Tag: DICE Awards

2024-2025 DICE Awards Deals its “Game of the Year” Award to Astro Bot

Astro Bot had the momentum coming out of the 2024 Game Awards with four total wins, including “Game of the Year” honors. But there wasn’t a clear frontrunner going into awards season, and there was no guarantee it would be able to fend off the rest of this year’s field of contenders forever.

All that said, Sony’s adorable little automaton ended up dominating the 2024-2025 DICE Awards in similar fashion. Astro Bot, and developers from Team Asobi, took home the “Game of the Year” prize last night, as well as statuettes for “Family Game of the Year”, “Outstanding Achievement in Game Design”, “Outstanding Technical Achievement”, and “Outstanding Achievement in Animation”.

Not to be outdone, the rest of the “Game of the Year” contenders performed pretty well during rest of the ceremony, with Helldivers II, Balatro, and Indiana Jones and the Great Circle divvying up the majority of the remaining awards.

Helldivers II nearly matched Astro Bot‘s total as it collected four statuettes for “Online Game of the Year”, “Action Game of the Year”, “Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Composition”, and “Outstanding Achievement in Audio Design”.

Meanwhile, Balatro (“Mobile Game of the Year”, “Strategy/Simulation Game of the Year”, and “Outstanding Achievement for an Independent Game”) and Indiana Jones and the Great Circle (“Adventure Game of the Year”, “Outstanding Achievement in Character”, and “Outstanding Achievement in Story”) earned three awards apiece.

Kinda Funny’s Greg Miller and IGN’s Stella Chung returned to host this year’s DICE Awards, and you can watch a full replay of the ceremony (as well as find a complete list of all the winners and nominees) after the break.

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DICE Awards: All the Winners from 1997 to Today

The DICE Awards have been awarded by the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences as part of the DICE Summit (“Design Innovate Communicate Entertain”) since 1998. The ceremony is held each Winter, honoring games released during the previous calendar year.

The nominees are chosen annually by a select group of Academy members known as “Peer Panelists.” In their attempt to harvest a wide-ranging set of opinions each year, the AIAS reaches out to industry experts from all corners of the game industry, including art, design, engineering, animation, performance, and production.

For the final vote, the entire Academy votes for the four major awards (“Game of the Year,” “Mobile Game of the Year,” “Online Game of the Year,” and “Outstanding Achievement for an Independent Game”), while voting on creative/technical categories is limited to developers within that field (“Game Design & Production,” “Art, Animation & Programming,” and “Audio Design & Music”).

From 1998 through 2012, the ceremony was known as the Interactive Achievement Awards, though the public would often refer to it as the “DICE Awards” because of its connection to the DICE Summit. After more than a decade, the AIAS officially adopted the new name in 2013.

All the “Game of the Year” winners from the DICE Awards can be found here…

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Baldur’s Gate 3 Stacks Up Another “Game of the Year” Award at the 2023-2024 DICE Awards

Continuing its momentum from The Game Awards, Larian’s Baldur’s Gate 3 won “Game of the Year” at last night’s DICE Awards. Unsurprisingly, the expansive RPG also won “Role-Playing Game of the Year”, as well as “Outstanding Achievement in Story”, “Outstanding Achievement in Game Design”, and “Outstanding Achievement in Game Direction”.

With five total awards, Baldur’s Gate 3 had a good night, but Spider-Man 2 doesn’t just do whatever a spider can, it also won six statuettes for Insomniac Games. The wallcrawler’s third Sony-published PlayStation outing collected “Action Game of the Year”, “Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Composition”, “Outstanding Achievement in Audio Design”, “Outstanding Achievement in Animation”, “Outstanding Technical Achievement”, and “Outstanding Achievement in Character” for Miles Morales.

More than a dozen other titles also claimed victory at this year’s DICE Awards, including Cocoon (“Outstanding Achievement for an Independent Game”), Diablo IV (“Online Game of the Year”), The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (“Adventure Game of the Year”), and Street Fighter 6 (“Fighting Game of the Year”).

Finally, Nintendo’s Koji Kondo took the stage last night as the latest recipient of the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences’s “Hall of Fame” award. It was a fitting tribute to the composer, especially on the same night that Super Mario Bros. Wonder, which he worked on as Sound Director, won the statuette for “Family Game of the Year”.

The 2023-2024 DICE Awards, which were hosted by Kinda Funny’s Greg Miller and IGN’s Stella Chung, was a fantastic showcase for the developers that made 2023 such a great year for games. You can watch the full ceremony, as well as view a list of every winner and nominee, after the break.

