The Game Awards might have the words 'awards' in the title, but anyone who has seen Geoff Keighley's annual show knows that it's more about the announcements than the awards. The DICE Awards, however, are the absolute opposite. It's all about the awards, and it's all about the people who make the games that win those awards.
With the nominees and winners selected by the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences (AIAS), it's arguably the closest thing the video game industry has to The Oscars, if only because every winner gives thanks to "the academy."
Leading into this year's show, the expectation was that Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 was going to be the game to run away with every big award for the night. Ghost of Yōtei and Expedition 33 came into the show tied with eight nominations apiece, and Expedition 33 was coming off a full sweep of all the awards it was nominated in at The Game Awards.
So when it began the evening by winning the Role-Playing Game of the Year category, it felt like we were in for another night of Expedition-wins-all-the-awards-33-times.
But then Ghost of Yōtei took home Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Composition and Outstanding Achievement in Character. Two awards whose equivalents went to Expedition 33 at The Game Awards and at the Golden Joysticks. It felt like there was a chance that this would be the one awards show where Expedition 33 did not dominate the night.
But that's not exactly how the DICE Awards went. Expedition 33 took home five awards total, including Outstanding Achievement in Story, in Game Direction, Art Direction, and the big award of the night, Game of the Year, which extends its lead as the game with the most GOTY wins ever by one.
Ghost of Yōtei came up behind it with three wins, while Blue Prince went back-to-back with its two wins of the night, taking home the awards for Outstanding Achievement in Game Design and Outstanding Achievement for an Independent Game.
Death Stranding 2: On the Beach was the other multi-winner of the evening, and the only one not included in the GOTY nominees. Of those nominees, Dispatch was the only game to walk away empty-handed, with ARC Raiders, the game that's easily the best-selling title so far among the GOTY nominees, bringing home the award for Online Game of the Year.
Other highlights of the night included a particularly emotional tribute to Vince Zampella, one of the modern video game industry's most influential creators, and not just because he was one of the co-creators of Call of Duty. His impact as a mentor to younger generations of developers and his ability to leave his mark on everyone who worked with him were beautifully expressed, and showed how the developers he inspired will be the greater legacy he leaves behind.
The other major tribute of the night went to Naughty Dog veteran Evan Wells, who retired in 2023 after working at the studio for a quarter of a century, most of it as the studio's lead. He was inducted into the DICE Hall of Fame and was introduced by long-time colleague and the person who succeeded him, Neil Druckmann.
And a tribute made by everyone who got the chance to have a few moments with a microphone tonight was to their video game industry peers in the room and around the world. Nearly everyone who spoke tonight delivered some kind of solidarity message to other developers, calling for a more sustainable industry where developers are treated fairly and with respect for one another and the craft of making video games.
Which, for Double Fine Productions art director, Lee Petty, includes knowing that GenAI "sucks" and that instead of using those tools for things like animation, "you should hire a f***ing animator," comments that were part of his bit ahead of presenting the award for Outstanding Achievement in Animation.
Petty wasn't the only one to make their negative feelings about GenAI clear, and considering the fact that in that room tonight were likely video game industry executives who may have just pushed new policies encouraging or even mandating employees to start using GenAI tools, it couldn't help but feel like some back-talk aimed at those execs. Even more so for Petty when you consider who Double Fine's parent company is.
With the DICE Awards wrapped, the last major awards night that'll look back on 2025 still to come is the GDC Awards, where, you may be shocked to learn, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has a nomination in almost every single available category. We'll see if it can pull off another sweep, or if one of either Blue Prince, Ghost of Yōtei, Hollow Knight Silksong, Donkey Kong Bananza, or Split Fiction will be able to snatch one GOTY crown away from one of video game's most winningest titles in the history of the medium.
