The nominees for the 28th annual D.I.C.E Awards have been announced.
Late in 2024, we celebrated the gaming year with The Game Awards, a series of trophies decided by a panel of gaming journalists, critics, and personalities, with Astro Bot taking out the top spot. The D.I.C.E Awards do things a bit differently, with peer voting allowing for awards to be given to developers by developers.
This year’s D.I.C.E Awards are set to take place on February 14 at 2pm, and will be livestreamed by IGN. Returning for hosting duties will be Kind Funny’s Greg Miller and freelance host Stella Chung.
Right, that’s enough preamble, let’s take a look at the nominees for The D.I.C.E Awards 2025:
Game of the Year
- Astro Bot (Team Asobi/SIE)
- Balatro (LocalThunk/Playstack)
- Black Myth: Wukong (GameScience)
- Helldivers 2 (Arrowhead Game Studios/SIE)
- Indiana Jones and the Great Circle (MachineGames/Bethesda Softworks)
Outstanding Achievement in Animation
- Astro Bot (Team Asobi/SIE)
- Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 (Treyarch/Activision)
- Final Fantasy VII Rebirth (Square Enix)
- Neva (Nomada/Devolver Digital)
- Warhammer 40,000 Space Marine II (Saber Interactive/Focus Entertainment Publishing)
Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction
- Black Myth: Wukong (GameScience)
- Indiana Jones and the Great Circle (MachineGames/Bethesda Softworks)
- LEGO Horizon Adventures (Guerilla Games Studio Gobo/SIE)
- The Plucky Squire (All Possible Futures/Devolver Digital)
- Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II (Ninja Theory/Xbox Game Studios)
Outstanding Achievement in Character
- Watcher from 1000xResist (Writer Natalie Tin Yin Gan Actor Nhi Do VO Director Remy Siu)
- Yuffie from Final Fantasy VII Rebirth (Creative Director Tetsuya Nomura Story & Scenario Kazushige Nojima Actor Suzie Yeung)
- Dr Henry “Indiana” Jones from Indiana Jones and the Great Circle (Writer Tommy Tordsson Björk Actor Troy Baker)
- Indika from Indika (Director Dmitry Svetlow Script Dmitry Svetlow, Maxim Lebedev Actor Anastassia Dyachuk)
- Senua from Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II (Writer Lara Derham Actor Melina Juergens)
Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Composition
- Astro Bot (Team Asobi/SIE)
- Helldivers 2 (Arrowhead Game Studios/SIE)
- Monument Valley 3 (ustwo games/Netflix Games)
- Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II (Ninja Theory/Xbox Game Studios)
- Star Wars Outlaws (Massive Entertainment/Ubisoft)
Outstanding Achievement in Audio Design
- Frostpunk 2 (11 bit studios)
- Helldivers 2 (Arrowhead Game Studios/SIE)
- Monument Valley 3 (ustwo games/Netflix Games)
- Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II (Ninja Theory/Xbox Game Studios)
- Still Wakes the Deep (The Chinese Room/Secret Mode)
Outstanding Achievement in Story
- 1000xResist (Sunset Visitor/Fellow Traveller)
- Indiana Jones and the Great Circle (MachineGames/Bethesda Softworks)
- Metaphor ReFantazio (Studio Zero/ATLUS)
- Still Wakes the Deep (The Chinese Room/Secret Mode)
- Thank Goodness You’re Here! (Coal Supper/Panic)
Outstanding Technical Achievement
- Astro Bot (Team Asobi/SIE)
- Batman: Arkham Shadow (Camoflaj/Oculus Studios)
- Indiana Jones and the Great Circle (MachineGames/Bethesda Softworks)
- Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II (Ninja Theory/Xbox Game Studios)
- Warhammer 40,000 Space Marine II (Saber Interactive/Focus Entertainment Publishing)
Action Game of the Year
- Batman: Arkham Shadow (Camoflaj/Oculus Studios)
- Black Myth: Wukong (GameScience)
- Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 (Treyarch/Activision)
- Helldivers 2 (Arrowhead Game Studios/SIE)
- Stellar Blade (SHIFT UP Corporation/SIE)
Adventure Game of the Year
- 1000xResist (Sunset Visitor/Fellow Traveller)
- Animal Well (Shared Memory/Big Mode)
- Indiana Jones and the Great Circle (MachineGames/Bethesda Softworks)
- The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom (Nintendo, Grezzo/Nintendo)
- Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown (Ubisoft Montpellier/Ubisoft)
Family Game of the Year
- Astro Bot (Team Asobi/SIE)
- Cat Quest III (The Gentlebros/Kepler Interactive)
- Little Kitty, Big City (Double Dagger)
- The Plucky Squire (All Possible Futures/Devolver Digital)
- Super Mario Party Jamboree (Nintendo Cube/Nintendo)
Fighting Game of the Year
- Blazing Strike (RareBreed Makes Games/Aksys Games)
- Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero (Bandai Namco Entertainment Inc./Bandai Namco Entertainment America Inc.)
