The SXSW Gaming Awards were previously given out each Spring as part of the South by Southwest festival, honoring games released during the previous calendar year. The ceremony was first held in 2014, but games and gaming have a long history at the Austin festival.
South by Southwest, also popularly known as SXSW, first opened its doors in 1987 as a regional music festival organized by The Austin Chronicle. After quickly growing in prominence over the next few years, SXSW expanded its scope in 1994 with the addition of a Film Festival. A Multimedia track focusing on technology and games would launch a year later.
SXSW’s celebration of games and game creators would get its own section, Screenburn, in 2006. That name was clearly a vestige of early 2000s “xtreme” culture, and it gave way to the more familiar SXSW Gaming in 2013.
Nominees for the SXSW Gaming Awards were chosen by festival staff with assistance from an advisory board. After the nominees were announced, the public helped determine the winners by participating in an online vote to help select the winners, which was weighted alongside another vote from festival staff and the advisory board.
The SXSW Gaming Awards were discontinued in 2023.
Every “Video Game of the Year” winner from the SXSW Gaming Awards can be found here…
| YEAR | GAME OF THE YEAR WINNER |
|---|---|
| 2021-2022 | Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker |
| 2020-2021 | Hades |
| 2019-2020 | Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice |
| 2018-2019 | God of War |
| 2017-2018 | The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild |
| 2016-2017 | Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End |
| 2015-2016 | The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt |
| 2014-2015 | Dragon Age: Inquisition |
| 2013-2014 | The Last of Us |
More information about the SXSW Gaming Awards can be found at the Internet Archive.