The 18th Annual DICE Awards is the video game industry’s most prestigious annual honors, and is judged by members of the gaming industry.
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, also won 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.
Other blockbuster standouts included Bungie’s futuristic FPS, Destiny, which picked up four DICE Awards, including Action Game of the Year and Outstnading Achievement in Online Gameplay. Blizzard’s online card game 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.
Game of the Year
Dragon Age: Inquisition
- Publisher: Electronic Arts
- Developer: BioWare
Outstanding Achievement in Game Direction
Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor
- Publisher: Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
- Developer: Monolith Productions
Outstanding Achievement in Game Design
Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor
- Publisher: Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
- Developer: Monolith Productions
Action Game of the Year
Destiny
- Publisher: Activision Publishing, Inc.
- Developer: Bungie
Adventure Game of the Year
Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor
- Publisher: Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
- Developer: Monolith Productions
Family Game of the Year
LittleBigPlanet 3
- Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment America LLC
- Developer: Sony Worldwide Studios Europe/Sumo Digital
Fighting Game of the Year
Super Smash Bros. for Wii U
- Publisher: Nintendo
- Developer: Sora Ltd./BANDAI NAMCO Games Inc./BANDAI NAMCO Studios Inc.
Racing Game of the Year
Mario Kart 8
- Publisher: Nintendo
- Developer: Nintendo
Role-Playing/Massively Multiplayer Game of the Year
Dragon Age: Inquisition
- Publisher: Electronic Arts
- Developer: BioWare
Sports Game of the Year
FIFA 15
- Publisher: Electronic Arts
- Developer: FIFA Development Team – EA Canada
Strategy/Simulation Game of the Year
Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft
- Publisher: Blizzard Entertainment
- Developer: Blizzard Entertainment
D.I.C.E. Sprite Award
Transistor
- Publisher: Supergiant Games
- Developer: Supergiant Games
Handheld Game of the Year
Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS
- Publisher: Nintendo
- Developer: Sora Ltd./BANDAI NAMCO Games Inc./BANDAI NAMCO Studios Inc.
Mobile Game of the Year
Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft
- Publisher: Blizzard Entertainment
- Developer: Blizzard Entertainment
Outstanding Achievement in Online Gameplay
Destiny
- Publisher: Activision Publishing, Inc.
- Developer: Bungie
Outstanding Innovation in Gaming
Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor
- Publisher: Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
- Developer: Monolith Productions
Outstanding Achievement in Animation
Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor
- Publisher: Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
- Developer: Monolith Productions
Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction
Monument Valley
- Publisher: ustwo
- Developer: ustwo
Outstanding Achievement in Character
Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor (Talion)
- Publisher: Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
- Developer: Monolith Productions
Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Composition
Destiny
- Publisher: Activision Publishing, Inc.
- Developer: Bungie
Outstanding Achievement in Sound Design
Destiny
- Publisher: Activision Publishing, Inc.
- Developer: Bungie
Outstanding Achievement in Story
Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor
- Publisher: Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
- Developer: Monolith Productions
Outstanding Technical Achievement
Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor
- Publisher: Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
- Developer: Monolith Productions