The 2022 annual DICE awards winners have been announced, with a pretty even spread of titles taking home awards. Some games took home multiple awards, but there were no clean sweeps across the board. Some games also won duplicate category awards to go with wins from the Game Awards in December.
This is the 25th annual DICE awards, a prestigious award to win in games industry. The show not only honors big budget AAA releases but smaller indie releases. At last year’s awards Hades beat out AAA giants like The Last of Us 2 to win game of the year. With 23 categories in total there is plenty of chance for a title to pick up an award.
Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart was the biggest winner of the night, taking home 4 awards from a range of categories, from art direction to technical achievement. Other multiple award winners include Halo Infinite, Guardians of the Galaxy, and Returnal, all taking home two awards each. Lady Dimitrescu from Resident Evil Village won the game another award for achievement in character, after Maggie Robinson won Performance of the Year at The Game Awards for her portrayal of the character.
Here is the full list of winners at the 2022 25th annual DICE Awards:
Outstanding Achievement in Animation - Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart
Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction - Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart
Family Game of the Year - Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart
Outstanding Technical Achievement - Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart
Action Game of the Year - Halo Infinite
Online Game of the Year - Halo Infinite
Immersive Reality Game of the Year - Lone Echo 2
Immersive Reality Technical Achievement - Lone Echo 2
Outstanding Achievement in Audio Design - Returnal
Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Composition - Returnal
Outstanding Achievement in Story - Guardians of the Galaxy
Adventure Game of the Year - Guardians of the Galaxy
Outstanding Achievement in Character - Resident Evil Village for Lady Dimitrescu
Outstanding Achievement in Game Direction - Deathloop
Fighting Game of the Year - Guilty Gear Strive
Racing Game of the Year - Forza Horizon 5
Role-Playing Game of the Year - Final Fantasy 14: Endwalker
Sports Game of the Year - Mario Golf: Super Rush
Outstanding Achievement for an Independent Game - Unpacking
Strategy/Simulation Game of the Year - Age of Empires 4
Mobile Game of the Year - Pokemon Unite
Outstanding Achievement in Game Design - It Takes Two
Game of the Year - It Takes Two
2021 was a sparse enough year for major game releases, but the year defiantly emphasized quality over quantity. Having no single game dominating the bulk of the awards, in categories where every game is easily worthy of it. This shows the strength of the nominations across the board. It Takes Two took home the grand prize though, just as it did at The Game Awards in December. It is a charming and fun adventure game, the strengths of which are clear from the other DICE Award it won,which was for outstanding game design. It Takes Two is also not only a fully co-op game but a game designed around co-op gameplay, a real rarity in the modern landscape of single player campaign games.
Next year's DICE Awards could see a far more contentious battle, as 2022 promises to be a massive year for gaming. Huge titles have already released early in the year like Horizon Forbidden West and Elden Ring. More blockbuster games are also promised for later in the year such as Starfield and God of War Ragnarok.