The Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences has announced their nominees for the 2017 DICE Awards.
A Naughty Dog leads this year’s pack, as Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End scored ten nominations including one for “Game of the Year.” The developer’s swan song for Nathan Drake will be competing against Battlefield 1, Inside, Overwatch, and Pokemon Go for the coveted honor. We’ll hear from all of this year’s “Game of the Year” contenders throughout the ceremony as each earned multiple nominations including Inside with nine, Battlefield 1 with eight, Overwatch with six, and Pokemon Go with two.
The AIAS will hand out two new DICE Awards this year for “Immersive Reality Game of the Year” and “Immersive Reality Technical Achievement.” The nominees for both will be announced at a later date.
A total of 56 games received at least one nomination, and hosts Greg Miller and Jessica Chobot will announce the winners on Thursday, February 23, at 10:30 PM (Eastern Time). Viewers at home will be able to livestream the entire ceremony through the AIAS’s official website.
A complete list of this year’s nominees can be found after the break.
Game of the Year
- Battlefield 1 (Electronic Arts / DICE)
- Inside (Playdead / Playdead)
- Overwatch (Blizzard Entertainment / Blizzard Entertainment)
- Pokemon Go (The Pokemon Company / Niantic)
- Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End (Sony Interactive Entertainment / Naughty Dog)
Handheld Game of the Year
- Dragon Quest Builders (Square Enix / Square Enix Co.)
- Fire Emblem Fates (Nintendo / Nintendo & Intelligent Systems)
- Kirby: Planet Robobot (Nintendo / HAL Laboratory & Nintendo)
- Pokemon Sun and Moon (Nintendo / Game Freak)
- Severed (DrinkBox Studios / DrinkBox Studios)
Mobile Game of the Year
- Clash Royale (Supercell / Supercell)
- Crashlands (Butterscotch Shenanigans / Butterscotch Shenanigans)
- Gardenscapes: New Acres (Playrix Games / Playrix Games)
- Pokemon Go (The Pokemon Company / Niantic)
- Reigns (Devolver Digital / Nerial)
Action Game of the Year
- Battlefield 1 (Electronic Arts / DICE)
- Doom (Bethesda Softworks / id Software)
- Gears of War 4 (Microsoft Studios / The Coalition)
- Overwatch (Blizzard Entertainment / Blizzard Entertainment)
- Titanfall 2 (Electronic Arts / Respawn Entertainment)
Adventure Game of the Year
- Firewatch (Campo Santo / Campo Santo)
- Inside (Playdead / Playdead)
- King’s Quest: The Complete Collection (Activision / The Odd Gentlemen)
- The Last Guardian (Sony Interactive Entertainment / Sony Japan Studio)
- Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End (Sony Interactive Entertainment / Naughty Dog)
Family Game of the Year
- Dragon Quest Builders (Square Enix / Square Enix Co.)
- Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens (Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment / TT Games)
- Ratchet & Clank (Sony Interactive Entertainment / Insomniac Games)
- Rock Band Rivals (Harmonix Music Systems / Harmonix Music Systems)
- Super Mario Maker For Nintendo 3DS (Nintendo / Nintendo)
Fighting Game of the Year
- EA Sports UFC 2 (Electronic Arts / EA Canada)
- Guilty Gear Xrd Revelator (Aksys Games / Arc System Works)
- Killer Instinct: Season 3 (Microsoft Studios / Iron Galaxy)
- Pokken Tournament (Nintendo / Bandai Namco)
- Street Fighter V (Capcom / Capcom)
Racing Game of the Year
- DriveClub VR (Sony Interactive Entertainment / Evolution Studios)
- Forza Horizons 3 (Microsoft Studios / Playground Games & Turn 10 Studios)
Role-Playing/Massively Multiplayer Game of the Year
- Dark Souls III (Bandai Namco / FromSoftware)
- Deus Ex: Mankind Divided (Square / Enix Eidos Montreal)
- Hyper Light Drifter Heart (Machine / Heart Machine)
- Tom Clancy’s The Division (Ubisoft / Massive Entertainment)
- World of Warcraft: Legion (Blizzard Entertainment / Blizzard Entertainment)
Sports Game of the Year
- FIFA 17 (Electronic Arts / EA Canada)
- Madden NFL 17 (Electronic Arts / EA Tiburon)
- MLB The Show 16 (Sony Interactive Entertainment / Sony San Diego Studio)
