D.I.C.E. Awards
The D.I.C.E. Awards (formerly the Interactive Achievement Awards) is an award show in the video game industry started in 1998 and commonly referred to in the industry 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 recognize games, individuals, and development teams that have contributed to the advancement of the multi-billion dollar worldwide entertainment software industry.

Format
The nominees 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 the February of that year. 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

Award categories

Game of the Year categories

In 2010, Handheld Game of the Year and Cellular Game of the Year were merged into Portable Game of the Year. Separate categories for handheld and mobile games would be offered again starting in 2012. Portable Game of the Year would be offered again in 2019, but was eventually replaced by Mobile Game of the Year in 2021. Multiple genre categories for Online games were offered in 1999, but they would not continue going forward. 2015 was the first year to offer the D.I.C.E. Sprite Award, which was to recognize "a game having disproportionate resources for development and exposure (as compared to AAA titles)", to recognize smaller indie developers. This would later be replaced by Outstanding Achievement for an Independent Game.

Discontinued/Renamed/Merged categories

Craft Awards

The original four craft awards were for Outstanding Achievement in Art/Graphics, Outstanding Achievement in Interactive Design, Outstanding Achievement in Sound/Music, and Outstanding Achievement in Software Engineering. In 2000, three of the original four split into two separate categories. "Art/Graphics" would be split into Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction and Outstanding Achievement in Animation, "Sound/Music" would be split into Outstanding Achievement in Sound Design and Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Composition, and "Software Engineering" would be split into "Outstanding Achievement in Gameplay Engineering" and "Outstanding Achievement in Visual Engineering". There were separate categories for male and female character performances when they were first introduced in 2004. but they were merged into a single category in 2008. The 2008 and 2009 awards offered separate outstanding achievement categories for an original story and an adapted story. The Outstanding Achievement in Story would return in 2010. In 2015, the outstanding achievement categories for gameplay engineering and visual engineering were combined into the Outstanding Technical Achievement. In 2001, Online Game of the Year was replaced by the Outstanding Achievement in Online Gameplay. Online Game of the Year would be offered again in 2014 and then again in 2018, and has been offered every year since.

Discontinued Categories

Genre Awards

The first eight annual awards ceremonies separated awards for computer games and console games. In addition, the first three awards ceremonies also had online content awards. Initially, there were separate awards for computer/console action, adventure, role-playing, sports, and later family games. Fighting and racing were exclusive console genre awards, and exclusive computer genres included strategy, simulation, creativity, and educational games. Adventure and role-playing awards were merged in 2000. The following year, adventure would be merged with action, and role-playing its own separate category. Console and computer first-person action categories were introduced in 2003 along with Console Platform Action/Adventure Game of the Year. Separate awards for console action sports and console sports simulation would be offered in 2004. The categories for sports simulation and action sports would be offered again in 2005, before merging back into a single Sports Game of the Year. Platform-exclusive genre categories, such as fighting, racing, strategy, and simulation, would drop the console or computer title of the award in 2005. Console and computer categories would be merged in 2006. Platform Action/Adventure would not be featured in 2007, and featured just one Action/Adventure Game of the Year. The categories for First-Person Action Game of the Year and Action/Adventure Game of the Year would be replaced by Action Game of the Year and Adventure Game of the Year in 2008. That same year, categories for strategy and simulation games would be merged into one. In 2010, Role-Playing Game of the Year was merged with Massively Multiplayer Game of the Year, but Massively Multiplayer was dropped from the category title in 2018.

Discontinued Categories

Console
 Console Action Game of the Year: 1998–2000
 Console Action/Adventure Game of the Year: 2001–2005
 Console Adventure Game of the Year: 1998–1999
 Console Adventure/Role-Playing Game of the Year: 2000
 Console Children's/Family Title of the Year: 2000
 Console Children's Game of the Year: 2004-2005
 Console Family Game of the Year: 2001-2002, 2004-2005
 Console First-Person Action Game of the Year: 2003–2005
 Console Platform Action/Adventure Game of the Year: 2003
 Console Role-Playing Game of the Year: 1998–1999, 2001–2005
 Console Sports Game of the Year: 1998–2003
 Console Action Sports Game of the Year: 2004-2005
 Sports Simulation Game of the Year: 2004–2005

Computer
 Computer Action Game of the Year: 1998–2000
 Computer Action/Adventure Game of the Year: 2001–2005
 Computer Adventure Game of the Year: 1998–1999
 Computer Adventure/Role-Playing Game of the Year: 2000
 Computer Children's Entertainment Title of the Year: 1999-2000, 2005
 Computer Family Game of the Year: 1998–2002, 2004-2005
 Computer First-Person Action Game of the Year: 2003–2005
 Computer Role-Playing Game of the Year: 1998–1999, 2001–2005
 Computer Sports Game of the Year: 1998–2005
 Computer Creativity Title of the Year: 1998–2000
 Computer Edutainment Game of the Year: 1998
 Computer Skills Building Title of the Year: 1998
 Computer Educational Title of the Year (0-8 years): 1999
 Computer Educational Title of the Year (9-16 years): 1999
 Computer Educational Title of the Year: 2000, 2002

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

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.

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".

Pioneer Awards 
The Pioneer Award is given "for individuals whose career spanning work has helped shape and define the interactive entertainment industry".

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".

Notable highest wins and nominations

By game 

Most award-winning games:

Most nominated games:

By franchise 

Most award-winning franchises:

Most nominated franchises:

By developer

Most award-winning developers:

Most nominated developers:

By publisher

The most award-winning publishers:

The most nominated publishers.:

Notes

References 

 
Awards established in 1998