D.I.C.E. Award for Outstanding Achievement in Story

• 1. Introduction

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  The D.I.C.E. Award for Outstanding Achievement in Story made its debut at the 2nd Annual Interactive Achievement Awards. Its first prize went to Pokémon Red and Blue. That year's nominees also included Grim Fandango, Half-Life, Metal Gear Solid, and The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. That Pokémon prevailed over such company was a signal about what this award values. The Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences presents it each year. Over more than two decades, it has accumulated a record that rewards close reading. The award's name has changed; its categories have split and been reassembled. Certain studios have appeared on the ballot so regularly that the award has become part of their identity. Others, despite constant presence, have never taken the prize. What defines a winning game story in the eyes of the voters? One franchise alone has accumulated four nominations in the award's history, more than any other.

• 2. What the Award Measures

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  Voting rights belong to Academy members whose expertise is specifically as game designers or producers. They evaluate which game best achieved what the award calls "the coalescence of setting, character, and plot." The winning work must also have "furthered the interactive experience" through its world-building. Three types of entries qualify. A game can win as an entirely original creation, as an adaptation of existing material, or as an extension of an established property or brand. The definition that governs voting today was not the one in use when the award first ran.

• 3. A Name in Motion

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  From 1999 through 2005, the award carried the name "Outstanding Achievement in Character or Story Development." Its original definition recognized "a memorable character or a memorable story within an interactive title." Character and story were treated as parallel achievements, either one sufficient for the honor. At the 2006 ceremony, the Academy renamed the award to "Outstanding Achievement in Story and Character Development." The word "and" replaced the word "or," a change that shifted what the award asked for. In 2008, the name simplified again to "Outstanding Achievement in Story Development." At the 2009 ceremony, the Academy split the category into two separate awards. "Outstanding Achievement in Original Story" covered games built around an original game world. "Outstanding Achievement in Adapted Story" recognized games based on previously existing material, including adaptations and extensions of an existing licensed property or brand. Those two categories ran in parallel for two years. At the 15th ceremony in 2011, the Academy merged them back into one: "Outstanding Achievement in Story," which has remained in use since.

• 4. The Studio Record

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  Naughty Dog has more nominations and more wins than any other developer in the award's history, with six total nominations and four prizes. BioWare follows with three wins from four nominations, and Santa Monica Studio holds a perfect record: two nominations, two wins. Bethesda Game Studios has two wins from three nominations. Those three studios are the only developers other than Naughty Dog to have won more than once. On the publisher side, Sony Computer/Interactive Entertainment has earned 19 nominations and 8 wins, more than any other publisher. Sony is also the only publisher to have achieved back-to-back wins in the award's history. Nintendo has taken three prizes from seven nominations. Ubisoft has published more nominees than any other publisher without winning once, with 11 nominations and no prize. Ubisoft Montreal and Ubisoft Montpellier have each earned three developer nominations without a win. Annapurna Interactive has six publisher nominations and no wins. Among developers, Insomniac Games, Quantic Dream, Remedy Entertainment, Rockstar North, and Valve each hold three nominations without winning. Rockstar Games holds four publisher nominations without a prize. Telltale Games has four nominations as a developer and four as a publisher, earning one win across both roles.

• 5. Franchise Legacies

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  Four nominations have come to Uncharted, more than any other franchise in the award's history, with two wins among them. Four other franchises have also won more than once. Baldur's Gate, God of War, The Last of Us, and Star Wars each hold two nominations and two wins. Grand Theft Auto has three nominations without a win, more than any other franchise that has never prevailed. The Legend of Zelda holds three nominations and one win. Batman and BioShock each carry two nominations and one win. The 29th ceremony, in 2025, welcomed a winner from outside any of those established dynasties.

• 6. The 29th Award

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  Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, developed by Sandfall Interactive and published by Kepler Interactive, won the prize at the 29th D.I.C.E. Awards. The other nominees that year were Consume Me from Hexecutable LLC and South of Midnight from Compulsion Games and Xbox Game Studios. Despelote, developed by Julián Cordero and Sebastián Valbuena and published by Panic Inc., and The Drifter from Powerhoof completed the field. Kepler Interactive reached the nominees list for the first time at that ceremony, as the publisher of the winning title.