It’s that time of the year again. The Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences today announced the nominees for the 25th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards, which will be hosted by Jessica Chobot and Greg Miller. With 59 games nominated across 23 different categories, it’s set to be a hard-fought fight, with the winners announced at the live-streamed awards ceremony on February 24.
The Game of the Year category in particular looks like it will be a tricky choice, with beloved titles Deathloop, It Takes Two, Inscryption, Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart, and Returnal all vying for the top position. Many of those titles are also up for other categories, with Ratchet & Clank scoring an impressive nine nominations (including Outstanding Achievement in Animation, Outstanding Technical Achievement, and Family Game of the Year). The others aren’t far behind though, with Deathloop nabbing eight nominations and It Takes Two with six.
It’s not all massive names — categories like Outstanding Achievement in Story and Role-Playing Game of the Year see entrants from smaller studios, including Before Your Eyes, The Forgotten City, and Wildermyth. When even Game of the Year features a smaller title like Inscryption as a nominee, it definitely feels like the D.I.C.E. Awards could be anyone’s game this year.