- Mortal Kombat 1: Khaos Reigns (NetherRealm Studios/Warner Bros. Games)
- Tekken 8 (Bandai Namco Entertainment Inc./Bandai Namco Entertainment America Inc.)
- Underdogs (One Hamsa)
Racing Game of the Year
- F1 24 (Codemasters/EA)
- MotoGP 24 (Milestone S.r.l)
- Nightrunners Prologue (Planet Jem)
Role-Playing Game of the Year
- Final Fantasy VII Rebirth (Square Enix)
- Dragon Age: The Veilguard (BioWare/EA)
- Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree (FromSoftware/Bandai Namco Entertainment Inc.)
- Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth (Ryu Ga Gotoku/SEGA)
- Metaphor
Sports Game of the Year
- EA Sports College Football 25 (Electronic Arts Tiburon/EA)
- EA Sports FC 25 (EA Vancouver, EA Romania/EA Sports)
- MLB The Show 24 (San Diego Studio/SIE)
- NBA 2K25 (Visual Concepts/2K)
Strategy/Simulation Game of the Year
- Balatro (LocalThunk/Playstack)
- Cave of Qud (Freehold Games/Kitfox Games)
- Frostpunk 2 (11 bit studios)
- Tactical Breach Wizards (Suspicious Developments Inc/Suspicious Developments Ltd)
- Satisfactory (Coffee Stain Studios/ Coffee Stain Publishing)
Immersive Reality Technical Achievement
- Alien: Rogue Incursion (Survios/Survios, 20th Century Games)
- Batman: Arkham Shadows (Camoflaj/Oculus Studios)
- Skydance’s Behemoth (Skydance Games)
- Starship Home (Creature)
- Underdogs (One Hamsa)
Immersive Reality Game of the Year
- Alien: Rogue Incursion (Survios/Survios, 20th Century Games)
- Batman: Arkham Shadows (Camoflaj/Oculus Studios)
- Skydance’s Behemoth (Skydance Games)
- Escaping Wonderland (Cortopia Studios/Beyond Frames Entertainment)
- Underdogs (One Hamsa)
Outstanding Achievement for an Independent Game
- Animal Well (Shared Memory/Big Mode)
- Balatro (LocalThunk/Playstack)
- Grunn (Sokpop Collective)
- Indika (Odd Meter/11 bit studios)
- Mouthwashing (Wrong Organ/Critical Reflex)
Mobile Game of the Year
- Balatro (LocalThunk/Playstack)
- Halls of Torment (Chasing Carrots)
- Monument Valley 3 (ustwo games/Netflix Games)
- Paper Trail (Newfangled Games)
- Wuthering Waves (Kuro Games)
Online Game of the Year
- Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 (Treyarch/Activision)
- Diablo IV: Vessel of Hatred (Blizzard Entertainment)
- Helldivers 2 (Arrowhead Games Studios/SIE)
- Marvel Rivals (NetEase Games)
- Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 (Saber Interactive/Focus Home Publishing)
Outstanding Achievement in Game Design
- Animal Well (Shared Memory/Big Mode)
- Astro Bot (Team Asobi/SIE)
- Balatro (LocalThunk/Playstack)
- Helldivers 2 (Arrowhead Games Studios/SIE)
- UFO 50 (Mossmouth)
Outstanding Achievement in Game Direction
- 1000xResist (Sunset Visitor/Fellow Traveller)
- Animal Well (Shared Memory/Big Mode)
- Lorelei and the Laser Eyes (Simogo/Annapurna Interactive)
- Riven (Cyan Worlds, Inc.)
- Thank Goodness You’re Here! (Coal Supper/Panic)
Looking across the ballot, three titles share the honour of racking up the most nominations. Astro Bot, Helldivers 2, and Indiana Jones and the Great Circle are neck and neck with six nominations each, followed closely by Balatrao and Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II with five apiece.
Do you agree with the nominations? Which developers should walk away with a trophy, in your opinion? Let us know in the comments or on our social media.
In this article:Award Season, D.I.C.E. Awards, D.I.C.E. Awards 2025, game of the year, GOTY
Written By
Adam Ryan
Adam’s undying love for all things PlayStation can only be rivalled by his obsession with vacuuming. Whether it’s a Dyson or a DualShock in hand you can guarantee he has a passion for it.
