Author: Game Infliction

The 27th D.I.C.E. Awards have arrived and celebrated the best of the best in the world of video games from 2023. While there were a ton of winners, Baldur’s Gate 3 walked home with Game of the Year alongside Best Role-Playing Game and Outstanding Achievement awards in Story, Game Direction, and Game Design.

Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 may not have won Game of the Year, but it did lead the night with six wins – Action Game of the Year and Outstanding Achievement awards in Animation, Character, Original Music Composition, Audio Design, and Technical Achievement.

No other game won multiple awards, but some of the other highlights included Alan Wake 2 winning Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom winning Adventure Game of the Year, Super Mario Bros. Wonder winning Family Game of the Year, and Street Fighter 6 winning Fighting Game of the Year.

You can check out the full list of winners from the 27th D.I.C.E. Awards below.

Outstanding Achievement in Animation

• Final Fantasy XVI
• Hi-Fi RUSH
• Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 – WINNER
• Mortal Kombat 1
• Super Mario Bros. Wonder

Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction

• Alan Wake 2 – WINNER
• Hogwarts Legacy
• Marvel’s Spider-Man 2
• Star Wars Jedi: Survivor
• Starfield

Outstanding Achievement in Character

• Alan Wake 2 – Saga Anderson
• Baldur’s Gate 3 – Astarion
• Baldur’s Gate 3 – Karlach
• Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 – Miles Morales – WINNER
• Thirsty Suitors – Jala

Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Composition

• Alan Wake 2
• Diablo IV
• Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 – WINNER
• Planet of Lana
• Star Wars Jedi: Survivor

Outstanding Achievement in Audio Design

• Alan Wake 2
• COCOON
• Hi-Fi RUSH
• Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 – WINNER
• Star Wars Jedi: Survivor

Outstanding Achievement in Story

• Alan Wake 2
• Baldur’s Gate 3 – WINNER
• DAVE THE DIVER
• Thirsty Suitors
• Venba

Outstanding Technical Achievement

• Alan Wake 2
• Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 – WINNER
• Hogwarts Legacy
• THE FINALS
• The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

Action Game of the Year

• ARMORED CORE VI FIRES OF RUBICON
• Dead Space
• Hi-Fi RUSH
• Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 – WINNER
• Remnant II

Adventure Game of the Year

• Alan Wake 2
• COCOON
• DAVE THE DIVER
• Star Wars Jedi: Survivor
• The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom – WINNER

Family Game of the Year

• Disney Illusion Island
• Fae Farm
• Hello Kitty Island Adventure
• Midnight Girl
• Super Mario Bros. Wonder – WINNER

Fighting Game of the Year

• Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising
• Mortal Kombat 1
• Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2
• Pocket Bravery
• Street Fighter 6 – WINNER

Racing Game of the Year

• F-ZERO 99
• Forza Motorsport – WINNER
• Hot Wheels Unleashed 2 – Turbocharged
• LEGO 2K Drive

Role-Playing Game of the Year

• Baldur’s Gate 3 – WINNER
• Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty
• Diablo IV
• Final Fantasy XVI
• Starfield

Sports Game of the Year

• EA SPORTS FC 24
• MLB The Show™ 23 – WINNER
• WWE 2K23

Strategy/Simulation Game of the Year

• Against the Storm
• Cobalt Core
• Dune: Spice Wars – WINNER
• The Last Spell
• Wartales

Immersive Reality Technical Achievement

• Asgard’s Wrath 2
• Assassin’s Creed Nexus VR
• Horizon: Call of the Mountain – WINNER
• Vertigo 2
• We Are One

Immersive Reality Game of the Year

• Asgard’s Wrath 2 – WINNER
• Assassin’s Creed Nexus VR
• Horizon: Call of the Mountain
• Vampire: The Masquerade – Justice
• Vertigo 2

Outstanding Achievement for an Independent Game

• COCOON – WINNER
• DREDGE
• El Paso, Elsewhere
• Thirsty Suitors
• Venba

Mobile Game of the Year

• Gubbins
• Hello Kitty Island Adventure
• Honkai: Star Rail
• Terra Nil
• WHAT THE CAR? – WINNER

Online Game of the Year

• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III
• Diablo IV – WINNER
• Omega Strikers
• Street Fighter 6
• THE FINALS

Outstanding Achievement in Game Design

• Baldur’s Gate 3 – WINNER
• COCOON
• DAVE THE DIVER
• Super Mario Bros. Wonder
• The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

Outstanding Achievement in Game Direction

• Baldur’s Gate 3 – WINNER
• COCOON
• Marvel’s Spider-Man 2
• Super Mario Bros. Wonder
• The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

Game of the Year

• Alan Wake 2
• Baldur’s Gate 3 – WINNER
• COCOON
• Marvel’s Spider-Man 2
• The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.

