The Game Awards disappointed you? Check out the DICE Awards

One of the hottest topics of conversation in the gaming industry at the end of 2023 was The Game Awards.

While there’s always been debate over the show’s heavy focus on trailers and other promotional material, that discussion reached an all-time intensity with December’s iteration of the show. In particular, people took issue with winners being given precious little time — or, in some categories, none at all — to take the stage and deliver a speech. At the same time, non-gaming celebrities like Matthew McCoughnahey and Simu Liu were afforded several minutes of screen time.

With the lack of spotlight on the people who actually make games, some in the industry encouraged people to instead tune into the D.I.C.E. Awards. Every year, it’s put on by the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences (AIAS) and focuses entirely on honouring developers without a flurry of trailers. Essentially, it more closely resembles gaming’s “Oscars” whereas The Game Awards is arguably more akin to something like the People’s Choice Awards or MTV Video Music Awards. (Check out last year’s show for an idea of the format and content.)

This year, the D.I.C.E. Awards will take place tonight, February 15th, at 8pm PT/11pm ET, in Las Vegas. Kinda Funny‘s Greg Miller and IGN‘s Stella Chung are the hosts host.

Notably, IGN is the official media sponsor of the show, so it will stream on the following of the outlet’s platforms:

• IGN.com (on the homepage)
• IGN’s Twitch Channel
• IGN’s YouTube Channel
• IGN’s iOS App
• IGN’s Android App

Altogether, 56 games have been nominated in this year’s D.I.C.E. Awards. Insomniac Games’ Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 leads the pack with nine nods, followed by Remedy Entertainment’s Alan Wake 2 (eight), Larian Studio’s Baldur’s Gate 3 (seven) and Geometric Interactive’s Cocoon (six). The full list of nominees can be found here.

Of course, The Game Awards has a much larger audience and has its own benefits, especially from the marketing perspective. But if you’re interested in properly celebrating the people who work so hard on the games we love, especially amid difficult circumstances, then you should check out the D.I.C.E. Awards.

Image credit: PlayStation

Via: IGN