# 18th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards

The 18th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards was the 18th edition of the D.I.C.E. Awards, an annual awards event that honored the best games in the video game industry during 2014. The awards were arranged by the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences (AIAS), and were held at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada on February 5, 2015 (2015-02-05). It was also held as part of the Academy's 2015 D.I.C.E. Summit, and was hosted by stand-up comedian Pete Holmes.
The category for the "D.I.C.E. Sprite Award" was introduced. The category of "Outstanding Achievement in Game Design" was re-introduced after a four-year hiatus. The award for "Online Game of the Year" has been relabeled as "Outstanding Achievement in Online Gameplay". The categories for the "Downloadable Game of the Year" and "Casual Game of the Year" were discontinued. The craft awards for "Gameplay Engineering" and "Visual Engineering" were merged into the "Outstanding Technical Achievement" award category.
Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor had nearly swept all of its nominated categories with eight wins, yet failed to win "Game of the Year", which was awarded to Dragon Age: Inquisition. Ubisoft published the most nominated games and received the most nominations as a publisher with Ubisoft Montreal receiving the most nominations as a developer. Nintendo had published the most award-winning games.
Allan Alcorn received the "Pioneer Award" for creating Pong, one of the first video games. Ralph H. Baer, designer of the Magnavox Odyssey, also was posthumously awarded the "Pioneer Award." The Apple App Store received the first "Technical Impact Award".

## Winners and Nominees

Winners are listed first, highlighted in boldface, and indicated with a double dagger (‡).

### Game of the Year Awards

| Game of the Year Dragon Age: Inquisition — BioWare, Electronic Arts‡ Destiny — Bungie, Activision Far Cry 4 — Ubisoft Montreal Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft — Blizzard Entertainment Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor — Monolith Productions, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment | D.I.C.E. Sprite Award Transistor — Supergiant Games‡ Hohokum — Honeyslug, Sony Computer Entertainment Monument Valley — ustwo The Banner Saga — Stoic, Versus Evil Threes — Sirvo |
| Handheld Game of the Year Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS — Sora Ltd., Bandai Namco Games, Nintendo‡ Bravely Default — Silicon Studio, Nintendo Child of Light — Ubisoft Montreal Shovel Knight — Yacht Club Games Theatrhythm Final Fantasy: Curtain Call — Square Enix, indieszero | Mobile Game of the Year Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft — Blizzard Entertainment‡ 80 Days — Inkle Kingdom Rush: Origins — Ironhide Game Studio, Armor Games Monument Valley — ustwo Threes — Sirvo |
| Outstanding Achievement in Online Gameplay Destiny — Bungie, Activision‡ Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare — Sledgehammer Games, Activision Elite Dangerous — Frontier Developments Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft — Blizzard Entertainment World of Tanks [Xbox 360] — Wargaming | Outstanding Innovation in Gaming Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor — Monolith Productions, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment‡ Destiny — Bungie, Activision Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft — Blizzard Entertainment Monument Valley — ustwo Project Spark — Team Dakota, Microsoft Studios |

### Craft Awards

| Outstanding Achievement in Game Direction Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor — Monolith Productions, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment‡ Lumino City — State of Play Games Monument Valley — ustwo Never Alone (Kisima Ingitchuna) — Upper One Games, E-Line Media The Vanishing of Ethan Carter — The Astronauts | Outstanding Achievement in Game Design Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor — Monolith Productions, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment‡ Dungeon of the Endless — Amplitude Studios Far Cry 4 — Ubisoft Montreal Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft — Blizzard Entertainment Titanfall — Respawn Entertainment, Electronic Arts |
| Outstanding Achievement in Animation Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor — Monolith Productions, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment‡ Assassin's Creed Unity — Ubisoft Montreal Infamous Second Son — Sucker Punch Productions, Sony Computer Entertainment Sunset Overdrive — Insomniac Games, Microsoft Studios Titanfall — Respawn Entertainment, Electronic Arts | Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction Monument Valley — ustwo‡ Assassin's Creed Unity — Ubisoft Montreal Sunset Overdrive — Insomniac Games, Microsoft Studios The Vanishing of Ethan Carter — The Astronauts Valiant Hearts: The Great War — Ubisoft Montpellier |
| Outstanding Achievement in Character Talion (Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor) — Monolith Productions, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment‡ Jonathan Irons (Call of Duty: Advance Warfare) — Sledgehammer Games, Activision Pagan Min (Far Cry 4) — Ubisoft Montreal Abigail "Fetch" Walker (Infamous First Light) — Sucker Punch Productions, Sony Computer Entertainment Delsin Rowe (Infamous Second Son) — Sucker Punch Productions, Sony Computer Entertainment | Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Composition Destiny — Bungie, Activision‡ Far Cry 4 — Ubisoft Montreal Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris — Crystal Dynamics, Square Enix Europe The Vanishing of Ethan Carter — The Astronauts Transistor — Supergiant Games |
| Outstanding Achievement in Sound Design Destiny — Bungie, Activision‡ Assassin's Creed Unity — Ubisoft Montreal Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare — Sledgehammer Games, Activision Far Cry 4 — Ubisoft Montreal Valiant Hearts: The Great War — Ubisoft Montpellier | Outstanding Achievement in Story Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor — Monolith Productions, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment‡ South Park: The Stick of Truth — Obsidian Entertainment, South Park Digital Studios, Ubisoft The Wolf Among Us — Telltale Games This War of Mine — 11 Bit Studios Valiant Hearts: The Great War — Ubisoft Montpellier |
| Outstanding Technical Achievement Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor — Monolith Productions, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment‡ Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare — Sledgehammer Games, Activision Far Cry 4 — Ubisoft Montreal Infamous Second Son — Sucker Punch Productions, Sony Computer Entertainment Sunset Overdrive — Insomniac Games, Microsoft Studios ||

