D.I.C.E. Award for Sports Game of the Year

The D.I.C.E. Award for Sports Game of the Year is an award presented annually by the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences during the D.I.C.E. Awards. This award recognizes games that "offer the user the opportunity to virtually reproduce a sporting experience: either a realistic portrayal of an actual sport or games that reproduce for the user experience of participating in an existing competitive sport". All active creative/technical, business, and affiliate members of the Academy are qualified to vote for this category. The award initially had separate awards for console games and computer games at the 1st Annual Interactive Achievement Awards in 1998, with the first winners being International Superstar Soccer 64 for console and FIFA: Road to World Cup 98 for computer. There have been numerous mergers and additions of sports-related games during the early years of the annual awards ceremony. The current version was established in 2006, with its winner being SSX on Tour.

The award's most recent winner is MLB The Show 23, developed by San Diego Studio and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment.

History

Initially the Interactive Achievement Awards had separate awards for Console Sports Game of the Year and Computer Sports Game of the Year. In 2004, there were separate console categories for Action Sports and Sports Simulation. In 2006, all sports categories would be merged together as part of a single Sports Game of the Year, which has been used ever since.

• Console Sports Game of the Year (1998—2003)
• Computer Sports Game of the Year (1998—2005)
• Console Action Sports Game of the Year (2004—2005)
• Console Sports Simulation Game of the Year (2004—2005)
• Sports Game of the Year (2006—present)

There was a tie between FIFA 2001 and Motocross Madness 2 for PC Sports Game of the Year at the 2001 Awards.

Winners and nominees

1990s

2000s

2010s

2020s

Multiple nominations and wins

Developers and publishers

EA Sports has published the most nominees and winners, while EA Vancouver (formerly known as EA Canada) has developed the most nominees and award winners. EA Canada is also the only developer that has won console and computer awards with different games, being SSX for console and FIFA 2001 for computer in 2001. EA Tiburon is the second-most awarded developer, and is also the only developer to win both console and computer awards with the same game, being Madden NFL 2003 in 2003 and Madden NFL 2004 in 2004. 2K Sports has been the most nominated publisher that has never won Sports Game of the Year, while Access Software is the most nominated developer that has never won.

Franchises

EA Sports' FIFA/FC series has received the most nominations and won the most awards. The FIFA/FC series won Computer Sports Game of the Year five years in a row from 1998 to 2002, and later won Sports Game of the Year six years in a row from 2010 to 2015. Madden NFL has the second-most nominations and awards, and is the only franchise to win both console and computer awards in the same year, first in 2003 and second in 2004. The Tony Hawk's franchise is tied with Madden NFL for second-most wins in this category. NBA 2K is the most nominated franchise that has never won an award in this category.

Notes

References