Annual video game award show
The D.I.C.E. Awards (formerly the Interactive Achievement Awards ) is an annual awards show in the video game industry , and commonly referred to as the video game equivalent of the Academy Awards .[ 1] [ 2] [ 3] The awards are arranged by the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences (AIAS) and held during the AIAS' annual D.I.C.E. Summit in Las Vegas . "D.I.C.E." is a backronym for "Design Innovate Communicate Entertain". The D.I.C.E. Awards recognizes games, individuals, and development teams that have contributed to the advancement of the multi-billion dollar worldwide entertainment software industry.[ 4]
The Academy encourages submissions from any individual or company providing that submission eligibility requirements are met. Each application enters the submitted game or title for consideration in at least one Craft category and only one Genre category. For most categories, the title must be publicly released in North America within the past calendar year. The exceptions to this rule are submissions for "Online Game of the Year" and "Fighting Game of the Year".[ 5]
The finalists in each category are selected by a peer panel, assembled by AIAS, of over 100 video game professionals across several facets of the industry, including developers, programmers, artists, and publishers, which is published on the AIAS website each year. The nominees are then voted on by the full membership of AIAS (over 33,000 members) via a confidential and secured voting system, and winners are subsequently announced during the D.I.C.E. Summit in Las Vegas, typically in February of that year.[ 6] [ 7] [ 8]
Academy active Creative/Technical, Business, and Affiliate members are qualified to vote in all genre categories along with "Game of the Year", "Mobile Game of the Year", "Online Game of the Year", and "Outstanding Achievement for an Independent Game". Creative/Technical members of the Academy may also vote on craft categories related to their expertise:[ 9]
Game designers and producers vote for the categories of "Story", "Character", "Audio Design", "Game Direction", and "Game Design".
Artists, animators, and programmers vote for the categories of "Animation", "Art Direction", "Character", and "Technical".
Audio designers and musicians vote for the categories of "Audio Design", "Original Music Composition", and "Character".
Due to this approach, the D.I.C.E. Awards are considered the main peer-based recognition within the video games industry compared to other major awards.[ 10]
#
Date
Game of the Year
Host(s)
Venue
Ref.
1st
May 28, 1998
GoldenEye 007
—
Georgia World Congress Center
[ 11] [ 12] [ 13]
2nd
May 13, 1999
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
—
Variety Arts Theater
[ 14]
3rd
May 11, 2000
The Sims
Martin Short
Millennium Biltmore Hotel
[ 15]
4th
March 22, 2001
Diablo II
Martin Lewis
Polly Esther's
[ 16]
5th
February 28, 2002
Halo: Combat Evolved
Patton Oswalt
Hard Rock Hotel and Casino
[ 17] [ 18] [ 19]
6th
February 27, 2003
Battlefield 1942
Dave Foley
[ 20]
7th
March 4, 2004
Call of Duty
Diane Mizota
Palms Casino Resort
[ 21] [ 22] [ 23]
8th
February 1, 2005
Half-Life 2
Kurt Scholler, Cory Rouse
Green Valley Ranch
[ 24]
9th
February 9, 2006
God of War
Jay Mohr
Hard Rock Hotel and Casino
[ 25] [ 26]
10th
February 7, 2007
Gears of War
[ 27] [ 28]
11th
February 8, 2008
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
Red Rock Casino, Resort & Spa
[ 29]
12th
February 19, 2009
LittleBigPlanet
[ 30]
13th
February 18, 2010
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
[ 31] [ 32]
14th
February 11, 2011
Mass Effect 2
[ 33]
15th
February 9, 2012
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
[ 34]
16th
February 7, 2013
Journey
Chris Hardwick
[ 35] [ 36]
17th
February 6, 2014
The Last of Us
Felicia Day , Freddie Wong
Hard Rock Hotel and Casino
[ 37]
18th
February 5, 2015
Dragon Age: Inquisition
Pete Holmes
[ 38]
19th
February 18, 2016
Fallout 4
Mandalay Bay Convention Center
[ 39]
20th
February 23, 2017
Overwatch
Greg Miller , Jessica Chobot
[ 40]
21st
February 22, 2018
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
[ 41] [ 42]
22nd
February 13, 2019
God of War
Aria Resort and Casino
[ 43] [ 44]
23rd
February 13, 2020
Untitled Goose Game
[ 45]
24th
April 22, 2021
Hades
Greg Miller, Jessica Chobot, Kahlief Adams
none [ a]
[ 46]
25th
February 24, 2022
It Takes Two
Greg Miller, Jessica Chobot
Mandalay Bay Convention Center
[ 47]
26th
February 23, 2023
Elden Ring
Stella Chung, Greg Miller
Resorts World Las Vegas
[ 48]
27th
February 15, 2024
Baldur's Gate 3
Aria Resort and Casino
[ 49] [ 50] [ 51]
Game of the Year Awards[ edit ]
Timeline of Game of the Year awards categories. The most characteristic one -- Game of the Year or GOTY award -- only changed its name a few times since 1998. In blue, discontinued, renamed or merged categories. In green, current ones (2023). First year of publication of awards indicated.
