Nintendo cleans house at this year’s SXSW Gaming Awards

2017 was one hell of a year

The South by Southwest festivals and conferences have been going down this past week, once again in Austin, Texas, which includes this year’s SXSW Gaming Awards, co-hosted by IGN’s Alanah Pearce and Blizzard’s Richard Campbell.

The highlight of the night — and to be expected at this point — was definitely the Game of the Year award going to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and, of course, Playerunknown’s Battlegrounds going home with a few awards as well. But, my personal highlights include the musical performance going on for five minutes too long and watching the incredible pre-recorded videos from Yoko Taro and friends.

As for the awards themselves, it was broken down into 24 categories this year and down below you’ll find the full list of winners:

Video Game of the Year

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

• Publisher: Nintendo
• Developer: Nintendo

Excellence in SFX

Super Mario Odyssey

• Publisher: Nintendo
• Developer: Nintendo

Excellence in Musical Score

NieR: Automata

• Publisher: Square Enix
• Developer: PlatinumGames

Excellence in Technical Achievement

NieR: Automata

• Publisher: Square Enix
• Developer: PlatinumGames

Excellence in Visual Achievement

Horizon Zero Dawn

• Publisher: Sony Computer Interactive
• Developer: Guerrilla Games

Excellence in Animation

Cuphead

• Publisher: StudioMDHR
• Developer: StudioMDHR

Excellence in Art

Cuphead

• Publisher: StudioMDHR
• Developer: StudioMDHR

Excellence in Convergence

Star Wars Battlefront II

• Publisher: Electronic Arts
• Developer: EA DICE

Excellence in Multiplayer

PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds

• Publisher: PUBG Corporation
• Developer: PUBG Corporation

Most Promising New Intellectual Property

Horizon Zero Dawn

• Publisher: Sony Computer Interactive
• Developer: Guerrilla Games

Most Fulfilling Community-Funded Game

Night in the Woods

• Publisher: Finji
• Developer: Infinite Fall

Excellence in Gameplay

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

• Publisher: Nintendo
• Developer: Nintendo

Excellence in Design

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

• Publisher: Nintendo
• Developer: Nintendo

Excellence in Narrative

What Remains of Edith Finch

• Publisher: Annapurna Interactive
• Developer: Giant Sparrow

Matthew Crump Cultural Innovation Award

Doki Doki Literature Club!

• Publisher: Team Salvato
• Developer: Team Salvato

Gamer’s Voice Award Video Game

Battlesloths 2025: The Great Pizza Wars

• Publisher: Rooster Teeth Games
• Developer: Invisible Collective

Gamer’s Voice Award Mobile Game

Tiny Bubbles

• Publisher: Pine Street Codeworks LLC
• Developer: Pine Street Codeworks LLC

Gamer’s Voice Award Tabletop Game

Sol: Last Days of a Star

• Designer: Elephant Laboratories

Gamer’s Voice Award Virtual Reality Game

SUPERHOT VR

• Publisher: SUPERHOT Team
• Developer: SUPERHOT Team

Trending Game of the Year

PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds

• Publisher: PUBG Corporation
• Developer: PUBG Corporation

Esports Game of the Year

PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds

• Publisher: PUBG Corporation
• Developer: PUBG Corporation

Tabletop Game of the Year

Gloomhaven

• Designer: Issac Childres

Virtual Reality Game of the Year

Resident Evil 7: Biohazard

• Publisher: Capcom
• Developer: Capcom

Mobile Game of the Year

Fire Emblem Heroes

• Publisher: Nintendo
• Developer: DeNA, Intelligent Systems

For those of you curious what the “Matthew Crump Cultural Innovation Award” is for, it’s named after and dedicated to Matthew Crump; a SXSW Gaming Expo coordinator and game developer who passed away in 2014. The category is awarded for games that challenge the “norm” of gaming and can deliver a culturally innovative view of the game world, characters, or gameplay.