| D.I.C.E. Award for Strategy/Simulation Game of the Year | |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Presented by | Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences |
| First award | 1998 |
| Currently held by | Balatro |
| Website | www |
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". [1] All active creative/technical, business, and affiliate members of the Academy are qualified to vote for this category. [2] Originally, there were separate awards for strategy games and simulation games, which simulate aspects of the real world. [3] [4]
The award's most recent winner is Balatro , developed by LocalThunk and published by PlayStack.
Initially the Interactive Achievement Awards had separate awards for Computer Strategy Game of the Year and Computer Simulation Game of the Year. [3] [4] The categories would then be merged into Strategy/Simulation Game of the Year in 2008. [1]
There was a tie between Age of Empires and StarCraft for Computer Strategy Game of the Year at the 1st Annual Interactive Achievement Awards.
| Indicates the winner |
Firaxis Games, as a developer, has received the most nominations and has won the most awards; Microsoft and Xbox Game Studios, as a publisher, has received the most nominations and has won the most awards. There are numerous developers with consecutive wins in this category:
When there are separate awards for strategy games and simulation games, both Microsoft and Electronic Arts has published winners for both categories in the same year:
Microsoft is the only publisher to have back-to-back wins for both strategy and simulation categories in consecutive years (2000 and 2001). Since the merger of strategy and simulation genres into one category in 2008, four different publishers has garnered consecutive wins:
Sega has published the most nominees without a win.
| Developer | Nominations | Wins |
|---|---|---|
| Firaxis Games | 15 | 6 |
| Microsoft Simulation Group/Aces Game Studio | 6 | 4 |
| Blizzard Entertainment | 6 | 4 |
| Ensemble Studios | 6 | 3 |
| Maxis | 5 | 3 |
| Relic Entertainment | 9 | 2 |
| EA Los Angeles | 4 | 2 |
| Creative Assembly | 8 | 1 |
| Intelligent Systems | 5 | 1 |
| Shiro Games | 3 | 1 |
| Double Fine Productions | 2 | 1 |
| Lionhead Studios | 2 | 1 |
| Robot Entertainment | 2 | 1 |
| Subset Games | 2 | 1 |
| Westwood Studios/Westwood Pacific/EA Pacific | 4 | 0 |
| Amplitude Studios | 3 | 0 |
| FASA Studio | 3 | 0 |
| Digital Image Design | 2 | 0 |
| 11 Bit Studios | 2 | 0 |
| EA Baltimore | 2 | 0 |
| Gas Powered Games | 2 | 0 |
| Impressions Games | 2 | 0 |
| Klei Entertainment | 2 | 0 |
| Paradox Development Studios | 2 | 0 |
| Petroglyph Games | 2 | 0 |
| Signal Studios | 2 | 0 |
| Publisher | Nominations | Wins |
|---|---|---|
| Microsoft/Xbox Game Studios | 43 | 11 |
| Electronic Arts | 22 | 9 |
| 2K Games | 12 | 4 |
| Blizzard Entertainment | 6 | 4 |
| Activision | 4 | 2 |
| THQ/THQ Nordic | 8 | 1 |
| Ubisoft | 8 | 1 |
| Nintendo | 6 | 1 |
| Infogrames | 5 | 1 |
| Shiro Games | 3 | 1 |
| Kitfox Games | 2 | 1 |
| Subset Games | 2 | 1 |
| Sega | 6 | 0 |
| Interplay Productions/Entertainment | 4 | 0 |
| Sierra On-Line/Entertainment | 4 | 0 |
| Paradox Interactive | 3 | 0 |
| 11 Bit Studios | 2 | 0 |
| Devolver Digital | 2 | 0 |
| Empire Interactive | 2 | 0 |
| Hasbro Interactive | 2 | 0 |
| Klei Entertainment | 2 | 0 |
| LucasArts | 2 | 0 |
| Raw Fury | 2 | 0 |
| Vivendi (Universal) Games | 2 | 0 |
All of the Sid Meier games, including the Civilization franchise, have received the most nominations for strategy/simulation games. The Sid Meier games are also tied with the Age of Empires and Microsoft Flight Simulator franchises for winning the most awards for strategy/simulation games. There have been numerous games with multiple nominations, mostly for expansion packs:
Age of Empires II , XCOM: Enemy Unknown , and The Sims are the only games with back-to-back wins. The Sims franchise has won a third consecutive year for Simulation Game of the Year with The Sims 2 in 2005. Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II is the only game that has been nominated three times. The Command & Conquer franchise has back-to-back wins (non-expansion) with Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars in 2008, and Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 in 2009.
| Franchise | Nominations | Wins |
|---|---|---|
| Sid Meier/Civilization | 10 | 4 |
| Age of Empires [b] | 6 | 4 |
| Microsoft Flight Simulator | 6 | 4 |
| Command & Conquer | 6 | 3 |
| The Sims | 4 | 3 |
| XCOM | 4 | 2 |
| StarCraft | 3 | 2 |
| Warcraft | 2 | 2 |
| Total War | 7 | 1 |
| Fire Emblem | 4 | 1 |
| Company of Heroes | 2 | 1 |
| MechWarrior | 2 | 1 |
| Need for Speed | 2 | 1 |
| Orcs Must Die! | 2 | 1 |
| Warhammer 40,000 | 5 | 0 |
| Jane's Combat Simulations | 4 | 0 |
| RollerCoaster Tycoon | 3 | 0 |
| Empire Earth [c] | 2 | 0 |
| F-22 | 2 | 0 |
| FreeSpace | 2 | 0 |
| Frostpunk | 2 | 0 |
| Halo | 2 | 0 |
| Homeworld | 2 | 0 |
| Middle-earth | 2 | 0 |
| Rise of Nations | 2 | 0 |
| Star Wars | 2 | 0 |
| Supreme Commander | 2 | 0 |
| Toy Soldiers | 2 | 0 |