Control and Death Stranding lead the nominations for the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences' 23rd annual DICE Awards, which will be handed out at a ceremony that will cap off the week-long DICE Summit in February.
(DICE, by the way, stands for Design, Innovate, Communicate, Entertain. Because I'm sure at least a few of you are curious.)
If those headliners sound oddly familiar, it's likely because Control and Death Stranding are also leading the nominations for the Game Developers Choice Awards, which were announced last week. They're popular games! Not the only ones, though: Other leading contenders for this year's event include Disco Elysium and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, with six nominations each, Outer Wilds and Untitled Goose Game with four, and A Short Hike, Mortal Kombat 11, Sayonara Wild Hearts, and Resident Evil 2, which received three nominations each.
A total of 65 games were nominated for the 2020 awards, which will be sorted through by "Peer Panelists" drawn from throughout the videogame industry. Winners will be announced on February 13. Here's the full list of the games in the running:
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
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
- Concrete Genie
- Control
- Death Stranding
- Resident Evil 2
Outstanding Achievement in Character
- Control (Jesse Faden)
- Death Stranding (Cliff Unger)
- 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
- Control
- Erica
- Golem
- Mortal Kombat 11
Outstanding Achievement in Audio Design
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
- Death Stranding
- Mortal Kombat 11
- Resident Evil 2
- Sayonara Wild Hearts
Outstanding Achievement in Story
- Control
- Disco Elysium
- Outer Wilds
- Telling Lies
- The Outer Worlds
Outstanding Technical Achievement
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
- Concrete Genie
- Control
- Death Stranding
- Metro Exodus
Action Game of the Year
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
- Control
- Devil May Cry 5
- Gears 5
- Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice
Adventure Game of the Year
- Death Stranding
- Luigi's Mansion 3
- Resident Evil 2
- 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
- Mortal Kombat 11
- 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
- Disco Elysium
- Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers
- Kingdom Hearts III
- Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield
- The Outer Worlds
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 & Truth
- Pistol Whip
- Stormland
- Westworld Awakening
Immersive Reality Game of the Year
- Asgard's Wrath
- Blood & Truth
- Pistol Whip
- The Curious Tale of the Stolen Pets
- Trover Saves the Universe
Outstanding Achievement for an Independent Game
- A Short Hike
- Disco Elysium
- Sayonara Wild Hearts
- Untitled Goose Game
- What the Golf?
Portable Game of the Year
- Call of Duty: Mobile
- Grindstone
- Sayonara Wild Hearts
- Sky: Children of the Light
- What the Golf?
Online Game of the Year
- Apex Legends
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
- Destiny 2: Shadowkeep
- Tetris 99
- Wargroove
Outstanding Achievement in Game Design
- Baba is You
- Disco Elysium
- Outer Wilds
- Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice
- Slay the Spire
Outstanding Achievement in Game Direction
- A Short Hike
- Control
- Disco Elysium
- Outer Wilds
- Untitled Goose Game
Game of the Year
- Control
- Death Stranding
- Disco Elysium
- Outer Wilds
- Untitled Goose Game
In case you missed it, or have just forgotten, the nominees for the 2020 Independent Games Festival awards, and the 2020 Game Developers Choice Awards, have also been announced. Those winners will be announced in a combined show that will be held during GDC on March 18.
