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Dragon Age: Inquisition Soars To Victory With Game Of The Year At 18th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards

Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor Rises to Win 8 D.I.C.E. Awards

LAS VEGAS, Feb. 5, 2015 — (PRNewswire) — Fantasy, multiplayer, strategy, and fighting games reigned at the 18th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards (#DICEAwards), the video game industry's most prestigious annual honors. The top honor from the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences (AIAS), Game of the Year, went to Bioware's action-RPG game Dragon Age: Inquisition. Monolith Productions' open world adventure-RPG game, Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor, inspired by J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, continued its awards onslaught winning eight of its nine nominations including Adventure Game of the Year, Outstanding Achievement in Game Direction, Outstanding Achievement in Game Design and Outstanding Innovation in Gaming.

Aaryn Flynn and Mark Darrah of BioWare accept the Game of the Year award for Dragon Age: Inquisition, at the 18th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards presented by AIAS, Feb. 5, 2015.

The evening's other blockbuster standouts included Bungie's futuristic first-person shooter, Destiny, which won four D.I.C.E. Awards, including Action Game of the Year and Outstanding Achievement in Online Gameplay; Blizzard's Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft was awarded Mobile Game of the Year and Strategy/Simulation Game of the Year; and Nintendo's Super Smash Bros. franchise won Handheld Game of the Year for Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Fighting Game of the Year for Super Smash Bros. for Wii U. The first recipient of the inaugural D.I.C.E. Sprite Award was independent game development studio Supergiant Games for its sci-fi themed action-RPG Transistor.

"On behalf of the Academy staff and Board I'd like to thank everyone who contributed to make the 18th D.I.C.E. Awards a success – it wouldn't be possible without our partners. A special thank you to the hundreds of artists whose inspired drawing and doodles were at the very core of our show – the outcome was collaboration at its best," said Martin Rae, president, Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences. "Please join us in congratulating all the D.I.C.E. nominees and winners, who have made an indelible mark on our industry while providing endless hours of entertainment for gamers everywhere."

During the ceremony, the AIAS inducted video game industry icons Ralph H. Baer and Al Alcorn as its seventh and eighth Pioneer Award recipients for their seminal work and contributions to the interactive entertainment industry. In addition, the Apple App Store was recognized with the first ever Technical Impact Award, which celebrates unique innovations and technical achievements that are expanding and redefining the video game industry.

Hosted by comedian and podcaster Pete Holmes, the awards were revealed in front of industry professionals at The Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas and broadcast online via Twitch. The show was the culmination of the annual three day D.I.C.E. (Design, Innovate, Communicate, Entertain) Summit (#DICE2015), drawing some of the brightest and most influential interactive entertainment industry leaders, decision makers and visionaries.

The complete list of winners as decided by an all-peer-based voting system includes:

Game of the Year
Dragon Age: Inquisition

Outstanding Achievement in Game Direction
Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor

Outstanding Achievement in Game Design
Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor

Action Game of the Year
Destiny

Adventure Game of the Year
Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor

Family Game of the Year
LittleBigPlanet 3

Fighting Game of the Year
Super Smash Bros. for Wii U

Racing Game of the Year
Mario Kart 8

Role-Playing/Massively Multiplayer Game of the Year
Dragon Age: Inquisition

Sports Game of the Year
FIFA 15

Strategy/Simulation Game of the Year
Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft

D.I.C.E. Sprite Award
Transistor

Handheld Game of the Year
Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS

Mobile Game of the Year
Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft

Outstanding Achievement in Online Gameplay
Destiny

Outstanding Innovation in Gaming
Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor

Outstanding Achievement in Animation
Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor

Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction
Monument Valley

Outstanding Achievement in Character
Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor (Talion)

Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Composition
Destiny

Outstanding Achievement in Sound Design
Destiny

Outstanding Achievement in Story
Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor

Outstanding Technical Achievement
Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor

Since 1996, the D.I.C.E. Awards have recognized outstanding games, individuals and development teams that push the boundaries of technology, creativity and artistic expression in the worldwide interactive entertainment industry. Titles were played and evaluated by members of the Academy's Peer Panels. The panels are comprised of the game industry's most experienced and talented professionals. Each panel is responsible for evaluating one award category. D.I.C.E. Awards recipients are determined by a vote of qualified Academy and IGDA members. Award voting is confidential, conducted online and supervised and certified by VoteNet Solutions, Inc. The integrity of the system, coupled with a broad-based voting population of AIAS members, makes the D.I.C.E. Awards the most credible, respected and recognized awards for interactive entertainment software. 

The show was produced by the AIAS. The full 18th D.I.C.E. Awards will be available on Variety's YouTube channel.

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. With more than 30,000 members, including Electronic Arts, Microsoft, Sony, Nintendo, Wargaming, Bethesda Game Studios, Ubisoft, Valve Software, GREE, Gearbox Software, Nexon and Insomniac Games, among others.

More information can be found at http://www.interactive.org and http://www.dicesummit.org. Follow the Academy on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn or Google+.

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SOURCE The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences (AIAS)

Contact:
The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences (AIAS)
For AIAS: Sean Maggard, Zebra Partners
Email Contact or 214-267-9001
Web: http://www.interactive.org