It’s D.I.C.E. awards time again. Last year saw big wins for the likes of The Last of Us, which won 10 awards including Game of the Year. It’s time to find out once more which games have been chosen as excellent examples of gaming for their D.I.C.E. (Design, Innovate, Communicate, Entertain) quality.
The awards season is, of course, already well and truly underway. December saw the inaugural Game Awards, an offshoot of Spike VGX, with heavy hitters such as Dragon Age: Inquisition picking up the award for Game of the Year and Destiny picking up the award for Best Online Experience. Winning developers were certainly hoping to continue their success at D.I.C.E.
Now, the big winners of the 18th annual D.I.C.E. awards have been announced, and some of the victors will look very familiar. As revealed in Las Vegas last night, top prize has yet again gone to fantasy RPG epic Dragon Age: Inquisition, which won the much-lauded Game of the Year category. BioWare’s title also picked up the Role-Playing/Massively Multiplayer Game of the Year award.
However, Dragon Age: Inquisition may not have been the biggest success story of the awards. Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor took home an incredible 8 awards, winning in all but one of the categories it was nominated for. Included in its haul are Adventure Game of the Year, Outstanding Achievement in Game Direction, and Outstanding Achievement in Game Design. It’s a continuation of Shadow of Mordor’s success so far, after the title picked up multiple awards at The Game Awards. Shadow of Mordor was also top of the list of our favorite games of 2014.
Other big winners include Destiny, which picked up 4 awards including Action Game of the Year and another online gaming plaudit, with a win in the Outstanding Achievement in Online Gameplay category. The Super Smash Bros series won 2 awards, with its Wii U iteration winning Fighting Game of the Year and the 3DS version claiming victory as Handheld Game of the Year. Meanwhile, the Apple App Store won an additional award for Technical Impact due to unique innovation and technical achievement.
The D.I.C.E. Awards was the culmination of a three-day summit, and winners were chosen by the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences. Academy President Martin Rae congratulated all of the award winners, stating that the games had left “an indelible mark on our industry while providing endless hours of entertainment for gamers everywhere.” The full list of winners can be found below:
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Game of the Year
Dragon Age: Inquisition
- Publisher: Electronic Arts
- Developer: BioWare
Outstanding Achievement in Game Direction
Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor
- Publisher: Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
- Developer: Monolith Productions
Outstanding Achievement in Game Design
Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor
- Publisher: Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
- Developer: Monolith Productions
Action Game of the Year
Destiny
- Publisher: Activision Publishing, Inc.
- Developer: Bungie
Adventure Game of the Year
Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor
- Publisher: Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
- Developer: Monolith Productions
Family Game of the Year
LittleBigPlanet 3
- Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment America LLC
- Developer: Sony Worldwide Studios Europe/Sumo Digital
Fighting Game of the Year
Super Smash Bros. for Wii U
- Publisher: Nintendo
- Developer: Sora Ltd./BANDAI NAMCO Games Inc./BANDAI NAMCO Studios Inc.
Racing Game of the Year
Mario Kart 8
- Publisher: Nintendo
- Developer: Nintendo
Role-Playing/Massively Multiplayer Game of the Year
Dragon Age: Inquisition
- Publisher: Electronic Arts
- Developer: BioWare
Sports Game of the Year
FIFA 15
- Publisher: Electronic Arts
- Developer: FIFA Development Team – EA Canada
Strategy/Simulation Game of the Year
Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft
- Publisher: Blizzard Entertainment
- Developer: Blizzard Entertainment
D.I.C.E. Sprite Award
Transistor
- Publisher: Supergiant Games
- Developer: Supergiant Games
Handheld Game of the Year
Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS
- Publisher: Nintendo
- Developer: Sora Ltd./BANDAI NAMCO Games Inc./BANDAI NAMCO Studios Inc.
Mobile Game of the Year
Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft
- Publisher: Blizzard Entertainment
- Developer: Blizzard Entertainment
Outstanding Achievement in Online Gameplay
Destiny
- Publisher: Activision Publishing, Inc.
- Developer: Bungie
Outstanding Innovation in Gaming
Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor
- Publisher: Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
- Developer: Monolith Productions
Outstanding Achievement in Animation
Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor
- Publisher: Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
- Developer: Monolith Productions
Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction
Monument Valley
- Publisher: ustwo
- Developer: ustwo
Outstanding Achievement in Character
Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor (Talion)
- Publisher: Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
- Developer: Monolith Productions
Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Composition
Destiny
- Publisher: Activision Publishing, Inc.
- Developer: Bungie
What do you make of the winners? Do you think Shadow of Mordor deserved to sweep away so many awards? And was Dragon Age: Inquisition your game of the year? Let us know in the comments below.