The 27th D.I.C.E. Awards have arrived and are here to celebrate the best of the best in the world of video games from 2023. The show, which is put on by the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences (AIAS) and takes place at the Aria Resort in Las Vegas, will feature 23 categories and 56 games that were nominated by and voted on by game developers.

Going into the show, Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 is leading the way with nine nominations, Alan Wake 2 is close behind with eight, Baldur’s Gate 3 is at seven, and Cocoon is at six. Anything can happen when D.I.C.E. begins, however, and we’ll be gathering all the winners here below and updating it live throughout the night, so be sure to keep checking back to see who took home the ultimate prizes!

You can also watch the show above if you’d like as IGN is the official media partner of this year’s D.I.C.E. Awards, which is hosted by IGN’s Stella Chung and Kinda Funny CEO and IGN alum Greg Miller. Good luck to all the games and incredible people behind them!

Outstanding Achievement in Animation

• Final Fantasy XVI
• Hi-Fi RUSH
• Marvel’s Spider-Man 2
• Mortal Kombat 1
• Super Mario Bros. Wonder

Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction

• Alan Wake 2
• Hogwarts Legacy
• Marvel’s Spider-Man 2
• Star Wars Jedi: Survivor
• Starfield

Outstanding Achievement in Character

• Alan Wake 2 – Saga Anderson
• Baldur’s Gate 3 – Astarion
• Baldur’s Gate 3 – Karlach
• Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 – Miles Morales
• Thirsty Suitors – Jala

Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Composition

• Alan Wake 2
• Diablo IV
• Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 – WINNER
• Planet of Lana
• Star Wars Jedi: Survivor

Outstanding Achievement in Audio Design

• Alan Wake 2
• COCOON
• Hi-Fi RUSH
• Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 – WINNER
• Star Wars Jedi: Survivor

Outstanding Achievement in Story

• Alan Wake 2
• Baldur’s Gate 3
• DAVE THE DIVER
• Thirsty Suitors
• Venba

Outstanding Technical Achievement

• Alan Wake 2
• Marvel’s Spider-Man 2
• Hogwarts Legacy
• THE FINALS
• The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

Action Game of the Year

• ARMORED CORE VI FIRES OF RUBICON
• Dead Space
• Hi-Fi RUSH
• Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 – WINNER
• Remnant II

Adventure Game of the Year

• Alan Wake 2
• COCOON
• DAVE THE DIVER
• Star Wars Jedi: Survivor
• The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom – WINNER

Family Game of the Year

• Disney Illusion Island
• Fae Farm
• Hello Kitty Island Adventure
• Midnight Girl
• Super Mario Bros. Wonder

Fighting Game of the Year

• Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising
• Mortal Kombat 1
• Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2
• Pocket Bravery
• Street Fighter 6

Racing Game of the Year

• F-ZERO 99
• Forza Motorsport
• Hot Wheels Unleashed 2 – Turbocharged
• LEGO 2K Drive

Role-Playing Game of the Year

• Baldur’s Gate 3 – WINNER
• Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty
• Diablo IV
• Final Fantasy XVI
• Starfield

Sports Game of the Year

• EA SPORTS FC 24
• MLB The Show™ 23 – WINNER
• WWE 2K23

Strategy/Simulation Game of the Year

• Against the Storm
• Cobalt Core
• Dune: Spice Wars
• The Last Spell
• Wartales

Immersive Reality Technical Achievement

• Asgard’s Wrath 2
• Assassin’s Creed Nexus VR
• Horizon: Call of the Mountain
• Vertigo 2
• We Are One

Immersive Reality Game of the Year

• Asgard’s Wrath 2
• Assassin’s Creed Nexus VR
• Horizon: Call of the Mountain
• Vampire: The Masquerade – Justice
• Vertigo 2

Outstanding Achievement for an Independent Game

• COCOON
• DREDGE
• El Paso, Elsewhere
• Thirsty Suitors
• Venba

Mobile Game of the Year

• Gubbins
• Hello Kitty Island Adventure
• Honkai: Star Rail
• Terra Nil
• WHAT THE CAR? – WINNER

Online Game of the Year

• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III
• Diablo IV – WINNER
• Omega Strikers
• Street Fighter 6
• THE FINALS

Outstanding Achievement in Game Design

• Baldur’s Gate 3
• COCOON
• DAVE THE DIVER
• Super Mario Bros. Wonder
• The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

Outstanding Achievement in Game Direction

• Baldur’s Gate 3
• COCOON
• Marvel’s Spider-Man 2
• Super Mario Bros. Wonder
• The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

Game of the Year

• Alan Wake 2
• Baldur’s Gate 3
• COCOON
• Marvel’s Spider-Man 2
• The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

Amid a flurry of Xbox news today, Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer confirmed that four Xbox exclusives are headed to other platforms. He’s not, however, expecting other companies to take the same approach.