- NBA 2K17 (2K Sports / Visual Concepts)
- Steep (Ubisoft / Ubisoft Annecy)
Strategy/Simulation Game of the Year
- The Banner Saga 2 (Versus Evil / Stoic Studio)
- Deus Ex Go (Square Enix / Square Enix Montreal)
- Fire Emblem Fates (Nintendo / Nintendo & Intelligent Systems)
- Sid Meier’s Civilization VI 2K Games / Firaxis Games)
- XCOM 2 (2K Games / Firaxis Games)
Outstanding Achievement in Character
- Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare (Activision / Infinity Ward)
- Firewatch (Campo Santo / Campo Santo)
- Firewatch (Campo Santo / Campo Santo)
- The Last Guardian (Sony Interactive Entertainment / Sony Japan Studio)
- Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End (Sony Interactive Entertainment / Naughty Dog)
Outstanding Achievement in Game Design
- I Expect You To Die (Schell Games / Schell Games)
- Inside (Playdead / Playdead)
- Overwatch (Blizzard Entertainment / Blizzard Entertainment)
- Owlboy (D-Pad Studio / D-Pad Studio)
- Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End (Sony Interactive Entertainment / Naughty Dog)
Outstanding Achievement in Game Direction
- 1979 Revolution: Black Friday (iNK Stories / iNK Stories)
- Battlefield 1 (Electronic Arts / DICE)
- Inside (Playdead / Playdead)
- The Last Guardian (Sony Interactive Entertainment / Sony Japan Studio)
- Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End (Sony Interactive Entertainment / Naughty Dog)
Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Composition
- Abzu (505 Games / Giant Squid)
- Battlefield 1 (Electronic Arts / DICE)
- Doom (Bethesda Softworks / id Software)
- The Last Guardian (Sony Interactive Entertainment / Sony Japan Studio)
- Titanfall 2 (Electronic Arts / Respawn Entertainment)
Outstanding Achievement in Sound Design
- Battlefield 1 (Electronic Arts / DICE)
- Inside (Playdead / Playdead)
- The Last Guardian (Sony Interactive Entertainment / Sony Japan Studio)
- Quantum Break (Microsoft Studios / Remedy Entertainment)
- Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End (Sony Interactive Entertainment / Naughty Dog)
Outstanding Achievement in Story
- Firewatch (Campo Santo / Campo Santo)
- Inside (Playdead / Playdead)
- Oxenfree (Night School Studio / Night School Studio)
- That Dragon, Cancer (Numinous Games / Numinous Games)
- Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End (Sony Interactive Entertainment / Naughty Dog)
Outstanding Achievement in Online Gameplay
- Battlefield 1 (Electronic Arts / DICE)
- Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft (Blizzard Entertainment / Blizzard Entertainment)
- Overwatch (Blizzard Entertainment / Blizzard Entertainment)
- Titanfall 2 (Electronic Arts / Respawn Entertainment)
- Tom Clancy’s The Division (Ubisoft / Massive Entertainment)
Outstanding Technical Achievement
- Battlefield 1 (Electronic Arts / DICE)
- No Man’s Sky (Hello Games / Hello Games)
- Overwatch (Blizzard Entertainment / Blizzard Entertainment)
- Titanfall 2 (Electronic Arts / Respawn Entertainment)
- Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End (Sony Interactive Entertainment / Naughty Dog)
Outstanding Achievement in Animation
- Inside (Playdead / Playdead)
- The Last Guardian (Sony Interactive Entertainment / Sony Japan Studio)
- Overwatch (Blizzard Entertainment / Blizzard Entertainment)
- Street Fighter V (Capcom / Capcom)
- Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End (Sony Interactive Entertainment / Naughty Dog)
Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction
- Battlefield 1 (Electronic Arts / DICE)
- Firewatch (Campo Santo / Campo Santo)
- Inside (Playdead / Playdead)
- The Last Guardian (Sony Interactive Entertainment / Sony Japan Studio)
- Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End (Sony Interactive Entertainment / Naughty Dog)
D.I.C.E. Sprite Award
- 1979 Revolution: Black Friday (iNK Stories / iNK Stories)
- Firewatch (Campo Santo / Campo Santo)
- Inside (Playdead / Playdead)
- Superhot (Team Superhot / Team Superhot)
- That Dragon, Cancer (Numinous Games / Numinous Games)
