D.I.C.E. Award for Action Game of the Year | |
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Country | United States |
Presented by | Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences |
First awarded | 1998 |
Currently held by | Marvel's Spider-Man 2 |
Website | www |
The D.I.C.E. Award for Action Game of the Year is an award presented annually by the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences during the D.I.C.E. Awards. This award recognizes titles that "follow the gameplay from the prospective of the character that the player is controlling. These games feature heavy weapons use and/or involve characters engaged in combat while moving through a linear or open environment. The opponent can either be controlled by another player or by the game". [1] All active creative/technical, business, and affiliate members of the Academy are qualified to vote for this category. [2] The award initially had separate awards for console games and computer games at the 1st Annual Interactive Achievement Awards in 1998, with the first winners being GoldenEye 007 for console and Quake II for computer. There have been numerous mergers and additions of action-related games throughout the awards ceremony's history. The current version was officially introduced at the 11th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards in 2008, which was awarded to Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare .
The most recent winner of the award is Marvel's Spider-Man 2 , developed by Insomniac Games and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment.
Initially, the Interactive Achievement Awards had separate awards for Console Action Game of the Year and Computer Action Game of the Year. [3] The 1999 awards featured genre-specific Online awards, including Online Action/Strategy Game of the Year. [4] There was only one Online Game of the Year in 2000. [5] In 2001, the awards for action games and adventure games were consolidated to Action/Adventure awards, recognizing titles in which players are challenged with real-time action activities and combat where possibly skill, accuracy and puzzle-solving are required. [6] [7] [8] Additional categories for console and computer first person action games were added for the 6th awards ceremony. [9] This was probably because both winners for console and PC Action/Adventure in 2002 were first-person shooters, being Halo: Combat Evolved for console and Return to Castle Wolfenstein for PC. [10] [11] A category for Console Platform Action/Adventure Game of the Year was also introduced in 2003. [9] Starting in 2006, genre-specific awards would no longer have separate categories for console and computer games, resulting in one Action/Adventure Game of the Year award, which included platform games going forward, and one First-Person Action Game of the Year award. [12] These would ultimately be replaced by Action Game of the Year and Adventure Game of the Year in 2008. [1] [13]
Indicates the winner |
Electronic Arts has published the most nominees for action-related Game of the Year awards. Activision and Ubisoft are tied for publishing the most winners for action-related Game of the Year awards. Ubisoft Montreal has developed the most nominees and award winners. Ubisoft Montreal is the only developer to win more than one award for the same game in the same year with Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time , winning for Console Platform Action/Adventure Game of the Year and Computer Action/Adventure Game of the Year in 2004.
Rockstar North and Rockstar Games have also won multiple awards in the same year, but for different games in 2003:
Sierra On-Line has published the winners for multiple awards with different developers in the same year:
There are two publishers with back-to-back wins with different developers:
There have also been two back-to-back developer-and-publisher winners of the same award:
Developer | Nominations | Wins |
---|---|---|
Ubisoft Montreal | 14 | 6 |
Infinity Ward | 6 | 4 |
Bungie | 8 | 3 |
DICE | 7 | 3 |
Rockstar North/DMA Design | 7 | 3 |
Insomniac Games | 8 | 2 |
Valve | 6 | 2 |
Rare | 4 | 2 |
Ubisoft Milan | 4 | 2 |
Gearbox Software | 3 | 2 |
Epic Games | 6 | 1 |
Nintendo EAD | 6 | 1 |
id Software | 5 | 1 |
Red Storm Entertainment | 4 | 1 |
EA Redwood Shores/Visceral Games | 3 | 1 |
Remedy Entertainment | 3 | 1 |
Ubisoft Shanghai | 3 | 1 |
343 Industries | 2 | 1 |
Dynamix | 2 | 1 |
Ion Storm | 2 | 1 |