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Elden Ring Wins “Game of the Year” at 2022-2023 DICE Awards

From Software’s Elden Ring has gone two-for-two during the 2022-2023 awards season after the RPG captured “Game of the Year” honors at the conclusion of last night’s DICE Awards ceremony. The RPG’s distinctive dark fantasy aesthetic was honored with four other awards, also winning for “Outstanding Achievement in Game Direction,” “Outstanding Achievement in Game Design,” “Outstanding Technical Achievement,” and, of course, “Role-Playing Game of the Year.”

It was a good night for From Software, though the mighty God of War was not always so easily toppled.

Before the show, the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences bestowed a dozen nominations on God of War: Ragnarok. But while it might have missed the big prize, Kratos and company collected more statuettes than any other game at the DICE Awards. Developers from Sony Santa Monica would climb up on stage seven times, starting with the award for “Adventure Game of the Year.”

The team would also be honored for their narrative work (“Outstanding Achievement in Story” and “Outstanding Achievement in Character” for Kratos himself), graphical prowess (“Outstanding Achievement in Animation” and “Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction”), and audio work (“Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Composition” and “Outstanding Achievement in Audio Design”).

The only other game to win multiple awards at the 2022-2023 DICE Awards was Vertical Robot’s Red Matter 2, which was triumphant in both immersive reality categories (“Immersive Reality Technical Achievement” and “Immersive Reality Game of the Year”).

Many of the remaining awards were distributed amongst some of the biggest surprises from 2022. The vampire-less Vampire Survivors sunk its teeth into the “Action Game of the Year” award. The full-fledged Premium Edition of Dwarf Fortress paid off more than 15 years of anticipation with a win for “Strategy/Simulation Game of the Year.” And the addictive Marvel Snap was named “Mobile Game of the Year.”

You’ll find a replay of last night’s ceremony, which was hosted by Greg “GameOverGreggy” Miller and IGN’s Stella Chung, after the break, along with a full list of winners and nominees.

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Hazelight’s It Takes Two Wins “Game of the Year” at the 2021-2022 DICE Awards

Hazelight’s It Takes Two continued its improbable run with a “Game of the Year” win at the 2021-2022 DICE Awards (and making it two-for-two after its triumph at The Game Awards).

More than 50 games received at least one nomination at the DICE Awards, but the membership of the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences continued to come back to the same titles over and over again… which benefited the developers at Hazelight with a second trophy for It Takes Two in the “Outstanding Achievement in Game Design” category.

While it didn’t win “Game of the Year,” Insomniac’s Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart took the momentum from its nine total nominations (the most entering the night) and tallied up four victories during last night’s ceremony across an eclectic set of categories (“Outstanding Achievement in Animation,” “Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction,” “Outstanding Technical Achievement,” and “Family Game of the Year”).

Several other games secured multiple awards at the DICE Awards, giving the development teams from Eidos Montreal (“Outstanding Achievement in Story” and “Adventure Game of the Year” for Guardians of the Galaxy), 343 Industries (“Online Game of the Year” and “Action Game of the Year” for Halo Infinite), Ready At Dawn (“Immersive Reality Technical Achievement” and “Immersive Reality Game of the Year” for Lone Echo II), and Housemarque (“Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Composition” and “Outstanding Achievement in Audio Design” for Returnal) two chances to deliver a speech on the DICE stage.

You can find the full list of winners and nominees from the 2021-2022 DICE Awards after the break, along with a video replay of the IGN-produced ceremony, which was hosted by Greg Miller and Jessica Chobot.

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Supergiant’s Hades Wins “Game of the Year” at the 2020-2021 DICE Awards

Nintendo’s Animal Crossing: New Horizons, Square Enix’s Final Fantasy VII Remake, Sucker Punch’s Ghost of Tsushima, Supergiant’s Hades, and Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us Part II dominated the conversation among players in 2020, and all five were in competition for the big prize at this year’s DICE Awards.

The Last of Us Part II lead the way with 11 nominations, but it was Hades that won “Game of the Year” during last night’s ceremony. The well-reviewed roguelike also claimed four other trophies, including “Action Game of the Year,” “Outstanding Achievement for an Independent Game,” “Outstanding Achievement in Game Design,” and “Outstanding Achievement in Game Direction.”

Though Hades was the big winner, each of the games nominated for “Game of the Year” won something at this year’s DICE Awards.

Ghost of Tsushima sliced its way to victory in four categories, including “Adventure Game of the Year,” “Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Composition,” “Outstanding Achievement in Audio Design,” and “Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction.”

The Last of Us Part II picked up a pair of trophies, including “Outstanding Achievement in Story” and “Outstanding Achievement in Animation.”

And finally, Animal Crossing: New Horizons (“Family Game of the Year”) and Final Fantasy VII Remake (“Role-Playing Game of the Year”) each won a single prize.

