The Academy’s 3th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards were presented at a ceremony held in Los Angeles at the Regal Biltmore Hotel on May 11, 2000, the first evening of the E3 Expo.

Martin Short (The Martin Short Show) hosted the awards.  The presenters were Martin Lewis (Politically Incorrect), Ahmet Zappa (webRIOT), Stevie Case (ION Storm), Brian Fargo (CEO, Interplay Entertainment Corp.), Alison Sweeny (Days of Our Lives), Harry Shearer (This is Spinal Tap), Peter Molyneux (Founder, Lionhead Studios), and Glenn Entis (DreamWorks Interactive).

The Sims, developed by Maxis and published by EA-Maxis, won three awards, including overall Game of the Year.  Age of Empires II: Age of Kings, developed by Ensemble Studios and published by Microsoft, won three awards, including PC Game of the Year.  Soul Caliber, developed and published by Namco, won two awards, including Console Game of the Year.

The Academy presented Interactive Achievement Awards in 29 craft, console, computer and online categories. The Academy also inducted Hironobu Sakaguchi, President of Square USA, Inc., into the Academy's Hall of Fame. In keeping with Academy tradition, Sid Meier, Chairman and Director of Creative Development at FIRAXIS Games and last year's Hall of Fame inductee, returned to make the presentation.