Death Stranding and Control are tied with most nominations.
The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences has announced the finalists for its 23rd Annual D.I.C.E. Awards; voting for the peer-judged awards show is open now for members of the non-profit organisation.
The winners will be announced on 13th February at the D.I.C.E. Awards ceremony at the ARIA Resort & Casino in Las Vegas. The event will serve as the finale to the D.IC.E. Summit 2020 – a week-long gathering of industry individuals.
A total of 65 games that were released in 2019 have been nominated across 23 categories for D.I.C.E. Awards 2020. The finalists are:
Outstanding Achievement in Animation
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
Infinity Ward / Activision - Days Gone
SIE Bend Studio / Sony Interactive Entertainment - Death Stranding
Kojima Productions / Sony Interactive Entertainment - Devil May Cry 5
Capcom - Luigi’s Mansion 3
Next Level Games / Nintendo
Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
Infinity Ward / Activision - Concrete Genie
Pixelopus / Sony Interactive Entertainment - Control
Remedy Entertainment / 505 Games - Death Stranding
Kojima Productions / Sony Interactive Entertainment - Resident Evil 2
Capcom
Outstanding Achievement in Character
- Control
Jesse Fadden (voiced by Courtney Hope)
Remedy Entertainment / 505 Games - Death Stranding
Cliff Unger (voiced by Mads Mikkelsen)
Kojima Productions / Sony Interactive Entertainment - Death Stranding
Sam Porter Bridges (voiced by Norman Reedus)
Kojima Productions / Sony Interactive Entertainment - Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order
Greez (voiced by Daniel Robuck)
Respawn Entertainment / Electronic Arts - Untitled Goose Game
House House / Panic
Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Composition
- Arise: A Simple Story
David Garcia (composer)
Piccolo Studio / Techland Publishing - Control
Petri Alanko, Martin Stig Andersen (composers)
Remedy Entertainment / 505 Games - Erica
Austin Wintory (composer)
Flavourworks / Sony Interactive Entertainment - Golem
Martin O’Donnell (audio director, composer)
Highwire Games / Perp Games - Mortal Kombat 11
Wilbert Roget, II (main theme/story mode composer), Dan Forden (audio director), Nathan Grigg (advanced composer)
NetherRealm Studios / Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
Outstanding Achievement in Audio Design
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
Stephen Miller (audio director)
Infinity Ward / Activision - Death Stranding
Ludvig Forssell (audio director), Mike Niederquell (audio lead)
Kojima Productions / Sony Interactive Entertainment - Mortal Kombat 11
Rich Carle (audio lead), Dan Forden (audio director), Stephen Schappler (senior sound designer)
NetherRealm Studios / Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment - Resident Evil 2
Shusaku Uchiyama (composer), Shohei Miyata (sound designer)
Capcom - Sayonara Sacred Hearts
Daniel Olsén (sound designer, audio lead)
Simogo / Annapurna Interactive
Outstanding Achievement in Story
- Control
Remedy Entertainment / 505 Games - Disco Elysium
ZA/UM - Outer Wilds
Mobius Digital / Annapurna Interactive - Telling Lies
Sam Barlow / Annapurna Interactive - The Outer Worlds
Obsidian Entertainment / Private Division
Outstanding Technical Achievement
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
Infinity Ward / Activision - Concrete Genie
Pixelopus / Sony Interactive Entertainment - Control
Remedy Entertainment / 505 Games - Death Stranding
Kojima Productions / Sony Interactive Entertainment - Metro Exodus
4A Games / Deep Silver
Action Game of the Year
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
Infinity Ward / Activision - Control
Remedy Entertainment / 505 Games - Devil May Cry 5
Capcom - Gears 5
The Coalition / Xbox Game Studios - Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice
FromSoftware / Activision
Adventure Game of the Year
- Death Stranding
Kojima Productions / Sony Interactive Entertainment - Luigi’s Mansion 3
Next Level Games / Nintendo - Resident Evil 2
