The Game Awards may have closed out 2019 with a big celebration of the year’s best games, but it’s not the only major awards ceremony the industry has to offer. Since 1998, the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences (AIAS) has honored some of the most noteworthy titles out there with the annual DICE Awards, and today it announced the nominees for this year’s ceremony, which will cap off a week-long industry gathering at the 2020 DICE Summit next month.
This year’s event will see a total of 65 games nominated across 23 different categories. While many will be interested in all of these (the full list can be seen below), most will probably be interested specifically in the five games vying for the most prominent award of them all, Game of the Year.
AIAS’ choices for this year are Control, Death Stranding, Disco Elysium, Outer Wilds, and Untitled Goose Game. These games make up an interesting selection, as they cover pretty much the whole spectrum of the games that came out in 2019. Here we have both major AAA titles and indie games that most gamers probably missed, games that are nearly universally beloved and games that are wildly divisive, and games whose merits vary from the strength of their gameplay to the uniqueness of the experiences they offer. It’s not every year a game lets players harass people as a testy goose, after all.
Besides Game of the Year, these games mostly overshadow the competition across the other categories too, with Control and Death Stranding both leading the DICE Award nominations with eight each (including for Outstanding Technical Achievement and Action Game of the Year). Following them is Disco Elysium with six, and Outer Wilds and Untitled Goose Game with four.
Other games of note here include Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (which tied with Disco Elysium to get six nominations) Mortal Kombat 11, Resident Evil 2, and Sayonara Wild Hearts (all of which got three). Some of these games will obviously have a better chance of winning their respective awards than others, but all in all these and the dozens of other nominated games make a solid representation of what was great and most memorable about 2019.
Outstanding Achievement in Animation
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
Days Gone
Death Stranding
Devil May Cry 5
Luigi’s Mansion 3
Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction
Concrete Genie
Control
Resident Evil 2
Outstanding Achievement in Character
Control (Jesse Faden)
Death Stranding (Cliff Unter)
Death Stranding (Sam Porter Bridges)
Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order (Greez)
Untitled Goose Game (The Goose)
Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Composition
Arise: A Simple Story
Erica
Golem
Mortal Kombat 11
Outstanding Achievement in Audio Design
Sayonara Wild Hearts
Outstanding Achievement in Story
Disco Elysium
Outer Wilds
Telling Lies
The Outer Worlds
Outstanding Technical Achievement
Metro Exodus
Action Game of the Year
Gears 5
Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice
Adventure Game of the Year
Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order
The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening
Family Game of the Year
A Short Hike
Dragon Quest Builders 2
Ring Fit Adventure
Super Mario Maker 2
Yoshi’s Crafted World
Fighting Game of the Year
Dead or Alive 6
Jump Force
Samurai Shodown
Racing Game of the Year
Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled
DiRT Rally 2.0
F1 2019
Mario Kart Tour
Trials Rising
Role-Playing Game of the Year
Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers
Kingdom Hearts 3
Pokemon Sword and Pokemon Shield
Sports Game of the Year
FIFA 20
Madden NFL 20
MLB The Show 19
NBA 2K20
NHL 20
Strategy/Simulation Game of the Year
Anno 1800
Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Oxygen Not Included
Slay The Spire
Total War: Three Kingdoms
Immersive Reality Technical Achievement
Asgard’s Wrath
Blood and Truth
Pistol Whip
Stormland
Westworld Awakening
Immersive Reality Game of the Year
Blood & Truth
The Curious Tale of the Stolen Pets
Trover Saves the Universe
Outstanding Achievement for an Independent Game
Untitled Goose Game
What the Golf?
Portable Game of the Year
Call of Duty: Mobile
Grindstone
Sky: Children of the Light
Online Game of the Year
Apex Legends
Destiny 2: Shadowkeep
Tetris 99
Wargroove
Outstanding Achievement in Game Design
Baba is You
Slay the Spire
Outstanding Achievement in Game Direction
Untitled Goose Game
Game of the Year
The 23rd Annual DICE Awards will take place on February 13.
Source: Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences
