After having opened for entry from August to December 2021, the final nominations for The South by Southwest Gaming Awards were revealed this Tuesday.
As the video game industry grows larger and games become a progressively more relevant medium, the SXSW Gaming Awards were established to laud and give the appropriate honor to the best video games for their accomplishments in the artistic, creative, technical and design fields. The ninth edition of the competition features a total of 40 shortlisted titles and 12 unique categories.
The game leading this year’s nominations isKena: Bridge of Spiritswhich is in four separate categories, including Indie Game of the Year. Developed and published by Ember Lab, the magical adventure game’s release got delayed - as did many - due to the ongoing pandemic, but it was finally launched last September for PC and PlayStation 4. Once it finally became available, the game mostly received high praise from critics, especially due to its astounding visuals and atmosphere. It currently hasa score of 83 on metacritic. Other titles among the 10 nominees for best Indie Game are the endless RPGLoop Heroand the Norse mythology-inspired survival gameValheim.
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The nominees for each of the 12 categories are as follows:
Game of The Year
Indie Game of the Year
Tabletop Game of the Year
VR Game of the Year
Matthew Crump Cultural Innovation Award
Excellence in Animation, Art, & Visual Achievement
Excellence in Game Design
Excellence in Original Score
Excellence in Multiplayer
Excellence in Narrative
Excellence in Audio Design
Excellence in Technical Achievement
If you see your favorite 2021 games among these titles, you have a chance to have your say in the final selection for the awards. Until 11:59pm CT next Tuesday, February 8th, you are able to vote on your preferred nominees. Cast your voteson the SXSW official websitebefore time runs out! The Gaming Award will be hosted on March 12th, and you can stream live viatwitch.tv/sxswgaming.
