A total of 68 games recognized
The nominees for this year’s DICE Awards are in, and the top honoree by far is Guerrilla Games’ Horizon Zero Dawn — the sci-fi action/adventure game received nods in 10 categories.
Horizon Zero Dawn was the only title to score double-digit nominations; the next highest total went to Nintendo’s The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, which got six. Both of them are up for the Game of the Year award, alongside StudioMDHR’s Cuphead, PUBG Corporation’s PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds and Nintendo’s Super Mario Odyssey.
In all, 68 different games from 2017 are listed among the nominees across 24 categories. They include heavy hitters like Bungie’s Destiny 2 and MachineGames’ Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus, as well as celebrated indies such as Ninja Theory’s Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice and Giant Sparrow’s What Remains of Edith Finch.
Speaking of indie games: In case you’re wondering what the DICE Sprite Award is, it was introduced for 2015’s awards to recognize games with “disproportionate resources for development and exposure (as compared to AAA titles),” ones that “represent a higher degree of risk tolerance and [advance] our industry with innovative gameplay and experiences.”
Sometimes called the “Oscars of video games,” the DICE Awards are presented by the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences (AIAS) at the DICE Summit, a game industry conference held every February in Las Vegas. The finalists for all 24 categories are chosen by a panel of more than 260 game makers, and the AIAS membership of more than 30,000 game industry professionals votes to determine the winners. You can see the full list of nominees below.
This year’s ceremony, the 21st DICE Awards, will take place at 8 p.m. PT on Thursday, Feb. 22. Greg Miller of Kinda Funny and Jessica Chobot of Nerdist News will return to host the show, which will be livestreamed on IGN.
Outstanding Achievement in Animation Cuphead For Honor Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice Horizon Zero Dawn Uncharted: The Lost Legacy
Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction Cuphead Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice Horizon Zero Dawn Little Nightmares The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Outstanding Achievement in Character Assassin’s Creed Origins – Bayek Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice – Senua Horizon Zero Dawn – Aloy Star Wars Battlefront 2 – Iden Versio Uncharted: The Lost Legacy – Chloe Fraser
Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Composition Call of Duty: WWII Cuphead Horizon Zero Dawn Rime Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus
Outstanding Achievement in Sound Design Destiny 2 Injustice 2 Star Wars Battlefront 2 Super Mario Odyssey Uncharted: The Lost Legacy
Outstanding Achievement in Story Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice Horizon Zero Dawn Night in the Woods What Remains of Edith Finch Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus
Outstanding Technical Achievement Assassin’s Creed Origins Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice Horizon Zero Dawn Lone Echo/Echo Arena The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Action Game of the Year Call of Duty: WWII Cuphead Destiny 2 PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus
Adventure Game of the Year Assassin’s Creed Origins Horizon Zero Dawn Super Mario Odyssey The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild Uncharted: The Lost Legacy
Family Game of the Year DropMix GNOG Just Dance 2018 SingStar Celebration Snipperclips – Cut it out, together!
Fighting Game of the Year Arms Injustice 2 Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite Nidhogg 2 Tekken 7
Racing Game of the Year Dirt 4 Forza Motorsport 7 Gran Turismo Sport Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Project CARS 2
Role-Playing Game of the Year Divinity: Original Sin 2 Middle-earth: Shadow of War Nier: Automata Persona 5 Torment: Tides of Numenera
Sports Game of the Year Everybody’s Golf FIFA 18 Golf Clash Madden NFL 18 MLB The Show 17
Strategy/Simulation Game of the Year Endless Space 2 Halo Wars 2 Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle Total War: Warhammer 2 XCOM 2: War of the Chosen
Immersive Reality Technical Achievement Lone Echo/Echo Arena Robo Recall Star Trek Bridge Crew The Invisible Hours Wilson’s Heart
Immersive Reality Game of the Year Lone Echo/Echo Arena Psychonauts in the Rhombus of Ruin Robo Recall Space Pirate Trainer Wilson’s Heart
DICE Sprite Award Everything Gorogoa Night in the Woods Pyre Snipperclips – Cut it out, together!
Handheld Game of the Year Dragon Quest 8: Journey of the Cursed King Etrian Odyssey 5: Beyond the Myth Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia Metroid: Samus Returns Monster Hunter Stories
Mobile Game of the Year Cat Quest Fire Emblem Heroes Gorogoa Monument Valley 2 Splitter Critters
Outstanding Achievement in Online Gameplay Call of Duty: WWII Destiny 2 Fortnite PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Wildlands
Outstanding Achievement in Game Design Gorogoa Horizon Zero Dawn PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds Super Mario Odyssey The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Outstanding Achievement in Game Direction Gorogoa Horizon Zero Dawn The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild Uncharted: The Lost Legacy What Remains of Edith Finch
Game of the Year Cuphead Horizon Zero Dawn PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds Super Mario Odyssey The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
