The D.I.C.E. Award for Sports Game of the Year is an award presented annually by the

Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences (AIAS) is a non-profit organization of video game industry professionals. It organizes the annual Design Innovate Communicate Entertain Summit, better known as D.I.C.E., which includes the presentation ...

during the

D.I.C.E. Awards The D.I.C.E. Awards (formerly the Interactive Achievement Awards) is an annual awards show in the video game industry, and commonly referred to as the video game equivalent of the Academy Awards. The awards are arranged by the Academy of Inter ...

. 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 The ''1st Annual Interactive Achievement Awards'' was the 1st edition of the Interactive Achievement Awards, an annual awards event that honored the best games in the video game industry during 1997 and the first three months of 1998. The awards ...

in 1998, with the first winners being ''

International Superstar Soccer 64 ''International Superstar Soccer 64'' (officially abbreviated as ''ISS 64'', originally released in Japan as and then later adapted as ) is a video game developed by Konami Computer Entertainment Osaka in the ''International Superstar Soccer'' s ...

'' 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 ''SSX on Tour'' is a 2005 sports video game developed by EA Canada and published by Electronic Arts under the EA Sports BIG label for the GameCube, PlayStation 2, Xbox and PlayStation Portable. It is the fourth title in the '' SSX'' series. T ...

''. The award's most recent winner is ''

MLB The Show 24 ''MLB The Show 24'' is a 2024 baseball video game developed by San Diego Studio and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment. The nineteenth installment in the '' MLB: The Show'' series, it was released for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Pla ...

'', developed by

San Diego Studio San Diego Studio is an American video game developer of Sony Interactive Entertainment based in Sorrento Valley, San Diego. It is responsible for '' MLB: The Show'' games. The studio also developed the ''NBA'' series, '' The Mark of Kri'', ''Pa ...

and published by

Sony Interactive Entertainment Sony Interactive Entertainment LLC (SIE) is an American video game and digital entertainment company that is a major subsidiary of Japanese conglomerate Sony, Sony Group Corporation. It primarily operates the PlayStation brand of video game co ...

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 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

—

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

) *Computer Sports Game of the Year (

—

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

) *Console Action Sports Game of the Year (

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

—

) *Console Sports Simulation Game of the Year (

—

) *Sports Game of the Year (

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

—present) There was a tie between ''

FIFA 2001 ''FIFA 2001'' (known as ''FIFA 2001: Major League Soccer'' in North America and ''FIFA 2001: World Championship'' in Japan) is a football simulation video game and the sequel to '' FIFA 2000''. It was succeeded by '' FIFA Football 2002''. It feat ...

'' and ''

Motocross Madness 2 ''Motocross Madness 2'' is a motocross racing video game that was developed by Rainbow Studios and published by Microsoft Games. This sequel to 1998's '' Motocross Madness'' was released in May 2000 with improved graphics, which included better ...

'' for PC Sports Game of the Year at the

2001 Awards 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

Winners and nominees

1990s

2000s

2010s

2020s

Multiple nominations and wins

Developers and publishers

EA Sports EA Sports is a division of Electronic Arts that develops and publishes sports video games. Formerly a marketing gimmick of Electronic Arts, in which they imitated real-life sports networks by calling themselves the "EA Sports Network" (EASN) ...

has published the most nominees and winners, while

EA Vancouver EA Vancouver (formerly known as EA Burnaby, then EA Canada) is a Canadian video game developer located in Burnaby, British Columbia. The development studio opened as Distinctive Software in January 1983, and is also Electronic Arts's largest a ...

(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 ''SSX'' (standing for "Snowboard Supercross") is a series of Snowboarding video games, snowboarding video games Video game publisher, published by EA Sports, created by Steve Rechtschaffner, who is the inventor of the Olympic Games, Olympic snow ...

'' for console and ''

'' for computer in

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

EA Tiburon EA Orlando is an American video game developer located in Orlando, Florida, founded in 1994. It was formerly known as Tiburon Entertainment, which was List of acquisitions by Electronic Arts, acquired by Electronic Arts in 1998. After the acquisi ...

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 ''Madden NFL 2003'' is an American football simulation video game based on the NFL that was developed by EA Tiburon and Budcat Creations and published by EA Sports. The 14th installment of the ''Madden NFL'' series, the game features former St. ...

'' in

and ''

Madden NFL 2004 ''Madden NFL 2004'' is the 15th installment of the ''Madden NFL'' series of American football video games. Former Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick is on the cover. Gameplay New features in ''Madden 2004'' include a new owner mode option t ...

'' in

2K Sports 2K is an American video game publisher based in Novato, California. The company was founded as a subsidiary of Take-Two Interactive in January 2005 through the 2K Games and 2K Sports sub-labels. The nascent label incorporated several developmen ...

has been the most nominated publisher that has never won Sports Game of the Year, while

Access Software Access Software, Inc. was an American video game developer based in Salt Lake City, Utah. Founded in November 1982 by Bruce Carver and Chris Jones (Access Software), Chris Jones, the company created the ''Beach Head (video game), Beach Head'', ...

is the most nominated developer that has never won.

Franchises

' ''

FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...

''/'' FC'' series has received the most nominations and has won the most awards. The ''FIFA/FC'' series has won Computer Sports Game of the Year five years in a row from

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

, and later has won Sports Game of the Year six years in a row from

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

. ''

Madden NFL ''Madden NFL'' (known as ''John Madden Football'' until 1993) is an American football sports video game series developed by EA Orlando for EA Sports. The franchise, named after Pro Football Hall of Fame coach and commentator John Madden, has ...

'' has the third-most nominations and second-most awards, and is the only franchise to win both console and computer awards in the same year, first in

and second in

. The ''

Tony Hawk's ''Tony Hawk's'' is a series of skateboarding video games published by Activision and endorsed by the Tony Hawk, American professional skateboarder of the same name. From 1999 to 2007, the series was primarily developed for Home video game conso ...

'' franchise is tied with ''Madden NFL'' for second-most wins in this category. ''

NBA 2K ''NBA 2K'' is a series of basketball sports simulation video games developed by Visual Concepts and released annually since 1999. The premise of the series is to emulate the sport of basketball and the National Basketball Association. The ser ...

'' is the most nominated franchise that has never won an award in this category, despite having the second-most nominations (tied with '' MLB: The Show''}.

Notes

References

{{DICE Awards D.I.C.E. Genre Awards Awards established in 1998 Awards for best video game