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. 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.
Format 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".
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.
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: 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.
Award ceremonies # Date Game of the Year Host(s) Venue 1st May 28, 1998 GoldenEye 007 Georgia World Congress Center 2nd May 13, 1999 The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time Variety Arts Theater 3rd May 11, 2000 The Sims Martin Short Millennium Biltmore Hotel 4th March 22, 2001 Diablo II Martin Lewis Polly Esther's 5th February 28, 2002 Halo: Combat Evolved Patton Oswalt Hard Rock Hotel and Casino 6th February 27, 2003 Battlefield 1942 Dave Foley 7th March 4, 2004 Call of Duty Diane Mizota Palms Casino Resort 8th February 1, 2005 Half-Life 2 Kurt Scholler, Cory Rouse Green Valley Ranch 9th February 9, 2006 God of War Jay Mohr Hard Rock Hotel and Casino 10th February 7, 2007 Gears of War 11th February 8, 2008 Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare Red Rock Casino, Resort & Spa 12th February 19, 2009 LittleBigPlanet 13th February 18, 2010 Uncharted 2: Among Thieves 14th February 11, 2011 Mass Effect 2 15th February 9, 2012 The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim 16th February 7, 2013 Journey Chris Hardwick 17th February 6, 2014 The Last of Us Felicia Day, Freddie Wong Hard Rock Hotel and Casino 18th February 5, 2015 Dragon Age: Inquisition Pete Holmes 19th February 18, 2016 Fallout 4 Mandalay Bay Convention Center 20th February 23, 2017 Overwatch Greg Miller, Jessica Chobot 21st February 22, 2018 The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 22nd February 13, 2019 God of War Aria Resort and Casino 23rd February 13, 2020 Untitled Goose Game 24th April 22, 2021 Hades Greg Miller, Jessica Chobot, Kahlief Adams 25th February 24, 2022 It Takes Two Greg Miller, Jessica Chobot Mandalay Bay Convention Center 26th February 23, 2023 Elden Ring Stella Chung, Greg Miller Resorts World Las Vegas 27th February 15, 2024 Baldur's Gate 3 Aria Resort and Casino 28th February 13, 2025 Astro Bot 29th February 12, 2026 Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
Award categories
Game of the Year Awards
Game of the Year Online Game of the Year Mobile Game of the Year Outstanding Achievement for an Independent Game Immersive Reality Game of the Year Immersive Reality Technical Achievement
Craft Awards
Genre Awards
Discontinued, renamed, or merged categories
Game of the Year
Craft Awards
Genre Awards
Console
Computer
Online Online Action/Strategy Game of the Year: 1999 Online Family/Board Game of the Year: 1999 Online Role-Playing Game of the Year: 1999 Entertainment Site of the Year: 1998–2000 News/Information Site of the Year: 1998–2000 Online Gameplay of the Year: 2001-2003
Special categories Hall of Fame 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. Year Person Company/role Notable games 1998 Shigeru Miyamoto Nintendo Mario, Donkey Kong, 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 2024Koji Kondo Nintendo composer and sound designerWorks include numerous games, including those in the Super Mario Bros. and The Legend of Zelda franchise 2025 Ted Price Founder and CEO of Insomniac Games Spyro the Dragon, Ratchet & Clank, Resistance: Fall of Man, and Marvel's Spider-Man series 2026 Evan Wells Co-President of Naughty DogCrash Bandicoot, Jak & Daxter, Uncharted, and The Last of Us 2027 Shinji Mikami Creative Director and CEO of Unbound, Inc.Resident Evil, Dino Crisis, Devil May Cry, The Evil Within, Hi-Fi Rush, and Ghostwire Tokyo
Lifetime Achievement Awards The Lifetime Achievement Award is given "for individuals whose accomplishments span a broad range of disciplines over a lengthy career in the industry". Year Person Company/role 2007 Minoru Arakawa and Howard Lincoln Former presidents of Nintendo of America 2008 Ken Kutaragi Former Chairman/CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment and considered the "Father of the PlayStation" 2010 Doug Lowenstein Launched and served as president of the Interactive Digital Software Association, which became the Entertainment Software Association 2011 Bing Gordon Former Chief Creative Officer of Electronic Arts 2016 Satoru Iwata (posthumous) Former president of Nintendo 2018 Genyo Takeda Former General Manager of Nintendo Integrated Research & Development 2022 Phil Spencer CEO of Microsoft Gaming 2025 Don James Former Executive Vice-President of Nintendo of America. Heavily contributed to the creation of the ESRB and Interactive Digital Software Association, now known as the Entertainment Software Association, and its signature trade show, E3
Pioneer Awards The Pioneer Award is given "for individuals whose career spanning work has helped shape and define the interactive entertainment industry". Year Person Company/role 2010 David Crane Founder of Activision 2011 Bill Budge Developer of Raster Blaster and Pinball Construction Set 2012 Ed Logg Co-developer of many arcade games including Asteroids, Centipede and Gauntlet 2013 Dave Lebling & Marc Blank Co-founders of Infocom 2014 Eugene Jarvis Developer of arcade games Defender and Robotron: 2084 2015 Allan Alcorn Developer of Pong and co-developed several Atari home consoles Ralph H. Baer Creator of the first home console, the Magnavox Odyssey
Technical Impact Award The Technical Impact Award was added for the 2015 awards ceremony to recognize "unique innovations that contribute to the ongoing progress of interactive media". Year Winner 2015 Apple App Store 2016 Visual Basic
Notable highest wins and nominations
By game
Most award-winning games: Wins Game Year 10 The Last of Us 2014 Uncharted 2: Among Thieves 2010 9 God of War 2019 Half-Life 2 2005 8 Gears of War 2007 Journey 2013 LittleBigPlanet 2009 Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor 2015 Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time 2004 7 God of War 2006 God of War Ragnarök 2023 6 Marvel's Spider-Man 2 2024 The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 1999 5 Astro Bot 2025 Baldur's Gate 3 2024 Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 2026 Elden Ring 2023 Guitar Hero 2006 Hades 2021 Red Dead Redemption 2011 SSX 2001 The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim 2012
Most nominated games: Nominations Game Year 15 Uncharted 2: Among Thieves 2010 13 Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time 2004 The Last of Us 2014 12 BioShock 2008 God of War 2006 God of War 2019 God of War Ragnarök 2023 Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception 2012 11 Half-Life 2 2005 Journey 2013 Marvel's Spider-Man 2019 The Last of Us Part II 2021 10 Assassin's Creed II 2010 Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare 2008 Gears of War 2007 Gears of War 2 2009 Ghost of Tsushima 2021 Horizon Zero Dawn 2018 LittleBigPlanet 2009 Metroid Prime 2003 Portal 2 2012 Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic 2004 Uncharted 4: A Thief's End 2017
By franchise
Most award-winning franchises: Franchise Wins Games God of War 26 6 Mario 24 24 The Legend of Zelda 17 8 Uncharted 17 3 Half-Life 15 5 FIFA/FC 13 13 Final Fantasy 13 7 Call of Duty 12 6 Halo 12 4 The Last of Us 12 2 Marvel 11 5 Middle-earth/The Lord of the Rings 11 3
Most nominated franchises: