The annual D.I.C.E. Awards is one of the biggest gongs a game studio can win. Voted on by the 22,000 or so members of the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences in Los Angeles, a DICE award is effectively the video game equivalent of an Oscar. And this morning, 57 games were nominated for the 24th annual D.I.C.E. Awards, including one Australian title.
Untitled Goose Game took out the 23th D.I.C.E. Awards Game of the Year, the only time an Australian game has won the major gong. 2020 was an exceptionally strong 12 months for games, but some Australian titles still received recognition for their efforts.
The sole Australian entrant this year was HoloVista from Aconite, whose lead producer Meredith Hall is based in Melbourne. The rest of the nominations, however, went to a lot of the games you’d expect: plenty of entries for Final Fantasy 7 Remake, Last of Us Part 2, Animal Crossing, Ghost of Tsushima, Half-Life: Alyx, Hades and Microsoft Flight Simulator.
Here’s all the nominees for this year’s DICE Awards, and each of the categories:
24th DICE Awards Game of the Year
- Animal Crossing: New Horizons
- Final Fantasy 7 Remake
- Ghost of Tsushima
- Hades
- Last of Us Part 2
Outstanding Achievement in Game Direction
- Ghost of Tsushima
- Kentucky Route Zero: TV Edition
- Last of Us Part 2
- Half-Life: Alyx
- Hades
Outstanding Achievement in Game Design
- Ghost of Tsushima
- Hades
- Half-Life: Alyx
- Last of Us Part 2
- Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales
Online Game of the Year
- Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War
- Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout
- Ghost of Tsushima
- Tetris Effect: Connected
- Animal Crossing: New Horizons
Mobile Game of the Year
- South of the Circle
- Song of Bloom
- Little Orpheus
- Legends of Runeterra
- HoloVista
Outstanding Achievement for an Independent Game
- If Found…
- Noita
- Kentucky Route Zero: TV Edition
- Hades
- Coffee Talk
Immersive Reality Game of the Year
- Down the Rabbit Hole
- The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners
- The Room VR: A Dark Matter
- Half-Life: Alyx
- Paper Beast
Immersive Reality Technical Achievement
- Half-Life: Alyx
- Mario Kart Live
- Museum of Other Realities
- Paper Beast
- Tempest
Strategy/Simulation Game of the Year
- Desperados 3
- Microsoft Flight Simulator
- Per Aspera
- Mosnter Train
- Crusader Kings 3
Sports Game of the Year
- Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2
- MLB The Show 20
- PGA Tour 2K21
- NBA 2K21
- EA Sports FIFA 21
Role-Playing Game of the Year
- Cyberpunk 2077
- Wasteland 3
- Yakuza: Like a Dragon
- Persona 5 Royal
- Final Fantasy 7 Remake
Racing Game of the Year
- Mario Kart Live
- F1 2020
- DiRT 5
Fighting Game of the Year
- Granblue Fantasy Versus
- Mortal Kombat 11 Ultimate
- Them’s Fightin’ Herds
- EA Sports UFC 4
Family Game of the Year
- Sackboy: A Big Adventure
- Fall Guys
- Dreams
- Astro’s Playroom
- Animal Crossing: New Horizons
Adventure Game of the Year
- Kentucky Route Zero: TV Edition
- Ori and the Will of the Wisps
- Last of Us Part 2
- Ghost of Tsushima
- Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla
Action Game of the Year
- Nioh 2
- Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales
- Half-Life: Alyx
- Hades
- DOOM Eternal
Outstanding Technical Achievement
- Microsoft Flight Simulator
- Mario Kart Live
- Last of Us Part 2
- Ghost of Tsushima
- Dreams
Outstanding Achievement in Story
- 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim
- Kentucky Route Zero: TV Edition
- Hades
- Ghost of Tsushima
- Last of Us Part 2
Outstanding Achievement in Audio Design
- Dreams
- Ghost of Tsushima
- Last of Us Part 2
- Ori and the Will of the Wisps
- Sackboy: A Big Adventure
Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Composition
- The Pathless
- Ori and the Will of the Wisps
- Little Orpheus
- Ghost of Tsushima
- Carrion
Outstanding Achievement in Character
- Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales (Miles Morales)
- Last of Us Part 2 (Ellie)
- Last of Us Part 2 (Abby)
- Hades (Zagreus)
- Assassin’s Creed Valhalla (Eivor)
Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction
- Ori and the Will of the Wisps
- Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales
- Last of Us Part 2
- Hades
- Ghost of Tsushima
Outstanding Achievement in Animation
- Spiritfarer
- Ori and the Will of the Wisps
- Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales
- Last of Us Part 2
- Final Fantasy 7 Remake
If you’re wondering who got the most nominations, it’s Last of Us Part 2 with 12. Ghost of Tsushima has 10 nominations of its own, while Hades is the third most popular at 8 noms.
Ori and the Will of the Wisps, Miles Morales and Half-Life: Alyx all had 5 nominations a piece. But it was also nice to see games like Them’s Fightin’ Herds, 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim and Kentucky Route Zero get their dues too. The nomination process involves a huge list of industry developers and leads from every AAA, AA and major indie studio imaginable, so it’s good that games like Nioh 2 also weren’t forgotten (although I’d be surprised if Nioh won that category over Hades or DOOM Eternal).
The actual voting process starts from today, giving the academy’s members enough time to play through all of the games nominated. The actual awards won’t be given out until April 8 internationally; we’ll let you know the results when announced. As for the sole Australian entrant, it’s on iOS only for $4.99 right here.
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