The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences (AIAS) is pleased to announce the nominees for its 29th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards (#DICEAwards), the video game industry’s premier awards show, with winners selected by a panel of industry peers. Greg Miller, founder of Kinda Funny Games, and award-winning media personality, Stella Chung, will return as co-hosts.
Winners will be revealed at the 29th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards ceremony, the culmination of the week-long industry gathering at the 2026 D.I.C.E. Summit. The ceremony will be livestreamed by official media partner, IGN, on Thursday, Feb. 12 at 8:00PM PT from the Aria Resort in Las Vegas.
64 games released in 2025 are nominated. Topping the list with 8 nominations each are Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 and Ghost of Yōtei, followed by Arc Raiders and Dispatch with 6 nominations each. In addition, Blue Prince earned 5 total nominations with Death Stranding 2: On the Beach close behind with 4 nominations.
Competing for 2025’s top honor, Game of the Year, are: Arc Raiders, Blue Prince, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, Dispatch, and Ghost of Yōtei.
The Academy and its Board of Directors thank all of the people who serve as Peer Panelists and generously volunteer their time to determine finalists. View a full list of Peer Panelists here.
Voting is now open for AIAS members. Members will receive their voting credentials via email.
Outstanding Achievement in Animation |
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Death Stranding 2:
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Ghost of Yōtei |
Monster Hunter Wilds |
South of Midnight |
The Midnight Walk |
| Kojima Productions | Sucker Punch Productions | CAPCOM | Compulsion Games | MoonHood |
| Sony Interactive Entertainment | Sony Interactive Entertainment | Xbox Game Studios | Fast Travel Games | |
| Original Story, Planning, Game Design Hideo Kojima Lead Animator Masaaki Kawata PlayStation Studios XDEV Director, Product Development Ray Khalastchi |
Animator Director Billy Harper Cinematics Lead Jordan Pitchon Animation Lead Kento Kojima |
Lead Monster Animator Kenji Yamaguchi Lead Player Animator Hiroya Sasaki Lead NPC Animator Masaya Onai |
Animation Director Mike Jungbluth Associate Animation Director Vincent Schneider Cinematic Director Sebastien Dussault Lead Technical Animator Remi Emond Performance Director Ahmed Best |
Lead Animator Lucas Åsaborn |
Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction |
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Clair Obscur:
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Death Stranding 2:
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Dispatch |
Ghost of Yōtei |
The Midnight Walk |
| Sandfall Interactive | Kojima Productions | Adhoc Studio | Sucker Punch Productions | MoonHood |
| Kepler Interactive | Sony Interactive Entertainment | Sony Interactive Entertainment | Fast Travel Games | |
| Art Director Nicholas Maxson-Francombe |
Original Story, Planning, Game Design Hideo Kojima Art Director Yoji Shinkawa PlayStation Studios XDEV Associate Producer Megan Tuckwell |
Art Director Derek Stratton |
Creative Director Jason Connell Art Director Joanna Wang |
Art Directors Victor Becker Klaus Lyngeled |
Outstanding Achievement in Character |
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Clair Obscur:
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Clair Obscur:
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Dispatch |
Dispatch |
Ghost of Yōtei |
Esquie |
Maelle |
Courtney/Invisigal |
Robert Robertson III/
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Atsu
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| Sandfall Interactive |
Sandfall Interactive |
AdHoc Studio | AdHoc Studio |
Sucker Punch Productions |
| Kepler Interactive | Kepler Interactive |
Sony Interactive Entertainment | ||
| Writers Jennifer Svedberg-Yen Guillaume Broche Performance Maxence Cazorla |
Writers Jennifer Svedberg-Yen Guillaume Broche Performance Jennifer English |
Narrative Director Pierre Shorette Voice Actor Laura Bailey Creative Directors Nick Herman Dennis Lenart |
