DICE Awards: Blizzard’s Overwatch takes Game of the Year

Blizzard’s Overwatch won Game of the Year at the DICE Awards, the equivalent of the Oscars for video games. The action shooter walked away with four awards overall during the evening.

Overwatch was chosen as the best game of 2016 in a peer vote by the membership of the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences, the 33,000-strong academy that puts on the DICE Awards. The awards are now in their 20th year.

Overwatch challenges players to join the ranks of a legendary force of soldiers, scientists, adventurers and oddities, and clash on the battlefields of a near-future Earth. The awards were held tonight at The Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas earlier this evening.

The AIAS membership honored games in 24 award categories, including Overwatch and Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End, which received four awards each. Inside won three awards, including the DICE Sprite Award, which recognizes a game with limited resources for development and exposure (as compared to AAA titles).

Other top honorees were Pokémon Go for Mobile Game of the Year, Steep for Game of the Year, Street Fighter V for Fighting Game of the Year and Dark Souls III for role-playing game/massively multiplayer online (RPG/MMO) Game of the Year.

Winners for newly added awards that recognized achievement and innovation in virtual reality and augmented reality games, included Superhot VR for Immersive Reality Game of the Year and Eagle Flight for Immersive Reality Technical Achievement.

Above: Overwatch team

Image Credit: Dean Takahashi

“For the past 20 years, the DICE Awards have been bringing together the most talented, innovative and inspiring minds in interactive entertainment to recognize and celebrate the industry’s most outstanding achievements,” said Mike Fischer, president, Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences, in a statement. “We’re thrilled to congratulate all of this year’s award winners whose incredible games have amazed and entertained fans worldwide, and are truly an inspiration to us all.”

In addition to the awards for the industry’s best games and creators from the previous year, the DICE Awards also honored Todd Howard, executive producer and game director at Bethesda Game Studios, as the 22nd inductee into the AIAS Hall of Fame, which honors individuals who have been instrumental in the development of highly influential games.

Howard was recognized for having created some of the industry’s most successful games by pioneering open-world gameplay, and played a key role in the creative direction and growth of highly regarded franchises, including The Elder Scrolls and Fallout.

Above: Jeff Kaplan, game director on Overwatch.

Image Credit: Dean Takahashi

The 20th annual DICE Awards ceremony, which was co-hosted by Jessica Chobot of Nerdist News and Kinda Funny co-founder Greg Miller, was the culmination of the annual three-day D.I.C.E. (Design, Innovate, Communicate, Entertain) Summit (#DICE2017), which is known for drawing many of the interactive entertainment industry’s most respected and influential leaders, decision makers and visionaries.
The complete list of winners includes:
Game of the Year
Overwatch
Publisher: Blizzard Entertainment
Developer: Blizzard Entertainment

Outstanding Achievement in Game Direction
INSIDE
Publisher: Playdead
Developer: Playdead

Outstanding Achievement in Game Design
Overwatch
Publisher: Blizzard Entertainment
Developer: Blizzard Entertainment

Immersive Reality Technical Achievement
Eagle Flight
Publisher: Ubisoft
Developer: FunHouse

Immersive Reality Game of the Year
SUPERHOT VR
Publisher: SUPERHOT Sp. z o.o.
Developer: SUPERHOT Sp. z o.o.

Mobile Game of the Year
Pokémon GO
Publisher: Niantic Labs
Developer: Niantic Labs

Handheld Game of the Year
Pokémon Sun and Moon
Publisher: The Pokémon Company
Developer: Game Freak

D.I.C.E. Sprite Award
INSIDE
Publisher: Playdead
Developer: Playdead

Outstanding Achievement in Online Gameplay
Overwatch
Publisher: Blizzard Entertainment
Developer: Blizzard Entertainment

Strategy/Simulation Game of the Year
Sid Meier’s Civilization VI
Publisher: 2K Games
Developer: Firaxis Games

Sports Game of the Year
Steep
Publisher: Ubisoft
Developer: Ubisoft Annecy

Role-Playing/Massively Multiplayer Game of the Year
Dark Souls III
Publisher: BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment America Inc.
Developer: FromSoftware, Inc.

Racing Game of the Year
Forza Horizon 3
Publisher: Microsoft Studios
Developer: Playground Games, Turn 10 Studios

Fighting Game of the Year
Street Fighter V
Publisher: Capcom U.S.A., Inc.
Developer: Capcom

Family Game of the Year
Ratchet & Clank
Publisher: Sony Interactive Entertainment
Developer: Insomniac Games

Adventure Game of the Year
Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End
Publisher: Sony Interactive Entertainment America
Developer: Naughty Dog

Action Game of the Year
Overwatch
Publisher: Blizzard Entertainment
Developer: Blizzard Entertainment

Outstanding Technical Achievement
Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End
Publisher: Sony Interactive Entertainment America
Developer: Naughty Dog

Outstanding Achievement in Story
Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End
Publisher: Sony Interactive Entertainment America
Developer: Naughty Dog

Outstanding Achievement in Sound Design
Battlefield 1
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Developer: EA Dice

Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Composition
DOOM
Publisher: Bethesda Softworks
Developer: id Software

Outstanding Achievement in Character
The Last Guardian – Trico
Publisher: Sony Interactive Entertainment America
Developer: JAPAN Studio

Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction
INSIDE
Publisher: Playdead
Developer: Playdead

Outstanding Achievement in Animation
Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End
Publisher: Sony Interactive Entertainment America
Developer: Naughty Dog