Posted in: Games, Video Games | Tagged: 21st DICE Awards, dice, DICE 2018, DICE Awards, HRL

The 21st Annual DICE Award Nominees Are Here

The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences (AIAS) has released the nominees for their 21^st D.I.C.E. Awards (#DICEAwards). This year the award show will be co-hosted by Greg Miller, co-founder of internet video show and podcast 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. 12th at 5 p.m. PST.

The winners will be revealed at the D.I.C.E. Awards ceremony on Thursday, February 22nd in Las Vegas as the culmination of the week-long industry gathering at the 2018 D.I.C.E. Summit.

Sixty-eight of the most exciting games from 2017 received a nomination with  Horizon Zero Dawn leading the group with 10 total nominations. If you recall from our 2017 BC Game Awards, Horizon: Zero Dawn cleaned house for us as well, and even took home the grand prize.

Here is the full list of nominees:

Outstanding Achievement in Animation
Cuphead
For Honor
Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice
Horizon Zero Dawn
Uncharted: The Lost Legacy

Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction
Cuphead
Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice
Horizon Zero Dawn
Little Nightmares
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

Outstanding Achievement in Character
Assassin's Creed Origins – Bayek
Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice – Senua
Horizon Zero Dawn – Aloy
Star Wars Battlefront II – Iden Versio
Uncharted: The Lost Legacy – Chloe Fraiser

Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Composition
Call of Duty: WWII
Cuphead
Horizon Zero Dawn
RiME
Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus

Outstanding Achievement in Sound Design
Destiny 2
Injustice 2
Star Wars Battlefront II
Super Mario Odyssey
Uncharted: The Lost Legacy

Outstanding Achievement in Story
Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice
Horizon Zero Dawn
Night in the Woods
What Remains of Edith Finch
Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus

Outstanding Technical Achievement
Assassin's Creed Origins
Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice
Horizon Zero Dawn
Lone Echo/Echo Arena
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

Action Game of the Year
Call of Duty: WWII
Cuphead
Destiny 2
PlayerUnkown's Battlegrounds
Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus

Adventure Game of the Year
Assassin's Creed Origins
Horizon Zero Dawn
Super Mario Odyssey
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Uncharted: The Lost Legacy

Family Game of the Year
DropMix
GNOG
Just Dance 2018
SingStar Celebration
Snipperclips

Fighting Game of the Year
ARMS
Injustice 2
Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite
Nidhogg 2
Tekken 7

Racing Game of the Year
DiRT 4
Forza Motorsport 7
Gran Turismo Sport
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
Project CARS 2

Role-Playing Game of the Year
Divinity: Original Sin 2
Middle-earth: Shadow of War
NieR:Automata
Persona 5
Torment: Tides of Numenera

Sports Game of the Year
Everybody's Golf
FIFA 18
Golf Clash
Madden NFL 18
MLB The Show 17

Strategy/Simulation Game of the Year
Endless Space 2
Halo Wars 2
Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle
Total War: Warhammer II
XCOM 2: War of the Chosen

Immersive Reality Technical Achievement
Lone Echo/Echo Arena
Robo Recall
Star Trek Bridge Crew
The Invisible Hours
Wilson's Heart

Immersive Reality Game of the Year
Lone Echo/Echo Arena
Psychonauts in the Rhombus of Ruin
Robo Recall
Space Pirate Trainer
Wilson's Heart

D.I.C.E. Sprite Award
Everything
Gorogoa
Night in the Woods
Pyre
Snipperclips

Handheld Game of the Year
Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King
Etrian Odyssey V: Beyond the Myth
Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia
Metroid: Samus Returns
Monster Hunter Stories

Mobile Game of the Year
Cat Quest
Fire Emblem Heroes
Gorogoa
Monument Valley 2
Splitter Critters

Outstanding Achievement in Online Gameplay
Call of Duty: WWII
Destiny 2
Fortnite
PlayerUnkown's Battlegrounds
Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Wildlands

Outstanding Achievement in Game Design
Gorogoa
Horizon Zero Dawn
PlayerUnkown's Battlegrounds
Super Mario Odyssey
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

Outstanding Achievement in Game Direction
Gorogoa
Horizon Zero Dawn
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Uncharted: The Lost Legacy
What Remains of Edith Finch

Game of the Year
Cuphead
Horizon Zero Dawn
PlayerUnkown's Battlegrounds
Super Mario Odyssey
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

Game of the Year is a tough category this year with some serious competition between Breath of the Wild, Horizon: Zero Dawn, PlayerUnkown's Battlegrounds, and Mario Odyssey. Cuphead is the dark horse candidate for the award, but you never know. If any indie game could snatch the GOTY award from the jaws of AAA juggernauts, it would probably be Cuphead.

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