Narrative Director Pierre Shorette Voice Actor Aaron Paul Creative Directors Nick Herman Dennis Lenart |
Actor Erika Ishii Creative Director Nate Fox Lead Writer Ian Ryan |
Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Composition |
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Clair Obscur:
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Ghost of Yōtei |
Herdling |
Mario Kart World |
Sword of the Sea |
| Sandfall Interactive | Sucker Punch Productions |
Okomotive |
Nintendo |
Giant Squid |
| Kepler Interactive | Sony Interactive Entertainment |
Panic Inc. |
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| Composer Lorien Testard Vocal Composer Alice Duport-Percier |
Composers Toma Otowa Score Producer Keith Leary Peter Scaturro |
Composer Joel Schoch |
Composer Atsuko Asahi |
Composer Austin Wintory |
Outstanding Achievement in Audio Design |
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Arc Raiders |
Death Stranding 2:
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Ghost of Yōtei |
Lumines Arise |
Split Fiction |
| Embark Studios | Kojima Productions | Sucker Punch Productions | Enhance, Monstars | Hazelight Studios |
| Sony Interactive Entertainment | Sony Interactive Entertainment | Enhance | Electronic Arts | |
| Audio Director & Sound Designer Bence Pajor Sound Designers & Technical Sound Designers Olof Strömqvist Simon Svanbäck |
Original Story, Planning, Game Design Hideo Kojima Technical Sound Designer Hiroyuki Nakayama PlayStation Studios Sound: Dialogue Supervisor Justin Scott Wilson Mix Supervisor Alex Previty Sound Design Lead Noburo Masuda Cinematic Sound Design Lead Derrick Espino Gameplay Sound Design Lead Andres Herrera Sound Design Supervisor Emile Mika Sound Design Supervisor Stephen Schappler |
Audio Director Brad Meyer Senior Staff Sound Designer Josh Lord Senior Sound Design Supervisor Adam Lidbetter |
Sound Director Takako Ishida Sound Artist Noboru Mutoh |
Audio Director |
Outstanding Achievement in Story |
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Clair Obscur:
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Consume Me |
despelote |
South of Midnight |
The Drifter |
| Sandfall Interactive |
Hexecutable LLC | Panic Inc. |
Compulsion Games | Powerhoof |
| Kepler Interactive |
Xbox Game Studios | |||
| Writers Jennifer Svedberg-Yen Guillaume Broche |
Writers Jenny Jiao Hsia AP Thomson |
Design & Programming Julián Cordero Art & Music Sebastián Valbuena Production & Level Design Gabe Cuzzillo Writers Julian Cordero Gabe Cuzzillo |
Senior Writer Zaire Lanier Narrative Designer Dani Dee Associate Narrative Director Farah Brixi |
Writer Dave Lloyd |
Outstanding Technical Achievement |
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Arc Raiders |
Assassin's Creed Shadows |
Death Stranding 2:
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Donkey Kong Bananza |
DOOM:
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| Embark Studios | Ubisoft Québec | Kojima Productions | Nintendo | id Software |
| Ubisoft | Sony Interactive Entertainment | Bethesda Softworks | ||
| Technical Director Robert Träffe Craft Lead, Machine Learning Martin Singh-Blom |
Anvil Director Claude Langlais Brand and Technology Director Pierre Fortin Lead Producer Karl Onnée Art Director Thierry Dansereau |
Original Story, Planning, Game Design Hideo Kojima Technical Director Akio Sakamoto PlayStation Studios XDEV Associate Producer Megan Tuckwell |
Producer / Senior Director Kenta Motokura Director / Program Director Wataru Tanaka Director / Planning Director Kazuya Takahashi Art Director Daisuke Watanabe
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Co-Directors of Engine Technology Billy Khan Bogdan Coroi Director of Game Technology Evan Eubanks Director of Rendering Technology Tiago Sousa |
Action Game of the Year |
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Absolum |
Arc Raiders |
DOOM:
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Hades II |
Ninja Gaiden 4 |
| Dotemu, Guard Crush Games, Supamonks |
Embark Studios | id Software | Supergiant Games | Team NINJA, PlatinumGames |
| Dotemu |