In an interview for Stephen Totilo’s Game File newsletter, Spencer specifically brought up Helldivers 2, Sony’s first simultaneous PS5 and PC release, while touching on the subject.

“I will say, when I look at a game like Helldivers 2 — and it’s a great game, kudos to the team shipping on PC and PlayStation — I’m not exactly sure who it helps in the industry by not being on Xbox,” he said. “If you try to twist yourself to say, like, somehow that benefited somebody somewhere.”

Still, Spencer relents a little bit, saying, “but I get it”: “There’s a legacy in console gaming that we’re going to benefit by shipping games and not putting them on other places. We do the same thing.”

He also pointed out that that Helldiver 2’s simultaneous release on PC and PS5 is “doing really well,” and he’s not wrong. The cooperative action sequel notched Sony’s biggest-ever game launch on Steam when it debuted last week.

The state of exclusive games

While Spencer doesn’t expect every other publisher to take Xbox’s approach, he did say during an Xbox podcast today that he has a “fundamental belief that, over the next 5 or 10 years, exclusive games – games that are exclusive to one piece of hardware – are gunna be a smaller and smaller part of the game industry.”

“That’s not some great insight, because if you look at the last 10 years and what the biggest games are today, it’s a natural place,” he said. “Whether it’s one console and PC; multiple consoles and PC; mobile, console, and PC; you see big games landing on multiple platforms, and we wanna be a great platform for creators that are trying to realize that potential.”

Spencer didn’t reveal what four Xbox games are headed to other platforms, but he did confirm that that number does not include Starfield and Indiana Jones and the Great Circle. Even then, in a separate interview with The Verge, he wouldn’t say they’ll never come to PS5, adding “I don’t think we should as an industry ever rule out a game going to any other platform.”

Altogether, it’s all spawned even more discourse about platform exclusivity, Xbox’s strategy, and a whole lot more. You can see everything we learned from today’s Xbox announcements right here.

In a blog post and podcast today, Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer made waves by confirming four Xbox exclusives will be going multi-platform. While he didn’t reveal what those games would be, he did confirm a couple of games that won’t be included in those four titles.

When asked directly by moderator and former IGN editor-in-chief Tina Amini if any of those four exclusives going multi-platform were Starfield or Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, Spencer replied, “They are not Starfield or Indiana Jones.”

Spencer, however, is still leaving Xbox’s multi-platform options open. In an interview with The Verge, he stopped short of ruling out Starfield and Indiana Jones ever coming to PS5.

“I don’t think we should as an industry ever rule out a game going to any other platform,” he said. “We’re focused on these four games and learning from the experience. We don’t have work going on, on other franchises. But for anybody to stand up and say something’s never going to happen, I think it feels like creating more certainty in a world of gaming where you really want to respond to what customers want and what our players and creators are looking for.”

Today’s update comes after weeks of reports and speculation swirling about Xbox’s future, particularly surrounding first-party exclusivity. Earlier this month, The Verge reported that Xbox was “weighing up which titles will remain exclusive and others that will appear on Switch or PS5 in the future.” Indiana Jones, per the report, was being considered as the kick-off to this new strategy, with the possibility of it debuting on PS5 shortly after its launch on Xbox and PC this December.

Around the same time, XboxERA reported that Microsoft was considering releasing Starfield on PS5 shortly after the release of the previously announced Shattered Space expansion later this year. Other reports, meanwhile, suggested the Hi-Fi Rush and Sea of Thieves would be headed to other platforms.

So what are the four games?

We don’t know what those four newly multi-platform games will be for sure at the moment. However, The Verge reports that they’ll be Hi-Fi Rush, Pentiment, Sea of Thieves, and Grounded.

Spencer himself dropped a few hints during the podcast, saying they looked at games that were over a year old. Two of them, he said, are “community-driven games,” “first iterations of a franchise that have reached their full potential, let’s say on Xbox and PC.”

The other two, he added, “are smaller games that were not really built to be platform exclusives and all the fanfare that goes around that, but games that our teams really wanted to go build.”

“We love supporting creative endeavors across our studios regardless of size,” he went on. “And as they realize their full potential on Xbox and PC, we see an opportunity to utilize the other platforms as a place to just drive more business value out of those games, allowing us to invest in future iterations of those, sequels to those, or just other games like that in our portfolio.”

With that, let the speculation commence.

For more, check out everything we learned about Xbox’s future today, including hints about the next-generation console.