And the "Game of the Year" goes to ... Overwatch!
Blizzard's online multiplayer shooter Overwatch bagged the top award in the recently concluded 20th D.I.C.E. Awards. It also took home three more awards to lead the night. It tied with Naughty Dog's Uncharted 4: A Thief's End with four trophies.
The annual D.I.C.E. Awards night recognizes the year's best interactive arts such as video games and online entertainment. Beginning in 1996, this is the 20th gala for the awards. It was held on Feb. 23 at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Overwatch Goes On Top
The 20th D.I.C.E. Awards night was a big one for Blizzard's latest successful franchise. Aside from the prestigious "Game of the Year" award, Overwatch also won three more awards. It was named "Outstanding Achievement in Online Gameplay" for this year. It also got "Action Game of the Year" and "Outstanding Achievement in Game Design," which brings its total haul to four.
The feat was remarkable as Overwatch was nominated six times; the other two categories were "Outstanding Achievement in Animation" and "Outstanding Technical Achievement," both of which it lost to Uncharted 4: A Thief's End.
Overwatch is an online multiplayer first-person shooter game. Blizzard calls it an "online brawler." It features a roster of different characters with different abilities - or "heroes" - set in a futuristic setting. Players are put into teams of six with their chosen heroes. Each hero also has his or her unique movements and attributes. Heroes are categorized into four classes, namely Offense, Defense, Tank, and Support. The goal is to beat the other players via capturing bases or escorting payloads in a limited time.
'Uncharted 4' Catches Up
The critically and commercially acclaimed Uncharted 4: A Thief's End continued the excellent tradition of its forebears by winning in the D.I.C.E. awards. Aside from winning "Outstanding Achievement in Animation" and "Outstanding Technical Achievement" awards, it also took home awards for "Adventure Game of the Year" and "Outstanding Achievement in Story." Its total of four tied with Overwatch's haul.
Uncharted 4 is the fourth and final canon installment in the Uncharted franchise. It concludes the story of adventurer-treasure hunter Nathan Drake as he helps his brother find a legendary pirate treasure hidden in the mythical lost city of Libertalia. It is an action third-person adventure game that features shooter, puzzle, and platformer elements.
The D.I.C.E. Awards
The other notable winner from the awards night was puzzle-platformer INSIDE (by indie developer Playdead), which was nominated for an outstanding nine times. It won three awards, namely "D.I.C.E. Spirit Award," "Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction," and "Outstanding Achievement in Game Direction."
For personal accolades, D.I.C.E. gave Bethesda Game Studio's head Todd Howard an induction into the AIAS Hall of Fame.
The D.I.C.E. Awards are given each year by its governing body, the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences. The awards started in 1996 as the Interactive Achievement Awards, and in 2013, the name was changed to "D.I.C.E. Awards," after the D.I.C.E. Summit, which the AIAS also conducts every year. D.I.C.E. stands for "Design, Innovate, Communicate, Entertain."
