[4] The Gaming Awards were discontinued by SXSW in 2023 due to a desire to "streamline our festival a bit more.

[3] The festival's organizers along with a panel of industry experts review all submissions and select the top five for each of the game categories.

These games are featured in playable form at the SXSW festival to allow attendees to try them before they vote for their favorite.

The 2020 SXSW event was cancelled in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, but the award winners were still named online on March 24, 2020.

Award to an indie game voted by the public; split into Single and Multi-player categories in 2016.