God of War Leads With 12 Nominations For the 22nd Annual DICE Awards

The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences (AIAS) is pleased to announce the nominees for its 22nd Annual D.I.C.E. Awards (#DICEAwards), co-hosted for the third year by Greg Miller of Kinda Funny, and Jessica Chobot of Nerdist News. Academy members will begin general voting for the video game industry's premier peer-based awards show on Friday, Jan. 11th at 2:00 PM PST.

The winners will be revealed at the D.I.C.E. Awards ceremony on Wednesday, February 13th at Aria Resort & Hotel Las Vegas as the culmination of the week-long industry gathering at the 2019 D.I.C.E. Summit (#DICE19). Honored this year as the Hall of Fame recipient will be Bonnie Ross, Microsoft Corporate Vice President and Head of 343 Industries. The ceremony will once again be live streamed in its entirety beginning at 8:00 pm PT/11:00 pm ET via multi-year media partner IGN Entertainment.

Fifty-six of the most exciting games from 2018 received a nomination. God of War leads the nominees with 12 total nominations, followed by AAA blockbuster hits Marvel's Spider-Man with 11, Red Dead Redemption 2 with eight and indie title Return of the Obra Dinn with six nods. Tying with four nominations include ASTRO BOT Rescue Mission, Detroit: Become Human, Florence and Into the Breach while Assassin's Creed Odyssey, and Moss each receive three. Finalists for the top honor, Game of the Year, are: God of War, Into the Breach, Marvel's Spider-Man, Red Dead Redemption 2, and Return of the Obra Dinn.

"I would like to thank the Academy's peer panelists who dedicate their time, energy and expertise in evaluating and selecting the best games from 2018," said Meggan Scavio, President of the Academy of Interactive Ars & Sciences. "To all the finalists - congratulations in continuing to push the boundaries of creativity, storytelling and technical innovation. I am looking forward to celebrating your achievements at the 22nd Annual D.I.C.E. Awards with our members and Board!"

The following is the full list of nominees: https://www.interactive.org/news/22nd_dice_award_finalists_revealed.asp

Outstanding Achievement in Animation

• God of War
• GRIS
• Marvel's Spider-Man
• Moss
• Red Dead Redemption 2

Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction

• Detroit: Become Human
• God of War
• GRIS
• Marvel's Spider-Man
• Red Dead Redemption 2

Outstanding Achievement in Character

• Assassin's Creed Odyssey (Kassandra)
• God of War (Atreus)
• God of War (Kratos)
• Marvel's Spider-Man (Peter Parker/Spider-Man)
• Red Dead Redemption 2 (Arthur Morgan)

Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Composition

• Detroit: Become Human
• Forgotton Anne
• God of War
• Marvel's Spider-Man
• Tetris Effect

Outstanding Achievement in Sound Design

• Battlefield V
• Detroit: Become Human
• God of War
• Marvel's Spider-Man
• Moss

Outstanding Achievement in Story

• Assassin's Creed Odyssey
• Florence
• God of War
• Marvel's Spider-Man
• Return of the Obra Dinn

Outstanding Technical Achievement

• ASTRO BOT Rescue Mission
• Battlefield V
• God of War
• Marvel's Spider-Man
• Red Dead Redemption 2

Action Game of the Year

• Call of Duty: Black Ops 4
• Celeste
• Destiny 2: Forsaken
• Far Cry 5
• Shadow of the Tomb Raider

Adventure Game of the Year

• Detroit: Become Human
• God of War
• Marvel's Spider-Man
• Red Dead Redemption 2
• Return of the Obra Dinn

Family Game of the Year

• ASTRO BOT Rescue Mission
• Kirby Star Allies
• LEGO DC Super-Villains
• Starlink: Battle for Atlas
• Unravel Two

Fighting Game of the Year

• BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle
• Dragon Ball FighterZ
• SOULCALIBUR VI
• Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

Racing Game of the Year

• Forza Horizon 4
• F1 2018
• Wreckfest

Role-Playing Game of the Year

• Assassin's Creed Odyssey
• Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age
• Monster Hunter World
• Ni no Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom
• Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire

Sports Game of the Year

• FIFA 19
• Mario Tennis Aces
• MLB The Show 18

Strategy/Simulation Game of the Year

• Bad North
• Frostpunk
• Into the Breach
• Northgard
• RimWorld

Immersive Reality Technical Achievement

• ASTRO BOT Rescue Mission
• Beat Saber
• Dr. Grordbort's Invaders
• Tónandi
• Torn

Immersive Reality Game of the Year

• ASTRO BOT Rescue Mission
• Beat Saber
• Moss
• Sprint Vector
• Transference

Outstanding Achievement for an Independent Game

• Celeste
• Florence
• Into the Breach
• Minit
• Return of the Obra Dinn

Portable Game of the Year

• Dandara
• Donut County
• Dragalia Lost
• Florence
• Oddmar

Online Game of the Year

• Fortnite
• Destiny 2: Forsaken
• Laser League
• Red Dead Redemption 2
• Sea of Thieves

Outstanding Achievement in Game Design

• God of War
• Into the Breach
• Marvel's Spider-Man
• Return of the Obra Dinn
• Subnautica

Outstanding Achievement in Game Direction

• Florence
• God of War
• Marvel's Spider-Man
• Red Dead Redemption 2
• Return of the Obra Dinn

Game of the Year

• God of War
• Into the Breach
• Marvel's Spider-Man
• Red Dead Redemption 2
• Return of the Obra Dinn

The Academy's 30K+ members, comprised of the interactive publishing and development communities, recognize excellence in 23 different interactive game categories in one of the highest forms of recognition in the industry. Titles were played and evaluated by members of the Academy's peer panels to determine final nominees. These panels, one for each award category, are comprised of the game industry's most experienced and talented men and women who are experts in their chosen fields. Winners are determined as part of a confidential voting process and will be revealed on the evening of the show. A list of all the peer panelists can be found here.

Last updated: Jan 10, 2019 at 11:06 pm CST