'Hades.' 'Deep Rock Galactic' Win Big at SXSW 2021, Roguelike Slasher Brings Home GOTY Award

Sieeka Khan, Tech Times 21 March 2021, 10:03 am

The winners of this year's SXSW Gaming Awards have finally been announced, and video games such as "Hades" and "Deep Rock Galactic" lead the proceedings with two awards each.

SXSW 2021 awards

In partnership with IGN, South by Southwest or SXSW presented its Gaming Awards trophies to the winners in each category. The ceremony was held on Mar. 20.

"Hades" has emerged as one of the frontrunners at the gaming event, eventually winning the prestigious Video Game of the Year award as well as an Excellence in Game Design accolade, which takes into consideration the best overall design concept, execution, and gameplay mechanics.

According to NME, sci-fi co-op FPS "Deep Rock Galactic" also scored big at this year's awards ceremony, taking home awards in both categories that it was nominated in. It also won for Indie Game of the Year and Excellence in Multiplayer.

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Both of the categories feature very tough competition, with nine other video game titles competing for the Indie Game of the Year accolade, including the likes of "Bugsnax" and "Risk of Rain 2."

With 43 nominees across 12 different categories, there were a lot of other winners that were announced at the event, which was held online due to the coronavirus pandemic.

According to Deadline, awards were presented to "The Search for Planet X," "Half-Life: Alyx," "The Last of Us Part II," "Ori and the Will of the Wisps," "Ghost of Tsushima," " DOOM Eternal," "Dreams," and to "Microsoft Flight Simulator," which won the Matthew Crump Cultural Innovation award for its community-focused creativity tools.

Full list of winners from the SXSW 2021 Gaming Awards

The Video Game of the Year is awarded to the game that exemplifies the overall excellence and creates a distinct gaming experience across all platforms, and as mentioned, the video game that won this award this year is "Hades."

The Indie Game of the Year is awarded to the indie game that exemplifies the overall excellence and creates a distinct gaming experience across all platforms, and it was awarded to "Deep Rock Galactic."

The Tabletop Game of the Year is awarded to the game that exemplifies overall excellence and ingenuity of any tabletop game in any genre, and the recipient of the award is "The Search for Planet X."

The VR Game of the Year is awarded to the VR game that exemplifies the overall excellence in gameplay and design across VR platforms, and seemingly unsurprising, the award was given to "Half-Life: Alyx."

The Excellence in Narrative award is given to the game with the best storyline and the best dialogue. The video game that won this award this year is "The Last of Us Part II."

The Excellence in Game Design is awarded to the game with the best overall design concept, best execution and gameplay mechanics, which was given to "Hades" yet again for its second win.

The Matthew Crump Cultural Innovation Award is awarded to the game that challenges the norm of daily gaming and the one that offers a culturally innovative view of the game world, gameplay or character.

The video game that won this award this year is "Dreams."

The other winners of the SXSW 2021 are "Ori and the Will of the Wisps" for Excellence in Score, "Deep Rock Galactic" for Excellence in Multiplayer, "Ghost of Tsushima" for Excellence in Animation, Art, & Visual Achievement, "DOOM Eternal" for Excellence in Audio Design, and "Microsoft Flight Simulator" for Excellence in Technical Achievement.