The Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences has released the finalists for this year’s D.I.C.E. Awards. The winners of the 19th annual awards will be announced on Thursday, Feb. 18th during the conclusion of the D.I.C.E. Summit.
Leading the pack with the most nominations are Crystal Dynamic’s Rise of the Tomb Raider with nine nominations and CD Projekt RED’s The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt with eight. Ori and the Blind Forest landed six nominations and Fallout 4 received five.
Interestingly, Bloodborne, which is up for the coveted “Game of the Year” award, is only nominated in one other category (Role-Playing/Massively Multiplayer Game of the Year).
The D.I.C.E. Awards also plan on honoring Satoru Iwata with its Lifetime Achievement Award (posthumously), as well as adding Hideo Kojima to the AIAS Hall of Fame.
Outstanding Achievement in Animation
Assassin’s Creed Syndicate (Ubisoft Quebec)
Batman: Arkham Knight (Rocksteady Studios)
Ori and the Blind Forest (Moon Studios)
Rise of the Tomb Raider (Crystal Dynamics)
The Order: 1886 (Ready at Dawn)
Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction
Lara Croft GO (Square Enix Montréal)
Ori and the Blind Forest (Moon Studios)
Rise of the Tomb Raider (Crystal Dynamics)
The Order: 1886 (Ready at Dawn)
Star Wars™ Battlefront (DICE)
Outstanding Achievement in Character
Assassin’s Creed Syndicate – Evie Frye (Ubisoft Quebec)
Her Story – Hannah Smith (Sam Barlow)
Life is Strange – Maxine Caulfield (DONTNOD Entertainment)
Rise of the Tomb Raider – Lara Croft (Crystal Dynamics)
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Geralt of Rivia (CD PROJEKT RED)
Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Composition
Batman: Arkham Knight (Rocksteady Studios)
Everybody’s Gone To The Rapture (The Chinese Room/SCE Santa Monica Studio)
Ori and the Blind Forest (Moon Studios)
Starcraft II: Legacy Of The Void (Blizzard Entertainment, Inc.)
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (CD PROJEKT RED)
Outstanding Achievement in Sound Design
Destiny: The Taken King (Bungie, Inc.)
Ori and the Blind Forest (Moon Studios)
Rise of the Tomb Raider (Crystal Dynamics)
Star Wars™ Battlefront (DICE)
The Order: 1886 (Ready at Dawn)
Outstanding Achievement in Story
Fallout 4 (Bethesda Game Studios)
Her Story (Sam Barlow)
Tales from the Borderlands: A Telltale Game Series (Telltale Games)
Rise of the Tomb Raider (Crystal Dynamics)
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (CD PROJEKT RED)
Outstanding Technical Achievement
Just Cause 3 (Avalanche Studios)
Rise of the Tomb Raider (Crystal Dynamics)
Star Wars™ Battlefront (DICE)
The Order: 1886 (Ready at Dawn)
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (CD PROJEKT RED)
Action Game of the Year
Destiny: The Taken King (Bungie, Inc.)
HELLDIVERS™ (Arrowhead Game Studios)
Just Cause 3 (Avalanche Studios)
Star Wars™ Battlefront (DICE)
Splatoon (Nintendo EAD Group No. 2)
Adventure Game of the Year
Batman: Arkham Knight (Rocksteady Studios)
Life is Strange (DONTNOD Entertainment)
METAL GEAR SOLID V: The Phantom Pain (Kojima Productions)
Ori and the Blind Forest (Moon Studios)
Rise of the Tomb Raider (Crystal Dynamics)
Family Game of the Year
Guitar Hero Live (FreeStyle Games)
LEGO Dimensions (TT Games)
Rock Band 4 (Harmonix Music Systems, Inc)
Super Mario Maker (Nintendo EAD Group No. 4)
Tearaway Unfolded (Media Molecule)
Fighting Game of the Year
Mortal Kombat X (NetherRealm Studios)
Dead or Alive 5 Last Round (Team Ninja)
Rising Thunder (Radiant Entertainment)
Racing Game of the Year
Forza Motorsport 6 (Turn 10)
Need for Speed (Ghost Games)
Project CARS (Slightly Mad Studios)
Role-Playing/Massively Multiplayer Game of the Year
Bloodborne (FromSoftware, Inc.)
Fallout 4 (Bethesda Game Studios)
Pillars of Eternity (Obsidian Entertainment)
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (CD PROJEKT RED)
Undertale (Toby Fox)
Sports Game of the Year
EA Sports FIFA 2016 (EA Canada)
Madden NFL 2016 (EA Tiburon)
MLB® 15 The Show™ (SCE San Diego Studio)
NBA 2K16 (Sports Visual Concepts)
Rocket League (Psyonix)
Strategy/Simulation Game of the Year
Cities: Skylines (Colossal Order Ltd)
Fallout Shelter (Bethesda Game Studios)
Grey Goo (Petroglyph Games)
Heroes of the Storm (Blizzard Entertainment, Inc.)
Kerbal Space Program (Squad)
D.I.C.E. Sprite Award
Her Story (Sam Barlow)
GALAK-Z (17-BIT)
Kerbal Space Program (Squad)
Rocket League (Psyonix)
Undertale (Toby Fox)
Handheld Game of the Year
Earth Defense Force 2: Invaders from Planet Space (Sandlot)
HELLDIVERS™ (Arrowhead Game Studios)
Pokemon: Super Mystery Dungeon (Spike Chunsoft)
Yo-Kai Watch (LEVEL-5)
Mobile Game of the Year
DomiNations (Big Huge Games)
Fallout Shelter (Bethesda Game Studios)
Lara Croft GO (Square Enix Montréal)
PAC-MAN 256 (Hipster Whale Pty Ltd)
The Room Three (Fireproof Games)
Outstanding Achievement in Game Design
Fallout 4 (Bethesda Game Studios)
Her Story (Sam Barlow)
Lara Croft GO (Square Enix Montréal)
Massive Chalice (Double Fine Productions)
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (CD PROJEKT RED)
Outstanding Achievement in Game Direction
Fallout 4 (Bethesda Game Studios)
Life is Strange (DONTNOD Entertainment)
Rise of the Tomb Raider (Crystal Dynamics)
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (CD PROJEKT RED)
Undertale (Toby Fox)
Game of the Year
Bloodborne (FromSoftware, Inc.)
Fallout 4 (Bethesda Game Studios)
Ori and the Blind Forest (Moon Studios)
Rise of the Tomb Raider (Crystal Dynamics)
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (CD PROJEKT RED)