If you want to enter your game into SXSW Interactive's second annual Gaming Awards, you'd better get a shift on.

The 12 December submission deadline is looming before the ceremony on 14 March 2015 at the Moody Theatre in Austin, Texas.

The awards stand as a way to honour the best and most inventive games the industry has to offer. This year sees six new award categories beefing up the roster, including Mobile Game of the Year, Most Anticipated Crowdfunded Game, and more.

It brings the grand total of awards categories to 21, each celebrating creativity across a broad range of platforms including PC, console, mobile and table top.

There is no application fee for entering, and the only caveat is that eligible games must have been released during the 2014 calendar year (with the exception of the "Most Anticipated Crowdfunded" and "Gamer's Voice" categories.)

The best of the best

Last year's winners included Nidhogg for the Gamer's Voice Award, while Papers, Please lifted the Matthew Crump Cultural Innovation Award.

Both indie and triple-A developers are encouraged to enter side-by-side, and 2014 also saw The Last of Us and Bioshock Infinite win Game of the Year and Excellence in Art respectively.

Actress and comedian Janet Varney and YouTube personality Markiplier have been confirmed as hosts for this year's awards. Varney brings more than 15 years of entertaining to the SXSW Gaming Awards Stage, while Markiplier brings a passion for gaming having grown his YouTube audience to almost five million dedicated fans in less than three years.

The deadline for the SXSW Gaming Awards submissions is Friday, December 12, 2014, at 11:59 pm CT.