Bethesda Softworks | Xbox Game Studios | ||
| Producer & Co-Creative Lead Micke Moïsa Head of Game Design & Co-Creative Lead Jordi Asensio Techinal Director & Co-Creative Lead Cyrille Lagarigue Art Director & Co-Creative Lead Maxime Mary |
Executive Producer Aleksander Grøndal Creative Director Stefan Strandberg Design Director Virgil Watkins |
Executive Producer Marty Stratton Game Director Hugo Martin |
Creative Director Greg Kasavin Studio Director Amir Rao Development Director Gavin Simon Audio Director Darren Korb Art Director Jen Zee Technical Director Andrew Wang |
Producer & Director Yuji Nakao Director Fumihiko Yasuda Producer Masakazu Hirayama |
Adventure Game of the Year |
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Blue Prince |
Dispatch |
Donkey Kong Bananza |
Ghost of Yōtei |
Hollow Knight:
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| Dogubomb | AdHoc Studio | Nintendo |
Sucker Punch Productions | Team Cherry |
| Raw Fury | Sony Interactive Entertainment |
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| Game Director Tonda Ros |
Creative Directors Nick Herman Dennis Lenart Narrative Director Pierre Shorette Lead Producer Natalie Herman |
Producer / Senior Director Kenta Motokura Director / Program Director Wataru Tanaka Director / Planning Director Kazuya Takahashi |
Co-Founder Brian Fleming Creative Directors Jason Connell Nate Fox |
Designers Ari Gibson William Pellen Technical Director Jack Vine Sound & Music by Christopher Larkin |
Family Game of the Year |
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LEGO® Party! |
LEGO® Voyagers |
Lumines Arise |
MARVEL Cosmic Invasion |
POPUCOM |
| SMG Studio | Light Brick Studio | Enhance, Monstars |
Tribute Games |
Countersurge Salient |
| Fictions | Annapurna Interactive | Enhance | Dotemu | GRYPHLINE |
| Studio Head Ashley Ringrose Game Director Mark Fennell Executive Producer James Milenkovic |
Creative Director Karsten Lund Producer Mads Prahm |
Game Director Takashi Ishihara Executive Producers Tetsuya Mizuguchi Mark MacDonald Julian Chunovic |
Game Director Frederic Gemus Producer Remi Lavoie |
Game Producer Shawn Pan Lead Client Engineer Sai Li 3D Character Artist Louise Chen |
Fighting Game of the Year |
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2XKO |
Capcom Fighting
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FATAL FURY:
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Mortal Kombat:
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WWE 2K25 |
| Riot Games | CAPCOM | SNK | Digital Eclipse | Visual Concepts |
| Digital Eclipse, Atari |
2K | |||
| Executive Producer Tom Cannon Technical Lead Tony Cannon Game Director Shaun Rivera |
Producer Shuhei Matsumoto |
Creative Director Hayato Konya Producer Yasuyuki Oda |
Creative Director Mike Mika Producer Steven Johnson |
Creative Director Lynell Jinks Design Director Alan Flores Producer Colin O'Hara |
Racing Game of the Year |
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EA SPORTS F1® 25 |
Kirby Air Riders |
Mario Kart World |
Wheel World |
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| Codemasters |
Nintendo, Sora Ltd |
Nintendo |
Messhof | |
| Electronic Arts | Nintendo | Annapurna Interactive |
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| Senior Creative Director Lee Mather Creative Director II Gavin Cooper Senior Development Director Andrew Watt Executive Producer Chris Gray Senior Producers David Williams Gareth Lewis Hugh Pearson Nic Madden Si Lumb |
Creative Director & Game Director Masahiro Sakurai Producers Shinya Saito Makoto Okazaki |
Creative Director Kosuke Yabuki Game Director Shintaro Jikumaru Producer Kosuke Yabuki |
Creative Director Mark Essen Producer Kristy Norindr |
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Role-Playing Game of the Year |
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Clair Obscur:
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Citizen Sleeper 2:
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Kingdom Come:
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Monster Hunter Wilds |
The Outer Worlds 2 |
| Sandfall Interactive | Jump Over the Age | Warhorse Studios | CAPCOM | Obsidian Entertainment |