Capcom - Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order
Respawn Entertainment / Electronic Arts - The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening
Grezzo / Nintendo
Family Game of the Year
- A Short Hike
Adam Robinson-Yu - Dragon Quest Builders 2
Square Enix - Ring Fit Adventure
Nintendo - Super Mario Maker 2
Nintendo - Yoshi’s Crafted World
Nintendo
Fighting Game of the Year
- Dead or Alive 6
Arc System Works - Jump Force
Spike Chunsoft / Bandai Namco Entertainment - Mortal Kombat 11
NetherRealm Studios / Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment - Samurai Shodown
SNK
Racing Game of the Year
- Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled
Beenox / Activision - DiRT Rally 2.0
Codemasters - F1 2019
Codemasters - Mario Kart Tour
Nintendo - Trials Rising
RedLynx, Ubisoft Kiev / Ubisoft
Role-Playing Game of the Year
- Disco Elysium
ZA/UM - Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers
Square Enix - Kingdom Hearts III
Square Enix - Pokémon Sword & Pokémon Shield
Game Freak / The Pokémon Company, Nintendo - The Outer Worlds
Obsidian Entertainment / Private Division
Sports Game of the Year
- FIFA 20
EA Vancouver / EA Sports - Madden NFL 20
EA Tiburon / EA Sports - MLB The Show 19
SIE San Diego Studio / Sony Interactive Entertainment - NBA 2K20
Visual Concepts / 2K - NHL 20
EA Vancouver / EA Sports
Strategy/Simulation Game of the Year
- Anno 1800
Ubisoft Blue Byte / Ubisoft - Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Nintendo, Koei Tecmo Games, Intelligent Systems / Nintendo - Oxygen Not Included
Klei Entertainment - Slay the Spire
Mega Crit Games / Humble Bundle - Total War: Three Kingdoms
Creative Assembly / SEGA
Immersive Reality Technical Achievement
- Asgard’s Wrath
Sanzaru Games / Oculus VR - Blood & Truth
SIE London Studio / Sony Interactive Entertainment - Pistol Whip
Cloudhead Games - Stormland
Insomniac Games / Oculus VR - Westworld Awakening
Survios / HBO
Immersive Reality Game of the Year
- Asgard’s Wrath
Sanzaru Games / Oculus VR - Blood & Truth
SIE London Studio / Sony Interactive Entertainment - Pistol Whip
Cloudhead Games - The Curious Tale of the Stolen Pets
Fast Travel Games - Trover Saves the Universe
Squanch Games
Outstanding Achievement for an Independent Game
- A Short Hike
Adam Robinson-Yu - Disco Elysium
ZA/UM - Sayonara Sacred Hearts
Simogo / Annapurna Interactive - Untitled Goose Game
House House / Panic - WHAT THE GOLF?
Triband / Triband, The Label
Portable Game of the Year
- Call of Duty: Mobile
TiMi Studios / Activision - GRINDSTONE
Capybara Games - Sayonara Sacred Hearts
Simogo / Annapurna Interactive - Sky: Children of the Light
thatgamecompany - WHAT THE GOLF?
Triband / Triband, The Label
Online Game of the Year
- Apex Legends
Respawn Entertainment / Electronic Arts - Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
Infinity Ward / Activision - Destiny 2: Shadowkeep
Bungie - Tetris 99
Arika / Nintendo - Wargroove
Chucklefish
Outstanding Achievement in Game Design
- Baba is You
Hempuli Oy - Disco Elysium
ZA/UM - Outer Wilds
Mobius Digital / Annapurna Interactive - Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice
FromSoftware / Activision - Slay the Spire
Mega Crit Games / Humble Bundle
Outstanding Achievement in Game Direction
- A Short Hike
Adam Robinson-Yu - Control
Remedy Entertainment / 505 Games - Disco Elysium
ZA/UM - Outer Wilds
Mobius Digital / Annapurna Interactive - Untitled Goose Game
House House / Panic
Game of the Year
- Control
Remedy Entertainment / 505 Games - Death Stranding
Kojima Productions / Sony Interactive Entertainment - Disco Elysium
ZA/UM - Outer Wilds
Mobius Digital / Annapurna Interactive - Untitled Goose Game
House House / Panic
Action-adventure game Control and action game Death Stranding could potentially win the most awards, with both notching up eight nominations each. Coming in joint second is open-world role-playing game Disco Elysium and first-person shooter Call of Duty: Modern Warfare with six nominations each.
This year’s D.I.C.E. Awards will be hosted by Jessica Chobot Greg Miller.