D.I.C.E. Award for Outstanding Achievement in Game Design
D.I.C.E. Award for Outstanding Achievement in Game Design | |
---|---|
Country | United States |
Presented by | Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences |
First awarded | 1998 |
Currently held by | Baldur's Gate 3 |
Website | www |
The D.I.C.E. Award for Outstanding Achievement in Game Design is an award presented annually by the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences during the D.I.C.E. Awards. This award is "presented to the title that most effectively combines interactive and non-interactive elements to create a cohesive gameplay experience. Outstanding design is exemplified by balanced system design, cohesive mechanics that relate to overall aesthetic direction, level layout, challenge flow, progression elements, interface design, and social game mechanics. This award recognizes the Lead Designer or Design Director in architecting all elements into a unified design".[1] Creative/technical Academy members with expertise as a game designer or producer are qualified to vote for this award.[2]
The award's most recent winner is Baldur's Gate 3, developed and published by Larian Studios.
History
It was originally presented as Outstanding Achievement in Interactive Design; it was later renamed Outstanding Achievement in Game Design at the 3rd Annual Interactive Achievement Awards.[3][4][5] A separate award category was offered at the 2010 awards ceremony for Outstanding Achievement in Portable Game Design, presented to the title that makes "the most compelling contribution to the unique opportunities and challenges of portable, mobile and networked game play".[6] This award would not be presented at the ceremonies between 2011 and 2014; however, the category would be offered again in 2015, and has been offered every year since.
- Outstanding Achievement in Interactive Design (1998-1999)
- Outstanding Achievement in Game Design (2000-2010, 2015-present)
- Outstanding Achievement in Portable Game Design (2010)
Game Design and Game of the Year
More than half of the finalists for the Game Design category were also finalists for Game of the Year. However, only nine winners for Game Design ended up winning Game of the Year:
- The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
- The Sims
- Overwatch
- The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
- God of War (2018)
- Hades
- It Takes Two
- Elden Ring
- Baldur's Gate 3
The winners for Game Design that were not finalists for Game of the Year[a] were:
- Grand Theft Auto III
- World of Goo
- Baba Is You
The Game of the Year winners that were not finalists for Game Design (excluding winners during years when the Game Design category was not offered) were:
- Diablo II
- Call of Duty
- Gears of War
- LittleBigPlanet
- Dragon Age: Inquisition
- Untitled Goose Game
2001 and 2008[b] were the only years that all finalists for Game Design were finalists for Game of the Year.
In 2009, the PlayStation Portable release of LittleBigPlanet and Scribblenauts were finalists for "Portable Game of the Year" in addition to Outstanding Achievement in Portable Game Design; Scribblenauts would be the winner for both awards. Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story received a nomination for Outstanding Achievement in Game Design while also nominated for "Portable Game of the Year".
Two virtual reality games were nominated for Outstanding Achievement in Game Design: I Expect You to Die and Half-Life: Alyx.
Winners and nominees
1990s
Indicates the winner |
Year | Game | Developer(s) | Publisher(s) | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
1997/1998[c] (1st) | PaRappa the Rapper | NanaOn-Sha | Sony Computer Entertainment | [7][8][9] |
Dungeon Keeper | Bullfrog Productions | Electronic Arts | ||
Final Fantasy VII | SquareSoft | Sony Computer Entertainment | ||
GoldenEye 007 | Rare | Nintendo | ||
1998/1999[c] (2nd) | The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time | Nintendo EAD | Nintendo | [10][11] |
Half-Life | Valve | Sierra On-Line | ||
Metal Gear Solid | Konami | Konami | ||
Pokémon Red and Blue | Game Freak | Nintendo | ||
Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri | Firaxis Games | Electronic Arts | ||
1999/2000 (3rd) | The Sims | Maxis | Electronic Arts | [12] |
Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings | Ensemble Studios | Microsoft Games | ||
Gran Turismo 2 | Polyphony Digital | Sony Computer Entertainment | ||
Nox | Westwood Studios | Westwood Studios, Electronic Arts | ||
Syphon Filter | Eidetic | 989 Studios |
2000s
2010s
The Outstanding Achievement in Game Design category was not offered at the awards ceremonies from 2011 to 2014.