| Kepler Interactive |
Fellow Traveller |
Deep Silver |
Xbox Game Studios | |
| Game Director Guillaume Broche Technical Director Tom Guillermin Producer François Meurisse |
Creator, Designer & Writer Gareth Damian Martin Composer & Sound Designer Amos Roddy Character Artist Guillaume Singelin |
Creative Director Daniel Várva Producer Martin Klima |
Executive Director |
Creative Director Leonard Boyarsky Game Director Brandon Adler Executive Producer Justin Britch |
Sports Game of the Year |
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EA SPORTS FC™ 26 |
PGA Tour 2k25 |
MLB® The Show™ 25 |
NBA 2K26 |
Rematch |
| EA Vancouver, EA Romania |
HB Studios | San Diego Studio | Visual Concepts | Sloclap |
| Electronic Arts |
2K | Sony Interactive Entertainment | 2K | Sloclap, Kepler Interactive |
| VP & GM, EA SPORTS FC John Shepherd Head of Design Adam Shaikh Group Technical Director Karim Versi |
Sr. Production Director Peter Jones Lead Producers Joe Stewart Ken Alguire Sr. Art & Animation Director Joel Thompson VP of Engineering David McFarland |
Senior Director of San Diego Studio Product Development Chris Cutliff Director of Product Development Jason Villa Director of Production Aaron Luke |
Gameplay Director Mike Wang President Greg Thomas VP, NBA Development Erick Boenisch |
Creative Director Pierre Tarno Producer Edward Sananikone |
Strategy/Simulation Game of the Year |
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The Alters |
Drop Duchy |
Europa Universalis V |
The King is Watching |
StarVaders |
| 11 bit studios |
Sleepy Mill Studio | Paradox Tinto | Hypnohead |
Pengonauts |
| The Arcade Crew | Paradox Interactive | tinyBuild |
Joystick Ventures |
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| Game & Art Director Tomasz Kisilewicz Technical Director Szymon Kurek Senior Producers Jakub Karolczak Stanislav Mishchenko |
Game Director Jean-Baptiste Oger |
Game Director Johan Andersson |
Game Director Semen Itmanyuk Producer Vladimir Tolmachev |
Game & Creative Director Eddie Cai Game Producer Hansen Liu |
Immersive Reality Technical Achievement |
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Ghost Town |
Hotel Infinity |
Marvel's Deadpool VR |
Star Wars: Beyond Victory -
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Unloop |
| Fireproof Games |
Studio Chyr | Twisted Pixel Games | Industrial Light & Magic | Superposition NULL |
| Oculus Studios | Disney Electronic Content, Inc. | CM Games | ||
| Creative Director Mark Hamilton Technical Director Rob Dodd Senior Software Engineers Dave Smeathers Simon Fawcett Software Engineer Ethan Prime |
Creative Director |
Director of Technology Frank Wilson Engineering Director, Gameplay Gabe Farris Engineering Director, Engine Mike Henry Lead Combat Engineer Patrick Christenson Lead Gameplay Engineer Naveen Nattam |
Lead Engineer Kay Nestor Gameplay Engineer Jimmy Roznick |
Game Producer Anastasia Rumyantseva Creative Director Artem Suleimanov Lead Developer Nikolai Zharkov |
Immersive Reality Game of the Year |
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Demeo x Dungeons & Dragons:
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Ghost Town |
Marvel's Deadpool VR |
The Midnight Walk |
Thief VR:
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| Resolution Games |
Fireproof Games |
Twisted Pixel Games | MoonHood |
Maze Theory |
| Oculus Studios | Fast Travel Games |
Vertigo Games |
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| Creative Director Gustav Stenmark Producer Parvathy Menon |
Creative Director |
Creative Director Josh Bear Game Director Dan Bullock Executive Producer Jody Coglianese |
Game Directors & Producers Klaus Lyngeled Olov Redmalm |
Chief Creative Officer Russ Harding Creative Director Steven Gallagher Principal Designer Nick Witsel |
Outstanding Achievement for an Independent Game |
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Baby Steps |
Blue Prince |
Consume Me |
despelote |
Dispatch |
| Devolver Digital | Dogubomb | Hexecutable LLC | Panic Inc. | AdHoc Studio |
| Raw Fury |
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| Developers Gabe Cuzzillo Maxi Boch Bennett Foddy |