Irrational Games/2K Boston | 2 | 1 |
Retro Studios | 2 | 1 |
Santa Monica Studio | 2 | 1 |
Monolith Productions | 6 | 0 |
EA Los Angeles | 4 | 0 |
Naughty Dog | 4 | 0 |
Treyarch | 4 | 0 |
Capcom | 3 | 0 |
Digital Extremes | 3 | 0 |
Radical Entertainment | 3 | 0 |
Volition | 3 | 0 |
The Coalition | 2 | 0 |
FromSoftware | 2 | 0 |
Housemarque | 2 | 0 |
IO Interactive | 2 | 0 |
Japan Studio | 2 | 0 |
Konami | 2 | 0 |
LucasArts | 2 | 0 |
MachineGames | 2 | 0 |
Midway Games | 2 | 0 |
Pandemic Studios | 2 | 0 |
Raven Software | 2 | 0 |
Respawn Entertainment | 2 | 0 |
Sledgehammer Games | 2 | 0 |
SquareSoft | 2 | 0 |
Publisher | Nominations | Wins |
---|---|---|
Activision | 22 | 6 |
Ubisoft | 20 | 6 |
Microsoft/Xbox Game Studios | 16 | 5 |
Electronic Arts | 25 | 4 |
Nintendo | 14 | 4 |
Rockstar Games | 10 | 4 |
Sony Computer/Interactive Entertainment | 23 | 3 |
Sierra On-Line/Entertainment | 6 | 3 |
2K Games | 4 | 2 |
Eidos Interactive/Square Enix Europe | 8 | 1 |
Vivendi Universal Games | 6 | 1 |
Sega | 4 | 1 |
SquareSoft/Square Enix | 6 | 0 |
Bethesda Softworks | 6 | 0 |
THQ | 5 | 0 |
Capcom | 4 | 0 |
Midway Games | 4 | 0 |
Valve | 4 | 0 |
GT Interactive | 3 | 0 |
Interplay Productions | 3 | 0 |
LucasArts | 3 | 0 |
989 Studios | 2 | 0 |
Konami | 2 | 0 |
Red Storm Entertainment | 2 | 0 |
The Call of Duty franchise has received the most nominations and won the most awards. The Tom Clancy's franchise is second in nominations and tied for second-most wins with the Grand Theft Auto , Half-Life , Halo , and Prince of Persia franchises. In the early years of the Interactive Achievement Awards when there were multiple awards for action-related genres, some franchises has had multiple nominations in the same year. The 6th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards in 2003 have had three franchises receiving multiple nominations/awards with more than one game in action-related categories:
Some games have received more than one nomination in the same year for action-related awards:
Some games have received multiple nominations spread across multiple years, mostly for expansion packs.
There are only two franchises that have back-to-back wins for the same action-related award. The first is Half-Life for Computer Action Game of the Year in 1999 and 2000, and the second is Prince of Persia for Console Platform Action/Adventure Game of the Year in 2004 and 2005. Both the original Dead Space and the 2023 remake have been named as a finalist, with the former winning the award outright.
Franchise | Nominations | Wins |
---|---|---|
Call of Duty | 11 | 4 |
Tom Clancy's | 9 | 3 |
Grand Theft Auto | 6 | 3 |
Half-Life [a] | 6 | 3 |
Halo | 6 | 3 |
Prince of Persia | 4 | 3 |
Battlefield | 6 | 1 |
Gears of War | 5 | 1 |
Destiny | 4 | 1 |
Dead Space | 3 | 1 |
James Bond 007 | 3 | 1 |
Medal of Honor | 3 | 1 |
Metroid | 3 | 1 |
Ratchet & Clank | 3 | 1 |
Star Wars | 3 | 1 |
The Legend of Zelda | 3 | 1 |
Wolfenstein | 3 | 1 |
Banjo-Kazooie | 2 | 1 |
BioShock | 2 | 1 |
Crimson Skies | 2 | 1 |
Deus Ex | 2 | 1 |
God of War | 2 | 1 |
Marvel's Spider-Man | 2 | 1 |
Quake | 2 | 1 |
Tribes | 2 | 1 |
Far Cry | 4 | 0 |
Doom | 3 | 0 |
Jak & Daxter | 3 | 0 |
Myst | 3 | 0 |
Unreal | 3 | 0 |
Devil May Cry | 2 | 0 |
Full Spectrum Warrior | 2 | 0 |
Hitman | 2 | 0 |
Max Payne | 2 | 0 |
Metal Gear | 2 | 0 |
No One Lives Forever | 2 | 0 |
Saints Row | 2 | 0 |
Spyro | 2 | 0 |
Titanfall | 2 | 0 |
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The D.I.C.E. Award for Sports Game of the Year is an award presented annually by the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences during the D.I.C.E. Awards. This award recognizes games that "offer the user the opportunity to virtually reproduce a sporting experience: either a realistic portrayal of an actual sport or games that reproduce for the user experience of participating in an existing competitive sport". All active creative/technical, business, and affiliate members of the Academy are qualified to vote for this category. The award initially had separate awards for console games and computer games at the 1st Annual Interactive Achievement Awards in 1998, with the first winners being International Superstar Soccer 64 for console and FIFA: Road to World Cup 98 for computer. There have been numerous mergers and additions of sports-related games during the early years of the annual awards ceremony. The current version was established in 2006, with its winner being SSX on Tour.
