Xbox Takes Home Multiple Awards At The SXSW 2021 Gaming Awards
Image: Microsoft

South by Southwest is a festival which celebrates a wide range of different interactive mediums, including games. Over the weekend, the winners for its 2021 Gaming Awards were announced and Xbox did pretty alright for itself.

Out of the 12 categories, Xbox games took home a variety of awards. Ori and the Will of the Wisps was one of the highlights, as it received Excellence in Score for its beautiful soundtrack that Moon Studios conjured up. Microsoft Flight Simulator, on the other hand, took home a particularly prestigious award with Excellence in Technical Achievement - awarded "to the game that pushed the capabilities of technology and programming furthest or most effectively." Very well deserved if you ask us!

Elsewhere, some titles that are console exclusives or were recently acquired by Xbox also won some awards. Deep Rock Galactic was a particular standout with two awards, winning both Indie Game of the Year and Excellence in Multiplayer. DOOM Eternal (now part of the Xbox family after the Bethesda acquisition) also managed to nab Excellence in Audio Design. Overall, Xbox did pretty well out of the awards, and it's great to see some smaller titles also receive recognition amongst the heavy hitters.

  • Video Game of the Year: Hades
  • Indie Game of the Year: Deep Rock Galactic
  • Tabletop Game of the Year: The Search for Planet X
  • VR Game of the Year: Half-Life: Alyx
  • Matthew Crump Cultural Innovation Award: Dreams
  • Excellence in Animation, Art, & Visual Achievement: Ghost of Tsushima
  • Excellence in Game Design: Hades
  • Excellence in Score: Ori and the Will of the Wisps
  • Excellence in Multiplayer: Deep Rock Galactic
  • Excellence in Narrative: The Last of Us Part II
  • Excellence in Audio Design: DOOM Eternal
  • Excellence in Technical Achievement: Microsoft Flight Simulator

Happy with the results? Let us know your thoughts down in the comments below.

[source sxsw.com]