
Awarded to the game with the best player-to-player interaction experience.
- WINNER: PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds
- Gang Beasts
- Destiny 2
- Fortnite
- Splatoon 2
Excellence in Convergence
Awarded to the game that excels in crossover to other entertainment mediums such as film, music, toys, animation, sports and more.
- WINNER: Star Wars: Battlefront II
- DropMix
- Guardians of the Galaxy
- South Park: Fractured But Whole
- Star Trek: Bridge Crew
Excellence in Art
Awarded to the game with the most expressive and creative artistic style.
- WINNER: Cuphead
- Gorogoa
- Nier: Automata
- Persona 5
- The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Excellence in Animation
Awarded to the game with the most outstanding animation effects and graphics.
- WINNER: Cuphead
- Assassin’s Creed Origins
- Horizon: Zero Dawn
- Super Mario Odyssey
- The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Excellence in Visual Achievement
Awarded to the game with the most well-designed and stunning visuals.
- WINNER: Horizon: Zero Dawn
- Assassin’s Creed Origins
- Cuphead
- Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice
- Nier: Automata
Excellence in Technical Achievement
Awarded to the game that pushed the capabilities of technology and programming.
- WINNER: Nier: Automata
- Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice
- Resident Evil 7: Biohazard
- The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim VR
- Uncharted: The Lost Legacy
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.
- WINNER: Nier: Automata
- Cuphead
- Persona 5
- Super Mario Odyssey
- The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Excellence in SFX
Awarded to the game with the most outstanding and impactful sound effects.
- WINNER: Super Mario Odyssey
- Call of Duty: WWII
- Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice
- Resident Evil 7: Biohazard
- Uncharted: The Lost Legacy
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
- WINNER: Battlesloths 2025: The Great Pizza Wars
- A Case of Distrust
- Aegis Defenders
- AER
- Antigraviator
- Darkwood
- Death Coming
- Gunhead
- My Memory of Us
- Once Upon A Coma
- Semblance
- West of Loathing
- The Universim
- Yoku’s Island Express
Gamer’s Voice: Virtual Reality Game
- WINNER: Superhot SP Z 00
- DreadEye VR
- The Invisible Hours
- Racket: Nx
- TheWaveVR
- To the Top
Gamer’s Voice: Tabletop Game
- WINNER: Sol: Last Days of a Star
- Bargain Quest
- The Chameleon
- Drawing Dead
- True Messiah
- Zombie Legacy
Gamer’s Voice: Mobile Game
- WINNER: Tiny Bubbles
- Homo Machina
- Maruta Escape
- Milkmaid of the Milky Way
- Too Many Cooks
- Where Shadows Slumber