I think they were somewhat beaten to the punch by Ninja Theory's astonishing work on Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice. They won the real-time award at SIGGRAPH 2016 in triumphant fashion. Not only did they create a tremendous technical achievement, but they produced a game with genuine artistic intent on a fraction of a typical AAA budget.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Yh-zFCILR4
https://youtu.be/OMENy0ptoyM?t=48s