Timeline of Craft awards categories. In purple, discontinued, renamed or merged categories. In green, current ones (2023). First year of publication of awards indicated.
Timeline of Genre awards categories. In red, discontinued, renamed or merged categories. In green, current ones (2023). First year of publication of awards indicated.
Discontinued, renamed, or merged categories[ edit ]
The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences has annually inducted into its "Hall of Fame" video game developers that have made revolutionary and innovative achievements in the video game industry.[ 52]
Year
Person
Company/role
Notable games
1998
Shigeru Miyamoto
Nintendo
Donkey Kong , Mario , The Legend of Zelda , F-Zero , Star Fox , Pikmin , and Wii series
1999
Sid Meier
Founder of Firaxis Games and MicroProse
Pirates! , Railroad Tycoon , Civilization , and Alpha Centauri
2000
Hironobu Sakaguchi
Originally at Square (renamed Square Enix ), Founder of Mistwalker
Final Fantasy , Chrono Trigger , Parasite Eve , Lost Odyssey , and The Last Story
2001
John D. Carmack
Founder of id Software
Commander Keen , Doom , Quake , and Rage
2002
Will Wright
Founder of Maxis
SimCity , Spore , and The Sims
2003
Yu Suzuki
Sega (head of Sega AM2 division)
Hang-On , Space Harrier , Out Run , After Burner , Power Drift , Virtua Racing Virtua Fighter , Daytona USA , Virtua Cop , and Shenmue series
2004
Peter Molyneux
Founder of Lionhead Studios and Bullfrog Productions
Black & White , Populous , Magic Carpet , Syndicate , Dungeon Keeper , and Fable
2005
Trip Hawkins
Founder of Electronic Arts and Digital Chocolate
Madden Football
2006
Richard Garriott
Founder of Origin Systems
Ultima series and Tabula Rasa
2007
Dani Bunten (posthumous)
Founder of Ozark Softscape
M.U.L.E.
2008
Michael Morhaime
President & Co-Founder of Blizzard Entertainment
Warcraft , Starcraft , and Diablo
2009
Bruce Shelley
Ensemble Studios
Age of Empires
2010
Mark Cerny
Cerny Games
Marble Madness , Ratchet & Clank , and Jak & Daxter
2011
Ray Muzyka & Greg Zeschuk
Co-Founders of BioWare
Knights of the Old Republic , Mass Effect , and Dragon Age
2012
Tim Sweeney
Founder and CEO of Epic Games
Unreal and Gears of War series
2013
Gabe Newell
Co-Founder and CEO of Valve
Portal , Half-Life , and Left 4 Dead
2014
Sam Houser , Dan Houser and Leslie Benzies
Co-Founders of Rockstar Games
Grand Theft Auto and Bully
2016
Hideo Kojima
Founder of Kojima Productions
Metal Gear , Snatcher , Policenauts , Zone of the Enders , and Boktai
2017
Todd Howard
Director and Executive Producer at Bethesda Game Studios
The Elder Scrolls and the Fallout series
2019
Bonnie Ross
Corporate Vice-President at Microsoft , Head of 343 Industries
Halo series
2020
Connie Booth
Vice-President of Product Development at Sony Interactive Entertainment
Advocate for several of Sony's first-party franchises, including Crash Bandicoot , Spyro the Dragon , Jak and Daxter , Ratchet & Clank , and Sly Cooper
2022
Ed Boon
Creative director of NetherRealm Studios
Co-creator of the Mortal Kombat series
2023
Tim Schafer
Co-founder of Double Fine Productions
Grim Fandango , Psychonauts , Broken Age , and Psychonauts 2
2024
Koji Kondo
Nintendo composer and sound designer
Works include numerous games, including those in the Super Mario Bros. and The Legend of Zelda franchise[ 53]
Lifetime Achievement Awards [ edit ]
The Lifetime Achievement Award is given "for individuals whose accomplishments span a broad range of disciplines over a lengthy career in the industry".[ 54]
The Pioneer Award is given "for individuals whose career spanning work has helped shape and define the interactive entertainment industry".[ 54]
Technical Impact Award [ edit ]
The Technical Impact Award was added for the 2015 awards ceremony to recognize "unique innovations that contribute to the ongoing progress of interactive media".[ 57]
Notable highest wins and nominations [ edit ]
Most award-winning games:
Most nominated games:
Most award-winning franchises:
Most nominated franchises:
Most award-winning developers:
Most nominated developers:
The most award-winning publishers:
The most nominated publishers:
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Craft Awards Genre Awards Ceremonies Related