Game Director Tonda Ros |
Created by Jenny Jiao Hsia AP Thomson Jie En Lee Violet W-P Ken "coda" Snyder |
Design & Programming Julián Cordero Art & Music Sebastián Valbuena Production & Level Design Gabe Cuzzillo |
Creative Directors Nick Herman Dennis Lenart Narrative Director Pierre Shorette Lead Producer Natalie Herman |
Mobile Game of the Year |
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Persona5: The Phantom X |
Umamusume: Pretty Derby |
WHAT THE CLASH? |
Where Winds Meet |
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| Black Wings Game Studio | Cygames, Inc. |
Triband |
Everstone Studio | |
| SEGA | NetEase Games |
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| Creative Director Yusuke Nitta Game Directors Zhen Wang Yuta Sakai Producers Yohsuke Uda Lao V Jun Matsunaga |
President Koichi Watanabe |
Creative Director Tim Garbos Game Director Daniel Traun-Terkelsen Producer Christen Lorensen |
Lead Producer Beralt Lyu |
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Online Game of the Year |
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Arc Raiders |
Battlefield 6 |
Mario Kart World |
Marvel Rivals |
Split Fiction |
| Embark Studios | Battlefield Studios | Nintendo | NetEase Games |
Hazelight Studios |
| Electronic Arts |
Electronic Arts |
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| Design Director Virgil Watkins Technical Director Robert Träffe |
Executive Producer, Battlefield Christian Grass Creative Director, Battlefield Thomas 'Tompen' Andersson Executive Producer, Ripple Effect Studios Ryan McArthur |
Lead Online Designer Yugo Hayashi Lead Online Engineer Wataru Hinoshita |
Game Producer Weicong Wu Creative Director Guangyun Chen Lead Online Engineer Fan Feng |
Game Director Josef Fares Head of Production Aimar Bergan Chief Operating Officer Oskar Wolontis |
Outstanding Achievement in Game Design |
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Arc Raiders |
Blue Prince |
Hades II |
Kingdom Come:
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Öoo |
| Embark Studios |
Dogubomb | Supergiant Games | Warhorse Studios |
NamaTakahashi |
| Raw Fury | Deep Silver |
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| Design Director Virgil Watkins |
Game Director Tonda Ros |
Studio Director Amir Rao Development Director Gavin Simon Creative Director Greg Kasavin Technical Designer Alice Lai Designers Eduardo Gorinstein James Auck |
Design Director Viktor Bocan Lead Designer Prokop Jirsa |
Developer NamaTakahashi Artist Hachinos Composer & Sound Designer Tsuyomi |
Outstanding Achievement in Game Direction |
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Blue Prince |
Clair Obscur:
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Ghost of Yōtei |
Hades II |
Kingdom Come:
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| Dogubomb | Sandfall Interactive | Sucker Punch Productions | Supergiant Games |
Warhorse Studios |
| Raw Fury |
Kepler Interactive | Sony Interactive Entertainment | Deep Silver |
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| Game Director Tonda Ros |
Game Director Guillaume Broche |
Creative Directors Jason Connell Nate Fox |
Creative Director Greg Kasavin Studio Director Amir Rao Development Director Gavin Simon Audio Director Darren Korb Art Director Jen Zee Technical Director Andrew Wang |
Creative Director Daniel Várva |
Game of the Year |
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Arc Raiders |
Blue Prince |
Clair Obscur:
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Dispatch |
Ghost of Yōtei |
| Embark Studios | Dogubomb | Sandfall Interactive | AdHoc Studio | Sucker Punch Productions |
| Raw Fury |
Kepler Interactive | Sony Interactive Entertainment | ||
| Executive Producer Aleksander Grøndal Creative Director Stefan Strandberg Design Director Virgil Watkins |
Game Director Tonda Ros |
Game Director Guillaume Broche Technical Director Tom Guillermin Producer François Meurisse |
Creative Directors Nick Herman Dennis Lenart Narrative Director Pierre Shorette Lead Producer Natalie Herman |
Co-Founder Brian Fleming Creative Directors Jason Connell Nate Fox |