The Academy of Interactive Arts has announced the final list of nominees and stage presenters for the upcoming 22nd annual D.I.C.E. Awards, to be held on Wednesday, February 13. The awards show will be co-hosted by known games media personalities Jessica Chobot and Greg Miller, of Nerdist News and Kinda Funny respectively. The full list of award nominees includes over 50 games from 2018.
The critically acclaimed God of War is the frontrunner with 12 nominations, including Game of the Year and Outstanding Achievement in Game Direction. Other major releases from 2018 such as Red Dead Redemption 2 and Marvel’s Spider-Man have also received a number of nominations across multiple categories. Both join God of War as well as Into the Breach and Return of the Obra Dinn in the Game of the Year race.
The D.I.C.E. Awards will also celebrate achievements in animation, storytelling, sound design, music, character work, and much more. There are 23 total categories which will be recognized during the awards, the full list of awards and nominees is available here on the Academy’s official site. The D.I.C.E. Awards will also honor 2018’s Hall of Fame entry, industry veteran Bonnie Ross, who is currently head of 232 Industries.
The awards will be presented by a number of prominent games industry figureheads including voice actor Troy Baker, writer and director Amy Hennig, and Microsoft’s Executive Vice President of Gaming Phil Spencer. In addition to presenting, Hennig and others will be hosting talks at the awards show which aim to educate attendees on the reality of making games and how they fit into the mainstream culture.
The Design Innovate Communicate Entertain Awards were created in 1996 by the Academy to recognize achievements in the growing medium of video games. Widely considered to be one of the more respected award ceremonies in the industry, the D.I.C.E. Awards are decided by the Academy’s members, of whom there are well over 30,000.
The D.I.C.E. Awards will be live streamed on Wednesday, February 13 at 8 PM PT/11 PM ET.
