17th D.I.C.E. Awards Nominations Highlight Diverse Year In Gaming

Naughty Dog's The Last of Us Leads with 13 Nods

LOS ANGELES, Jan. 16, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences is proud to honor the year's finest achievements in video games with nominations for the 17^th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards (#DICEAwards), the video game industry's premier peer-based awards show. The Academy's 22,000+ members, comprised of the interactive publishing and development communities, recognize excellence in 24 different interactive game categories in one of the highest forms of recognition in the industry.  Included in the Academy's voting body is the International Game Developers Association (IGDA) - members are invited to vote on the craft categories.

Leading the nominations is The Last of Us with 13 nods, including Game of the Year.  The other nominees up for the Academy's highest honor are; Assassin's Creed: IV Black Flag, Bioshock Infinite, Grand Theft Auto V and The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds. Several more titles received multiple nominations including Grand Theft Auto V with seven, Bioshock Infinite with six, and Assassin's Creed IV Black Flag and Tearaway tying with five each. 

The D.I.C.E. Awards ceremony will take place on Thursday, Feb. 6 at The Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Las Vegas at the end of the 2014 D.I.C.E. (Design, Innovate, Communicate, Entertain) Summit (#DICE2014); it will live stream in its entirety at 7:30pm PT/10:30pm ET.  Also being honored this year as the Pioneer Award recipient is legendary video game designer Eugene Jarvis, whose games Defender and Robotron: 2084 have made lasting impact through the golden age of the arcade and beyond.  

"The games from 2013 are a mix of memorable, small footprint independent games and true blockbusters from the past console generation as they wind down in high style with notable games like Grand Theft Auto V, The Last of Us and Bioshock: Infinite," said Martin Rae, president, Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences. "Each year our voters grapple with a surplus of impactful games, and 2013 was no different with its selection of stunning visuals, innovative gameplay and challenging narratives.  It is an honor for the Academy to celebrate such a talented group of creators and their respective work at the D.I.C.E. Awards ceremony!"

New this year is the Online Game of the Year award. This category is unique among the D.I.C.E. Awards in that it celebrates titles outside of the current calendar year alongside this year's releases, in order to celebrate the constantly evolving experiences persistent online titles provide.  

"As the gaming industry continues to evolve, it's important that we update our honors to reflect the finest achievements among modern developers and publishers," said Rae. "With the continued growth of online games and the idea of games as a service, we created the Online Game of the Year category to recognize not only the best in online games from 2013, but also online games from previous years that continue to evolve over time."

The following is a partial list of nominees; the complete list of Awards categories, finalists, and game maker credits is available at: http://www.interactive.org/images/pdfs/17th-Annual-DICE-Finalists.pdf

Game of the Year

Assassin's Creed: IV Black Flag  

• Publisher: Ubisoft          
• Developer: Ubisoft Montreal

Bioshock Infinite            

• Publisher: 2K Games     
• Developer: Irrational Games

Grand Theft Auto V        

• Publisher: Rockstar Games         
• Developer: Rockstar North

The Last of Us   

• Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment America        
• Developer: Naughty Dog Inc.

The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds    

• Publisher: Nintendo     
• Developer: Nintendo

Outstanding Achievement in Game Direction

Brothers – A Tale of Two Sons   

• Publisher: 505 Games   
• Developer: Starbreeze Studios

Grand Theft Auto V        

• Publisher: Rockstar Games         
• Developer: Rockstar North

Papers, Please 

• Publisher: Lucas Pope  
• Developer: Lucas Pope

Tearaway           

• Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment America        
• Developer: Media Molecule

The Last of Us   

• Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment America        
• Developer: Naughty Dog Inc.

Outstanding Innovation in Gaming

Grand Theft Auto V        

• Publisher: Rockstar Games         
• Developer: Rockstar North

Papers, Please 

• Publisher: Lucas Pope  
• Developer: Lucas Pope

Tearaway           

• Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment America        
• Developer: Media Molecule

The Last of Us   

• Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment America        
• Developer: Naughty Dog Inc.

The Stanley Parable      

• Publisher: Galactic Café               
• Developer: Galactic Café

Adventure Game of the Year

Assassin's Creed: IV Black Flag  

• Publisher: Ubisoft          
• Developer: Ubisoft Montreal

Tearaway           

• Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment America        
• Developer: Media Molecule

The Last of Us   

• Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment America        
• Developer: Naughty Dog Inc.

The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds    

• Publisher: Nintendo     
• Developer: Nintendo

Tomb Raider     

• Publisher: Square Enix Inc.         
• Developer: Crystal Dymanics

Action Game of the Year

Battlefield 4      

• Publisher: Electronic Arts Inc.   
• Developer: DICE

Bioshock Infinite            

• Publisher: 2K Games     
• Developer: Irrational Games

Dead Rising 3    

• Publisher: Microsoft Studios     
• Developer: Capcom Games Studio Vancouver

DmC: Devil May Cry       

• Publisher; Capcom U.S.A., Inc.  
• Developer: Ninja Theory

RESOGUN           

• Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment America        
• Developer: Housemarque

Downloadable Game of the Year

Brothers – A Tale of Two Sons   

• Publisher: 505 Games   
• Developer: Starbreeze Studios

Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon

• Publisher: Ubisoft          
• Developer: Ubisoft Montreal

Gone Home       

• Publisher: The Fullbright Company        
• Developer: The Fullbright Company

Papers, Please 

• Publisher: Lucas Pope  
• Developer: Lucas Pope

The Stanley Parable      

• Publisher: Galactic Café               
• Developer: Galactic Café

Online Game of the Year

Battlefield 4      

• Publisher: Electronic Arts Inc.   
• Developer: DICE

Borderlands 2   

• Publisher: 2K Games     
• Developer: Gearbox Software

Diablo III             

• Publisher: Blizzard Entertainment          
• Developer: Blizzard Entertainment

The Last of Us   

• Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment America        
• Developer: Naughty Dog Inc.

World of Tanks

• Publisher: Wargaming Public Company Ltd. 105               
• Developer: Wargaming.net

Titles were played and evaluated by members of the Academy's Peer Panels to determine final nominees. These panels, one for each award category, are comprised of the game industry's most experienced and talented men and women who are experts in their chosen fields. The Academy's 22,000+ members then vote to determine the winners as part of a secure voting process in which the winners are not revealed until the evening of the show.

To attend the 17^th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards or the 2014 D.I.C.E. Summit, please visit www.dicesummit.org to purchase tickets. 

About the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences:
The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences (AIAS) was founded in 1996 as a not-for-profit organization whose mission is to promote, advance and recognize the outstanding achievements in the interactive entertainment industry worldwide. The Academy conducts its annual awards show, the D.I.C.E. Awards, to celebrate and honor creative accomplishments in the field. To further enhance awareness of the Academy's vision, the organization created the D.I.C.E. (Design, Innovate, Communicate, Entertain) Summit in 2002, a once yearly conference dedicated to exploring approaches to the creative process and artistic expression as they uniquely apply to the development of interactive entertainment.  In 2013 the Academy launched D.I.C.E. Europe in London to cater to the European games market. The Academy has more than 20,000 members, including Electronic Arts, Microsoft, Sony, Nintendo, Wargaming, Bethesda Game Studios, Ubisoft, Valve Software, Double Fine, Gearbox Software, Nexon and Insomniac Games, among others. More information can be found at www.interactive.org and www.dicesummit.org.  Follow the Academy on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn or Google+, #DICE2014 and #DICEAwards.

SOURCE Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences