Unpacking has nabbed the Matthew Crump Cultural Innovation Award at the 2022 SXSW Gaming Awards, adding yet another accolade to the shelf of Aussie developer Witch Beam. It arrives following Unpacking‘s major win at the DICE Awards, and nominations for the GDC Choice Awards, Independent Games Festival Awards, and the BAFTA Game Awards.
The SXSW Matthew Crump Cultural Innovation Award is given to ‘the game that best challenges the “norm” of everyday gaming and offers a culturally innovative view of a game world, character, or gameplay’. Between its unique domestic organisation gameplay and its understated and impactful approach to interactive narrative, Unpacking is certainly a game that fulfils this criteria. It challenges what games can be, and how they can tell stories – and it’s excellent to see the title recognised on a global stage.
Read: The making of Unpacking: From bullet-hell to domestic heaven
It beat out a stellar cast of fellow nominees, which included Chicory: A Colorful Tale, Before Your Eyes, Life is Strange: True Colors and Lost Words: Beyond the Page.
Other winners from the big show included hits like Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker, which nabbed Video Game of the Year, Kena: Bridge of Spirits, which took out Indie Game of the Year, and Dune: Imperium, the Tabletop Game of the Year.
You can view the full list of winners below:
SXSW 2022 Award Nominees and Winners
Video Game of the Year
- Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker [WINNER]
- It Takes Two
- Psychonauts 2
- Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart
- Resident Evil Villages
Indie Game of the Year
- Kena: Bridge of Spirits [WINNER]
- Chicory: A Colorful Tale
- Death’s Door
- Inscryption
- Loop Hero
- Lost Words: Beyond the Page
- The Medium
- Unpacking
- Valheim
- The Wild At Heart
Tabletop Game of the Year
- Dune: Imperium [WINNER]
- Cascadia
- Oath: Chronicles of Empire & Exile
- Roll Camera! The Filmmaking Board Game
- That Time You Killed Me
VR Game of the Year
- Resident Evil 4 VR [WINNER]
- After The Fall
- Demeo
- Lone Echo II
- Song in the Smoke
Matthew Crump Cultural Innovation Award
- Unpacking [WINNER]
- Chicory: A Colorful Tale
- Before Your Eyes
- Life is Strange: True Colors
- Lost Words: Beyond the Page
Excellence in Animation, Art, & Visual Achievement
- Forza Horizon 5 [WINNER]
- Deathloop
- Exo One
- Kena: Bridge of Spirits
- The Wild At Heart
Excellence in Game Design
- Inscryption [WINNER]
- Deathloop
- Loop Hero
- Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart
- Returnal
Excellence in Original Score
- Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker [WINNER]
- The Artful Escape
- Kena: Bridge of Spirits
- The Medium
- Wytchwood
Excellence in Multiplayer
- It Takes Two [WINNER]
- Back 4 Blood
- Halo Infinite
- Riders Republic
- Valheim
Excellence in Narrative
- Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker [WINNER]
- Deathloop
- Kena: Bridge of Spirits
- Lost in Random
- Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy
Excellence in Audio Design
- Resident Evil Village [WINNER]
- Forza Horizon 5
- Hell Let Loose
- Inscryption
- Twelve Minutes
Excellence in Technical Achievement
- Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart [WINNER]
- Before Your Eyes
- Forza Horizon 5
- Hell Let Loose
- Returnal
