The 22nd annual D.I.C.E. Awards was held tonight in Las Vegas as the interactive entertainment industry gathered together to celebrate the year that was in the video game industry. The winners were chosen by their peers, which is what makes the D.I.C.E. Awards unique. The Hall of Fame recipient this year was Bonnie Ross, the Microsoft Corporate Vice President and Head of 343 Industries. She was chosen because of her vision and expansion of the Halo franchise and her promotion of STEM and her effort for making the games industry more diverse amongst women, under-represented minority groups, and children. God of War led the pack this year with 12 nominations. Here are the winners:
The Action Game of the Year is Celeste, with other nominees including Call of Duty: Black Ops 4, Destiny 2: Forsaken, Far Cry 5 and Shadow of the Tomb Raider. Outstanding Achievement in Character was awarded to Kratos from God of War.Unsurprisingly, Outstanding Achievement in Story was awarded to God of War.
Fortnite took home the Online Game of the Year Award as it deserves for being a cultural phenomenon. God of War, Into the Breach, Marvel’s Spider-Man, Return of the Obra Dinn and Subnautica were nominated for Outstanding Achievement in Game Design, with God of War taking home for prize for this category. Outstanding Technical Achievement was awarded to Red Dead Redemption II.
Nominated for Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction were Detroit: Become Human, God of War, GRIS, Marvel’s Spider-Man and Red Dead Redemption II, where God of War once again conquered this category. Marvel’s Spider-Man, on the flip side of the same coin, took home the honor of Outstanding Achievement in Animation.
For racing games, Microsoft’s Forza Horizon 4 reign supreme. In other genre categories, the Sports Game of the Year was given to Mario Tennis Aces, while Fighting Game of the Year was awarded to Super Smash Bros. Into the Breach was awarded the Strategy/Simulation Game of the Year, and Capcom’s biggest hit of the year Monster Hunter: World brought home the gold for RPGs. And of course, Adventure Game of the Year was awarded to God of War too.
Outstanding Achievement for an Independent Game went to Celeste, while Portable Game of the Year was awarded to Florence.
Detriot: Become Human, Forgotten Anne, Marvel’s Spider-Man, Tetris Effect were nominated for Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Composition as well as God of War who, surprising nobody, won this category as well, along with the Outstanding Achievement in Sound Design.
Finally, the nominees for Outstanding Achievement in Game Direction were Into the Breach, Marvel’s Spider-Man, Return of the Obra Dinn, Subnautica and God of War, the last of which took the award. Along with the eight awards they won, God of War was awarded Game of The Year, ahead of impressive competitors including Into the Breach, Marvel’s Spider-Man, Red Dead Redemption II and Return of the Obra Dinn.