### Genre Awards

| Action Game of the Year Destiny — Bungie, Activision‡ Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare — Sledgehammer Games, Activision Far Cry 4 — Ubisoft Montreal Titanfall — Respawn Entertainment, Electronic Arts Wolfenstein: The New Order — MachineGames, Bethesda Softworks | Adventure Game of the Year Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor — Monolith Productions, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment‡ Infamous Second Son — Sucker Punch Productions, Sony Computer Entertainment The Vanishing of Ethan Carter — The Astronauts The Wolf Among Us — Telltale Games Valiant Hearts: The Great War — Ubisoft Montpellier |
| Family Game of the Year LittleBigPlanet 3 — Sumo Digital, Sony Computer Entertainment‡ Disney Infinity 2.0: Marvel Super Heroes — Avalanche Software, Heavy Iron Studios, Disney Interactive Studios Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham — Traveller's Tales, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment Project Spark — Team Dakota, Microsoft Studios Skylanders: Trap Team — Toys for Bob, Beenox, Activision | Fighting Game of the Year Super Smash Bros. for Wii U — Sora Ltd., Bandai Namco Games, Nintendo‡ Guilty Gear Xrd -SIGN- — Arc System Works, Aksys Games Nidhogg — Messhof Ultra Street Fighter IV — Dimps, Capcom |
| Racing Game of the Year Mario Kart 8 — Nintendo EAD‡ Forza Horizon 2 — Playground Games, Microsoft Game Studios The Crew — Ivory Tower, Ubisoft | Role-Playing/Massively Multiplayer Game of the Year Dragon Age: Inquisition — BioWare, Electronic Arts‡ Bravely Default — Silicon Studio, Nintendo Divinity: Original Sin — Larian Studios The Banner Saga — Stoic, Versus Evil World of Warcraft: Warlords of Draenor — Blizzard Entertainment |
| Sports Game of the Year FIFA 15 — EA Canada‡ Madden NFL 15 — EA Tiburon MLB 14: The Show — SCE San Diego NBA 2K15 — Visual Concepts, 2K Games | Strategy/Simulation Game of the Year Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft — Blizzard Entertainment‡ Boom Beach — Supercell Civilization: Beyond Earth — Firaxis Games, 2K Games Dungeon of the Endless — Amplitude Studios Endless Legend — Amplitude Studios, Iceberg Interactive |

### Special Awards
#### Pioneer

* Allan Alcorn
* Ralph H. Baer

#### Technical Impact

* Apple App Store

### Multiple nominations and awards
#### Multiple Nominations

Games that received multiple nominations :
| Nominations | Game |
| 9 | Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor |
| 7 | Far Cry 4 |
| 6 | Destiny |
| 6 | Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft |
| 5 | Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare |
| 5 | Monument Valley |
| 4 | Infamous Second Son |
| 4 | The Vanishing of Ethan Carter |
| 4 | Valiant Hearts: The Great War |
| 3 | Assassin's Creed Unity |
| 3 | Sunset Overdrive |
| 3 | Titanfall |
| 2 | Bravely Default |
| 2 | Dragon Age: Inquisition |
| 2 | Dungeon of the Endless |
| 2 | Project Spark |
| 2 | Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U |
| 2 | The Banner Saga |
| 2 | The Wolf Among Us |
| 2 | Threes |
| 2 | Transistor |
Nominations by company :
| Nominations | Games | Company |
| 17 | 6 | Ubisoft |
| 12 | 3 | Activision |
| 10 | 2 | Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment |
| 9 | 1 | Monolith Productions |
| 8 | 5 | Sony Computer Entertainment |
| 7 | 4 | Electronic Arts |
| 7 | 2 | Blizzard Entertainment |
| 6 | 3 | Microsoft Studios |
| 6 | 1 | Bungie |
| 5 | 4 | Nintendo |
| 5 | 2 | Sucker Punch Productions |
| 5 | 1 | Sledgehammer Games |
| 5 | 1 | ustwo |
| 4 | 1 | The Astronauts |
| 3 | 2 | Amplitude Studios |
| 3 | 1 | Insomniac Games |
| 3 | 1 | Respawn Entertainment |
| 2 | 2 | 2K Games |
| 2 | 2 | Bandai Namco Games |
| 2 | 2 | Sora Ltd. |
| 2 | 2 | Square Enix |
| 2 | 1 | BioWare |
| 2 | 1 | Silicon Studio |
| 2 | 1 | Sirvo |
| 2 | 1 | Stoic |
| 2 | 1 | Supergiant Games |
| 2 | 1 | Team Dakota |
| 2 | 1 | Telltale Games |
| 2 | 1 | Versus Evil |

#### Multiple awards

Games that received multiple awards :
| Awards | Game |
| 8 | Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor |
| 4 | Destiny |
| 2 | Dragon Age: Inquisition |
| 2 | Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft |
| 2 | Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U |
Awards by company :
| Awards | Games | Company |
| 8 | 1 | Monolith Productions |
| 8 | 1 | Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment |
| 4 | 1 | Activision |
| 4 | 1 | Bungie |
| 3 | 3 | Nintendo |
| 3 | 2 | Electronic Arts |
| 2 | 2 | Bandai Namco Games |
| 2 | 2 | Sora Ltd. |
| 2 | 1 | Blizzard Entertainment |
| 2 | 1 | BioWare |