Astro Bot wins big at DICE as Indiana Jones takes home 3 awards

Astro Bot won five awards, including Game of the Year, at Thursday’s 28th annual DICE Awards — a game industry awards ceremony, taking place at the DICE conference in Las Vegas, that often follows the Game Awards’ lead. The other big winners of the night were Helldivers 2, Balatro, and Indiana Jones and the Great Circle.

The main point of intrigue at this year’s DICE Awards was how Indiana Jones and the Great Circle would do, since it was ineligible for the Game Awards after missing the release date deadline. And the answer was: well! MachineGames’ take on the famous archaeologist’s Nazi-punching escapades won Adventure Game of the Year, Outstanding Achievement in Story, and Outstanding Achievement in Character for Dr. Henry “Indiana” Jones (the latter being the DICE Awards’ take on a performance award). It’s another sign that Great Circle would have been a contender at the Game Awards if it had just come out a few weeks earlier.

Alongside Game of the Year, Astro Bot took home awards for animation, technical achievement, game design, and Family Game of the Year. With its PlayStation stablemate Helldivers 2 winning four categories — music, audio design, Action Game of the Year and Online Game of the Year — Sony had a dominant night, claiming 9 of the 23 awards.

Balatro was, unsurprisingly, the big indie game winner, winning three awards: Strategy/Simulation Game of the Year, Mobile Game of the Year, and Outstanding Achievement for an Independent Game. Animal Well claimed the award for Outstanding Achievement in Game Direction.

Unlike the Game Awards, which are voted on by game critics and the public, the DICE Awards are handed out by an industry body, the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences, which is modelled on the motion picture Academy that runs the Oscars. But AIAS often makes similar choices to the Game Awards jury anyway — the two ceremonies have agreed on Game of the Year eight of the last 11 times.

The next stop in gaming’s back-to-front awards season (where the most important awards come first, instead of last) is the Game Developers Choice awards on March 19. After that it’s the BAFTA Games Awards on April 8.

Here’s the full list of DICE winners:

• Game of the Year: Astro Bot
• Outstanding Achievement in Game Direction: Animal Well
• Outstanding Achievement in Game Design: Astro Bot
• Outstanding Achievement for an Independent Game: Balatro
• Mobile Game of the Year: Balatro
• Immersive Reality Game of the Year: Batman: Arkham Shadow
• Immersive Reality Technical Achievement: Starship Home
• Online Game of the Year: Helldivers 2
• Strategy/Simulation Game of the Year: Balatro
• Sports Game of the Year: MLB The Show 24
• Role-Playing Game of the Year: Metaphor: Refantazio
• Racing Game of the Year: F1 24
• Fighting Game of the Year: Tekken 8
• Family Game of the Year: Astro Bot
• Adventure Game of the Year: Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
• Action Game of the Year: Helldivers 2
• Outstanding Technical Achievement: Astro Bot
• Outstanding Achievement in Story: Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
• Outstanding Achievement in Audio Design: Helldivers 2
• Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Composition: Helldivers 2
• Outstanding Achievement in Character: Indiana Jones and the Great Circle — Dr. Henry “Indiana” Jones
• Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction: Black Myth: Wukong
• Outstanding Achievement in Animation: Astro Bot