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Untitled Goose Game scores surprising Game of the Year win at DICE Awards

Giovanni Colantonio
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For only the second time in history, an independent title has won Game of the Year at the DICE Awards. Untitled Goose Game took home the summit’s most prestigious honor this year, beating out heavy-hitters like Death Stranding.

House House’s 2019 hit won three awards at this year’s ceremony in addition to Game of the Year, taking home awards for Outstanding Achievement for an Independent Game and Outstanding Achievement in Character, which was awarded simply to “The Goose.”

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The game joins a prestigious list of Game of the Year winners. The prize has primarily gone to major studio releases since the ceremony was introduced in 1998, with God of War winning last year. The only other time an indie game has received the award was in 2013 when thatgamecompany’s Journey scored a win. Despite its independent development, the game was published by Sony, which is a much larger studio than Goose Game publisher Panic Inc.

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Big budget games still swept up in other categories. Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order took home Adventure Game of the Year, while our own game of the year pick Fire Emblem: Three Houses won Strategy/Simulation Game of the Year. Nintendo games picked up several awards at the event, with big wins for Luigi’s Mansion 3, Super Mario Maker 2, and even mobile game Mario Kart Tour.

It was a big night for Remedy Entertainment’s Control, which took home four awards, including Outstanding Achievement in Game Direction and Action Game of the Year. Death Stranding walked away with wins in Audio Design and Technical Achievement.

Here are all the winners.

Game of the Year

Untitled Goose Game (Winner)
Control
Death Stranding
Disco Elysium
Outer Wilds

Outstanding Achievement in Game Design

Baba Is You (Winner)
Disco Elysium
Outer Wilds
Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice
Slay the Spire

Outstanding Achievement in Game Direction

Control (Winner)
A Short Hike
Disco Elysium
Outer Wilds
Untitled Goose Game

Action Game of the Year

Control (Winner)
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
Devil May Cry 5
Gears 5
Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice

Adventure Game of the Year

Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order (Winner)
Death Stranding
Luigi’s Mansion 3
Resident Evil 2
The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening

Family Game of the Year

Super Mario Maker 2 (Winner)
A Short Hike
Dragon Quest Builders 2
Ring Fit Adventure
Yoshi’s Crafted World

Fighting Game of the Year

Mortal Kombat 11 (Winner)
Dead or Alive 6
Jump Force
Samurai Shodown

Racing Game of the Year

Mario Kart Tour (Winner)
Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled
DiRT Rally 2.0
F1 2019
Trials Rising

Role-Playing Game of the Year

The Outer Worlds (Winner)
Disco Elysium
Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers
Kingdom Hearts III
Pokémon Sword/Pokémon Shield

Sports Game of the Year

FIFA 20 (Winner)
Madden NFL 20
MLB the Show 19
NBA 2K20
NHL 20

Strategy/Simulation Game of the Year

Fire Emblem: Three Houses (Winner)
Anno 1800
Oxygen Not Included
Slay the Spire
Total War: Three Kingdoms

Immersive Reality Game of the Year

Pistol Whip (Winner)
Asgard’s Wrath
Blood & Truth
The Curious Tale of the Stolen Pets
Trover Saves the Universe

Immersive Reality Technical Achievement

Blood & Truth (Winner)
Asgard’s Wrath
Pistol Whip
Stormland
Westworld Awakening

Outstanding Achievement for an Independent Game

Untitled Goose Game (Winner)
A Short Hike
Disco Elysium
Sayonara Wild Hearts
What The Golf?

Portable Game of the Year

Sayonara Wild Hearts (Winner)
Call of Duty: Mobile
Grindstone
Sky: Children of the Light
What The Golf?

Online Game of the Year

Apex Legends (Winner)
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
Destiny 2: Shadowkeep
Tetris 99
Wargroove

Outstanding Achievement in Animation

Luigi’s Mansion 3 (Winner)
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
Days Gone
Death Stranding
Devil May Cry 5

Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction

Control (Winner)
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
Concrete Genie
Death Stranding
Resident Evil 2

Outstanding Achievement in Character

Untitled Goose Game (The Goose) (Winner)
Control (Jesse Faden)
Death Stranding (Cliff Unger)
Death Stranding (Sam Porter Bridges)
Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order (Greez)

Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Composition

Control (Winner)
Arise: A Simple Story
Erica
Golem
Mortal Kombat 11

Outstanding Achievement in Audio Design

Death Stranding (Winner)
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
Mortal Kombat 11
Resident Evil 2
Sayonara Wild Hearts

Outstanding Achievement in Story

Disco Elysium (Winner)
Control
Outer Wilds
Telling Lies
The Outer Worlds

Outstanding Technical Achievement

Death Stranding (Winner)
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
Concrete Genie
Control
Metro Exodus

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Giovanni Colantonio
Giovanni Colantonio
Section Editor, Gaming
Giovanni is a writer and video producer focusing on happenings in the video game industry. He has contributed stories to…
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