2020s
Multiple nominations and wins
Developers and publishers
Nintendo is the most nominated developer in this category, and the only developer to have won more than once; Nintendo has also published the most winners, with Sony publishing the most nominees. Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment has published both winners in 2010 for Game Design and Portable Game Design. In addition, Warner Bros. technically has published back-to-back winners, but the 4-year gap has existed in which the award has not been offered between wins.
Developer | Nominations | Wins |
---|---|---|
Nintendo EAD/SPD/EPD | 14 | 5 |
Valve | 4 | 1 |
Blizzard Entertainment | 3 | 1 |
Harmonix | 3 | 1 |
Santa Monica Studio | 3 | 1 |
FromSoftware | 2 | 1 |
DMA Design/Rockstar North | 2 | 1 |
Ubisoft Montreal | 2 | 1 |
Naughty Dog | 4 | 0 |
Bethesda Game Studios | 3 | 0 |
Japan Studio | 3 | 0 |
Insomniac Games | 3 | 0 |
BioWare | 2 | 0 |
Double Fine Productions | 2 | 0 |
Infinity Ward | 2 | 0 |
Lionhead Studios | 2 | 0 |
Neversoft | 2 | 0 |
Ubi Pictures/Ubisoft Montpellier | 2 | 0 |
Publisher | Nominations | Wins |
---|---|---|
Nintendo | 19 | 6 |
Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment | 3 | 3 |
Sony Computer/Interactive Entertainment | 20 | 2 |
Electronic Arts | 8 | 2 |
Namco/Bandai Namco Entertainment | 2 | 2 |
Ubisoft | 4 | 1 |
Valve | 4 | 1 |
Rockstar Games | 2 | 1 |
Activision | 5 | 0 |
Microsoft Game Studios | 5 | 0 |
Bethesda Softworks | 4 | 0 |
Annapurna Interactive | 3 | 0 |
2K Games | 2 | 0 |
Devolver Digital | 2 | 0 |
Sega | 2 | 0 |
Vivendi Universal Games | 2 | 0 |
Franchises
The Legend of Zelda franchise is the most nominated franchise in this category, and is the only franchise to have won more than once.
Franchises | Nominations | Wins |
---|---|---|
The Legend of Zelda | 6 | 3 |
God of War | 3 | 1 |
Grand Theft Auto | 2 | 1 |
Mario | 4 | 0 |
Half-Life | 3 | 0 |
Marvel[d] | 3 | 0 |
Call of Duty | 2 | 0 |
Fable | 2 | 0 |
Fallout | 2 | 0 |
Marvel's Spider-Man | 2 | 0 |
Tony Hawk's | 2 | 0 |
Uncharted | 2 | 0 |
Warcraft | 2 | 0 |
Notes
- ^ Portal was released as part of The Orange Box, a Game of the Year nominee in 2008.
- ^ Portal was released as part of The Orange Box, a Game of the Year nominee in 2008.
- ^ a b Presented as Outstanding Achievement in Interactive Design.
- ^ Includes Spider-Man titles.
References
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- ^ "D.I.C.E. Awards Voting Rules & Procedures". Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences. Retrieved December 10, 2023.
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- ^ "Second Annual Interactive Achievement Awards: Procedures & Rules" (PDF). Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 13, 1999. Retrieved December 13, 2023.
- ^ "Third Annual Interactive Achievement Awards: Procedures & Rules" (PDF). Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 10, 2000. Retrieved December 13, 2023.
- ^ a b "2010 Award Category Details Outstanding Achievement in Portable Game Design". Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences. Retrieved October 11, 2023.
- ^ "1998 Awards Category Details". Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences. Retrieved November 2, 2022.
- ^ "The Award - Updates". Interactive.org. Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences. Archived from the original on June 15, 1998. Retrieved December 28, 2022.
- ^ "The Award - Winners". Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences. Archived from the original on June 15, 1998. Retrieved January 11, 2023.
- ^ "Interactive Achievement Awards - Finalists". interactive.org. Archived from the original on May 8, 1999. Retrieved January 17, 2024.
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- ^ "ACADEMY OF INTERACTIVE ARTS AND SCIENCES ANNOUNCES RECIPIENTS OF FIFTH ANNUAL INTERACTIVE ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS". Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences. Archived from the original on August 11, 2002. Retrieved December 28, 2023.
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