The D.I.C.E. Award for Strategy/Simulation Game of the Year is an award presented annually by the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences during the D.I.C.E. Awards. This award recognizes games "in which user directs or manipulates resources to create a set of conditions that result in success as determined within the confines of the game. These games can offer the user the chance to simulate or to virtually reproduce an experience, real or imaginary, which would require some form of equipment. Strategy games emphasize the planning of tactics rather than the execution". All active creative/technical, business, and affiliate members of the Academy are qualified to vote for this category. Originally, there were separate awards for strategy games and simulation games, which simulate aspects of the real world.
The D.I.C.E. Award for Family Game of the Year is an award presented annually by the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences during the D.I.C.E. Awards. This award recognizes "the best title of any genre towards a shared, family gaming experience. The title's play dynamics must be suitable for a younger audience but can appeal to adults as well. These games often offer a mini-game component and encourage group play". All active creative/technical, business, and affiliate members of the Academy are qualified to vote for this category. Originally only offered as a computer game category, the first winner was Lego Island, developed and published by Mindscape. The first console winner was Pokémon Snap in 2000. Since condensing the computer and console awards into a single category, the first winner of the current version was Guitar Hero in 2006.
The D.I.C.E. Award for Racing Game of the Year is an award presented annually by the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences during the D.I.C.E. Awards. This recognizes "titles that allow the user to participate in a contest in which the objective is to convey an object through a course of virtual physical progress as quickly as possible. Racing games may involve competition against other user-controlled competitors or against system controlled competitors. Racing games must simulate vehicular motion". All active creative/technical, business, and affiliate members of the Academy are qualified to vote for this category. It was originally presented as Console Racing Game of the Year, with its first winner being Diddy Kong Racing, which was developed by Rare and published by Nintendo.
The D.I.C.E. Award for Fighting Game of the Year is an award presented annually by the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences during the D.I.C.E. Awards. This award recognizes "titles that offer the use the virtual experience of controlling a character engaging in individual combat with another character usually from a fixed camera perspective. The opponent can either be controlled by another player or by the game". All active creative/technical, business, and affiliate members of the Academy are qualified to vote for this category. It was originally titled Console Fighting Game of the Year, before it was simplified to just Fighting Game of the Year. It is one of two categories, the other being Online Game of the Year, that is not limited to release within the calendar year but must be supported by significant new content.
The D.I.C.E. Award for Online Game of the Year is an award presented annually by the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences during the D.I.C.E. Awards. This award "celebrates titles of any genre with a significant portion of the gameplay experience transpiring online — collaboratively or competitively. These titles frequently offer excellent matchmaking systems, innovative gameplay options, persistent content releases that further evolve gameplay, user customization and fluidity of gameplay. Titles submitted in this category are not limited to release within the calendar year but must be supported by significant new content". All active creative/technical, business, and affiliate members of the Academy are qualified to vote for this category. The first winner was Ultima Online at the 1st Annual Interactive Achievement Awards. It is the only "Game of the Year award" that also has been offered as a genre award and craft award.
The D.I.C.E. Award for Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction 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 individual or team whose work represents the highest level of achievement in designing a unified graphic look for an interactive title". Creative/technical Academy members with expertise as an artist, animator or programmer are qualified to vote for this award.
The D.I.C.E. Award for Mobile Game of the Year is an award presented annually by the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences during the D.I.C.E. Awards. This award recognizes a game "for a mobile device platform such as a mobile phone or tablet. These games demonstrate a skilled usage of the device's software and hardware features to offer a unique and addictive play experience. All game genres are eligible. Mobile platforms include, but are not limited to iOS or Android". All active creative/technical, business, and affiliate members of the Academy are qualified to vote for this category.
The D.I.C.E. Award for Outstanding Achievement for an Independent Game is an award presented annually by the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences during the D.I.C.E. Awards. This is "awarded to a game that embodies the independent spirit of game creation, representing a higher degree of risk tolerance and advances our media with innovative gameplay and experiences". All active creative/technical, business, and affiliate members of the Academy are qualified to vote for this category.