A complete list of all winners and nominees from the 2020-2021 DICE Awards can be found after the break, along with a video replay of the ceremony, which was hosted by IGN.

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House House’s Untitled Goose Game Wins “Game of the Year” at 2019-2020 DICE Awards

I guess The Goose can cross “Win a Few Major Awards” off of its To-Do List. And that’s because House House’s Untitled Goose Game won “Outstanding Achievement for an Independent Game,” “Outstanding Achievement in Character,” and “Game of the Year” at this year’s DICE Awards.

While the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences’s voting body (which is comprised of more than 30,000 members) loves The Goose, it was Remedy’s Control that took home the most statuettes last night. Predictably, the outstanding action game won “Action Game of the Year,” as well as “Outstanding Achievement in Game Direction,” “Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Composition,” and “Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction.” Hideo Kojima’s Death Stranding was the only other game to win multiple awards, with the AIAS honoring it with “Outstanding Technical Achievement” and “Outstanding Achievement in Audio Design.”

A nice array of other games were also big winners at the 2019-2020 DICE Awards, including Sayonara Wild Hearts (“Portable Game of the Year”), Apex Legends (“Online Game of the Year”), Super Mario Maker 2 (“Family Game of the Year”), Mortal Kombat 11 (“Fighting Game of the Year”), Baba Is You (“Outstanding Achievement in Game Design”), and more.

The complete list of winners and nominees for the 2019-2020 DICE Awards can be found after the break, along with a video replay of the ceremony.

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Sony Santa Monica’s God of War Wins “Game of the Year” at 2018-2019 DICE Awards

The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences announced the winners of the 2018-2019 DICE Awards last night… and Sony Santa Monica’s God of War almost had a clean sweep.

The action-adventure game was competing in an astounding 11 categories, but even more astounding is that it claimed victory in nine of them, including “Game of the Year” and “Adventure Game of the Year.” God of War also picked up “Outstanding Achievements” in “Game Design,” “Game Direction,” “Original Music Composition” “Sound Design,” “Story,” and “Art Direction,” and Kratos himself won “Outstanding Achievement in Character.”

A few other games managed to snag some trophies (mostly in categories God of War wasn’t competing in), and that list included games such as Matt Makes Games’s Celeste (“Action Game of the Year” and “Outstanding Achievement for an Independent Game”), Mountains’s Florence (“Portable Game of the Year”), and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (“Fighting Game of the Year”). Not surprisingly, Fortnite won “Online Game of the Year.”

You can find the full list of winners and nominees from the 2018-2019 DICE Awards after the break.

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Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild Wins “Game of the Year” at 2017-2018 DICE Awards

Nintendo was definitely the big winner at last night’s DICE Awards presentation. The Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences awarded 11 victories to the consolemaker, including “Game of the Year” for The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Link’s newest adventure also received accolades for “Adventure Game of the Year,” “Game Design,” “Game Direction.”

Studio MDHR’s Cuphead received several awards for its outstanding sound and visuals at the 2017-2018 DICE Awards, including “Original Music Composition,” “Animation,” and “Art Direction.”

Developers for several other games strode to the stage to collect multiple awards during last night’s ceremony. That list includes Guerrilla’s Horizon: Zero Dawn (“Story” and “Technical Achievement”), PUBG Corporation’s PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (“Action Game of the Year” and “Online Gameplay”), Nintendo’s Snipperclips: Cut It Out Together (“Family Game of the Year” and the “D.I.C.E. Sprite Award”), and Oculus’s Lone Echo/Echo Arena (“Immersive Reality Technical Achievement” and “Immersive Reality Game of the Year”).

Congratulations to everyone who won big at the 2017-2018 DICE Awards. A complete list of all the winners and nominees can be found after the break.

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Overwatch Wins “Game of the Year” (and Three Other Awards) at 2016-2017 DICE Awards

Blizzard made their mark on last night’s DICE Awards presentation when Overwatch took home the trophy in four categories, including “Game of the Year.” The shooter was also honored as “Action Game of the Year,” as well as for “Outstanding Achievement in Game Design” and “Outstanding Achievement in Online Gameplay.”

It was also a good night for Naughty Dog, as the developer claimed four victories for their work on Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End including “Adventure Game of the Year,” “Outstanding Achievement in Story,” “Outstanding Technical Achievement,” and “Outstanding Achievement in Animation.”

The full list of winners and nominees from the 2016-2017 DICE Awards (including Pokemon Go for “Mobile Game of the Year,” Pokemon Sun and Moon for “Handheld Game of the Year,” and three awards for Inside ) can be found after the break.

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