Actress and comedian Janet Varney and YouTube personality Markiplier to host
AUSTIN, Texas, Jan. 22, 2015 — (PRNewswire) — South by Southwest (SXSW) Gaming today announced the finalists for its second-annual SXSW Gaming Awards presented by iam8bit, Logitech, Porter Novelli and Wikia – part of SXSW Gaming 2015 – taking place on Saturday, March 14 at 7 p.m. at Austin City Limits Live at The Moody Theater. The Gaming Awards will honor major studio and indie game titles in 21 categories. The SXSW Gaming Awards are free and open to the public of all ages; Interactive, Gold and Platinum Badge holders receive early entry and preferred seating.The SXSW Gaming Awards complements the 2015 SXSW Gaming Expo, which runs March 13-15, 2015. Located at the Palmer Events Center, the SXSW Gaming Expo is also a free event and open to the public of all ages.
"It's fantastic to see the SXSW Gaming Expo continue to get bigger and better each year and to have the Gaming Awards continue to grow along with it," said Justin Burnham, SXSW Gaming Project Manager. "We've added several new award categories in 2015 and with a diverse list of finalists, from heavy-hitting AAA titles like Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor to indie stand-outs like Shovel Knight, we're excited to see who comes out on top!"
Making the awards ceremony a truly entertaining and celebratory evening, this year's event will be hosted by actress and comedian Janet Varney along with actor and popular YouTube personality Markiplier. Audience Entertainment, Imaginary Forces, 3BlackDot, Thrilling Adventure Hour and Critical Hit will also provide the audience with entertainment throughout the ceremony.
Wikia superfans will also be helping anoint winners of this year's SXSW Gaming Awards. Representing over 85,000 of the most authoritative fan communities on console, pc and mobile games, Wikia fans will have the opportunity to collaborate alongside the industry experts to select the best in up to 20 award categories. Voting kicks off soon on gameshub.wikia.com/sxsw.
Chosen from more than 400 submissions, here are the finalists for the second-annual SXSW Gaming Awards:
Game of the Year: Awarded to the indie or mainstream game that exemplifies gaming excellence.
- Bayonetta 2 – Nintendo/Platinum Games
- Dark Souls II – Bandai Namco Games/From Software
- Dragon Age: Inquisition – Electronic Arts/BioWare
- Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor – Warner Bros. Interactive/Monolith Productions
- Shovel Knight – Yacht Club Games
Mobile Game of the Year: Awarded to the mobile game that exemplifies gaming excellence
- Bravely Default – Nintendo/Square Enix
- Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft – Blizzard Entertainment
- Monument Valley – ustwo
- Super Smash Bros. 3DS – Nintendo
- Threes – Sirvo
Table Top Game of the Year: Awarded to the table top game that exemplifies gaming excellence
- Dead of Winter – Plaid Hat Games
- Five Tribes – Days of Wonder
- King of New York – IELLO
- Sheriff of Nottingham – Arcane Wonders
- Star Realms – White Wizard Games
Excellence in Gameplay: Awarded to the title that exemplifies excellence in gameplay mechanics
- Dragon Age: Inquisition – Electronic Arts/BioWare
- Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor – Warner Bros. Interactive/Monolith Productions
- Nidhogg – Messhof
- Super Smash Bros. Wii U – Nintendo
- Titanfall – Electronic Arts/Respawn Entertainment
Excellence in Art: Awarded to the title that exemplifies excellence in art and design
- The Banner Saga – Versus Evil/Stoic Studio
- Child of Light – Ubisoft/Ubisoft Montreal
- Monument Valley – ustwo
- Transistor – Supergiant Games
- The Wolf Among Us – Telltale Games
Excellence in Animation: Awarded to the title that exemplifies excellence in animation
- Assassin's Creed Unity – Ubisoft/Ubisoft Montreal
- inFAMOUS: Second Son – Sony Computer Entertainment/Sucker Punch Productions
- Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor – Warner Bros. Interactive/Monolith Productions
- Super Smash Bros. Wii U – Nintendo
- Titanfall – Electronic Arts/Respawn Entertainment
Excellence in Technical Achievement: Awarded to the title that exemplifies excellence in technical achievement
- Alien: Isolation – Sega/The Creative Assembly
- Destiny – Activision/Bungie
- Dragon Age: Inquisition – Electronic Arts/BioWare
- Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor – Warner Bros. Interactive/Monolith Productions
- Sunset Overdrive – Microsoft Studios/Insomniac Games
Excellence in Visual Achievement
- Alien: Isolation – Sega/The Creative Assembly
- Far Cry 4 – Ubisoft/Ubisoft Montreal
- Monument Valley – ustwo
- Transistor – Supergiant Games
- The Vanishing of Ethan Carter – The Astronauts
Excellence in Narrative: Awarded to the title that exemplifies excellence in game narrative
- The Banner Saga – Versus Evil/Stoic Studio
- Dragon Age: Inquisition – Electronic Arts/BioWare
- Valiant Hearts: The Great War – Ubisoft/Ubisoft Montpellier
- The Wolf Among Us – Telltale Games
- Wolfenstein: The New Order – Bethesda Softworks/MachineGames
Excellence in Design and Direction: Awarded to the title that exemplifies excellence design and direction
- Dark Souls II – Bandai Namco Games/From Software
- Dragon Age: Inquisition – Electronic Arts/BioWare
- Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor – Warner Bros. Interactive/Monolith Productions
- Sunset Overdrive – Microsoft Studios/Insomniac Games
- The Talos Principle – Devolver Digital/Croteam
Excellence in SFX: Awarded to the title that exemplifies excellence game sound effects
- Alien: Isolation – Sega/The Creative Assembly
- Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare – Activision/Sledgehammer Games
- The Evil Within – Bethesda Softworks/Tango Gameworks
- Far Cry 4 – Ubisoft/Ubisoft Montreal
- Titanfall – Electronic Arts/Respawn Entertainment
Excellence in Musical Score: Awarded to the title that exemplifies artistic excellence in musical score, and how it is used to progress the narrative of a game
