The organizers of South By Southwest officially canceled the 2020 edition of the massive arts festival on March 6, and that also means this year’s SXSW Gaming Awards will not go on as planned.
Wil Wheaton and Janina Gavankar were originally picked to co-host the ceremony, which would have taken place tonight, but with no further updates from SXSW, it’s possible we’ll never find out which games were slated to win. However, that shouldn’t stop us from honoring all the previously-announced nominees.
Remedy’s Control and Kojima Productions’s Death Stranding led the way with seven nominations apiece, but Kojima’s latest mindbender wasn’t nominated for “Video Game of the Year.” Instead, Control was grouped with Capcom’s Devil May Cry 5, ZA/UM’s Disco Elysium, From Software’s Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, and Respawn’s Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order for SXSW’s most-coveted award.
You can find a complete list of nominees from the 2019-2020 SXSW Gaming Awards in all categories after the break.
UPDATE (3/26/20): The winners of the 2019-2020 SXSW Gaming Awards were announced in a press release.
Video Game of the Year
Awarded to the game that exemplifies overall excellence and creates a distinct gaming experience across all platforms and genres.
- Control
- Devil May Cry 5
- Disco Elysium
- Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice
- Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order
Mobile Game of the Year
Awarded to the game that exemplifies overall excellence and creates a unique gaming experience on any handheld device.
- Call of Duty: Mobile
- Sayonara Wild Hearts
- Sky: Children of the Light
- Where Cards Fall
- Whispers of a Machine
XR Game of the Year
Awarded to the VR game that exemplifies overall excellence in gameplay and design across any VR platform.
- Blood & Truth
- No Man’s Sky Beyond VR
- Pistol Whip
- The Under Presents
- Tori
Tabletop Game of the Year
Awarded to the game that exemplifies overall excellence and ingenuity of any tabletop game in any genre.
- Paladins of the West Kingdom
- Parks
- Pax Pamir
- Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon
- Taverns of Tiefenthal
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.
- Apex Legends
- Borderlands 3
- Death Stranding
- Pokemon Sword and Pokemon Shield
- Super Mario Maker 2
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.
- Death Stranding
- Disco Elysium
- Knights and Bikes
- Overland
- Sea of Solitude
Excellence in Narrative
Awarded to the game with the best storyline and dialogue.
- Control
- Death Stranding
- Disco Elysium
- Outer Wilds
- A Plague Tale: Innocence
Excellence in Design
Awarded to the game with the best overall design concept and best execution.
- Astral Chain
- Control
- Disco Elysium
- Luigi’s Mansion 3
- Outer Wilds
Excellence in Gameplay
Awarded to the game with the best gameplay mechanics.
- Astral Chain
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
- Devil May Cry 5
- Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice
- Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order
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.
- Astral Chain
- Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night
- Control
- Katana Zero
- The Outer Worlds
Excellence in Multiplayer
Awarded to the game with the best player-to-player interaction experience.
- Apex Legends
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
- Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers
- Monster Hunter World: Iceborne
- Mortal Kombat 11
Excellence in Art
Awarded to the game with the most expressive and creative artistic style.
- Control
- Disco Elysium
- The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening
- Luigi’s Mansion 3
- Sayonara Wild Hearts
Excellence in Animation
Awarded to the game with the most outstanding animations.
- Apex Legends
- Death Stranding
- Kingdom Hearts III
- Luigi’s Mansion 3
- Mortal Kombat 11
Excellence in Visual Achievement
Awarded to the game with the most well-designed and stunning visuals.
- Control
- Death Stranding
- The Outer Worlds
- Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice
- Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order
Excellence in Technical Achievement
Awarded to the game that pushed the capabilities of technology and programming.
- Concrete Genie
- Control
- Death Stranding
- Devil May Cry 5
- Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice
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.
- Death Stranding
- Devil May Cry 5
- Disco Elysium
- Outer Wilds
- Sayonara Wild Hearts
Excellence in SFX
Awarded to the game with the most outstanding and impactful sound effects.
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
- Luigi’s Mansion 3
- Mortal Kombat 11
- Resident Evil 2
- Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order