29th Annual DICE Awards Winners
Outstanding Achievement in Animation
- Death Stranding 2: On the Beach
- Ghost of Yōtei
- Monster Hunter Wilds
- South of Midnight - Winner
- The Midnight Walk
Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction
- Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 - Winner
- Death Stranding 2: On the Beach
- Dispatch
- Ghost of Yōtei
- The Midnight Walk
Outstanding Achievement in Character
- Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 - Esquie
- Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 - Maelle
- Dispatch - Courtney/Invisigal
- Dispatch - Robert Robertson III/Mecha Man
- Ghost of Yōtei - Atsu - Winner
Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Composition
- Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
- Ghost of Yōtei - Winner
- Herdling
- Mario Kart World
- Sword of the Sea
Outstanding Achievement in Audio Design
- ARC Raiders
- Death Stranding 2: On the Beach - Winner
- Ghost of Yōtei
- Lumines Arise
- Split Fiction
Outstanding Achievement in Story
- Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 - Winner
- Consume Me
- Despelote
- South of Midnight
- The Drifter
Outstanding Technical Achievement
- ARC Raiders
- Assassin's Creed Shadows
- Death Stranding 2: On the Beach - Winner
- Donkey Kong Bananza
- DOOM: The Dark Ages
Action Game of the Year
- Absolum
- ARC Raiders
- DOOM: The Dark Ages
- Hades II - Winner
- Ninja Gaiden 4
Adventure Game of the Year
- Blue Prince
- Dispatch
- Donkey Kong Bananza
- Ghost of Yōtei - Winner
- Hollow Knight: Silksong
Family Game of the Year
- LEGO Party! - Winner
- LEGO Voyagers
- Lumines Arise
- MARVEL Cosmic Invasion
- POPUCOM
Fighting Game of the Year
- 2XKO
- Capcom Fighting Collection 2
- FATAL FURY: City of the Wolves
- Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection - Winner
- WWE 2K25
Racing Game of the Year
- EA SPORTS F1 25
- Kirby Air Riders
- Mario Kart World - Winner
- Wheel World
Role-Playing Game of the Year
- Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 - Winner
- Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector
- Kingdom Come: Deliverance II
- Monster Hunter Wilds
- The Outer Worlds 2
Sports Game of the Year
- EA SPORTS FC™ 26
- PGA Tour 2k25
- MLB® The Show™ 25
- NBA 2k26
- Rematch - Winner
Strategy/Simulation Game of the Year
- The Alters - Winner
- Drop Duchy
- Europa Universalis V
- The King is Watching
- StarVaders
Immersive Reality Technical Achievement
- Ghost Town
- Hotel Infinity - Winner
- Marvel's Deadpool VR
- Star Wars: Beyond Victory - A Mixed Reality Playset
- Unloop
Immersive Reality Game of the Year
- Demeo x Dungeons & Dragons: Battlemarked
- Ghost Town - Winner
- Marvel's Deadpool VR
- The Midnight Walk
- Thief VR: Legacy of Shadow
Outstanding Achievement for an Independent Game
- Baby Steps
- Blue Prince - Winner
- Consume Me
- Despelote
- Dispatch
Mobile Game of the Year
- Persona5: The Phantom X - Winner
- Umamusume: Pretty Derby
- WHAT THE CLASH?
- Where Winds Meet
Online Game of the Year
- ARC Raiders - Winner
- Battlefield 6
- Mario Kart World
- Marvel Rivals
- Split Fiction
Outstanding Achievement in Game Design
- ARC Raiders
- Blue Prince - Winner
- Hades II
- Kingdom Come: Deliverance II
- Öoo
Outstanding Achievement in Game Direction
- Blue Prince
- Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 - Winner
- Ghost of Yōtei
- Hades II
- Kingdom Come: Deliverance II
Game of the Year
- ARC Raiders
- Blue Prince
- Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 - Winner
- Dispatch
- Ghost of Yotei
About the author: David has been writing about videogames, technology, and culture since 2020, with a focus on reporting daily news across multiple publications, including GameDaily.Biz, GameSkinny, and PlayStation Universe before joining Wccftech in 2025. David started contributing as Canada/US reporter for Wccftech's gaming section in 2025. Besides being up-to-date on the industry's movements, he loves interviewing developers, reviewing games, and writing intricate essays about the symbolism and layered meanings to be found in rich narratives as he's done for publications like GamesIndustry.Biz, LostInCult, and others. Outside of games he loves movies, music, theatre, his hometown, and his family, though not necessarily in that order.
Follow Wccftech on Google to get more of our news coverage in your feeds.
