DICE Awards 2026 nominees announced, lead by Clair Obscur, Ghost of Yotei
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 earns another GOTY nomination, alongside Ghost of Yotei, Arc Raiders, Dispatch, and Blue Prince at DICE 2026 Awards
Published 20 hours ago
Silksong is almost shut out
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33.
Image: Sandfall Interactive/Kepler Interactive via Polygon
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The nominees for the 29th annual DICE Awards have been announced by The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences, and while Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has dominated awards season, for this particular ceremony, Ghost of Yōtei has tied Sandfall Interactive's RPG for most nominations. Both games appear across eight categories, including Game of the Year. Arc Raiders and Dispatch aren't far behind with six nominations, closely followed by Blue Prince with five.
And while Hollow Knight: Silksong was a fan favorite — particularly among Steam users — and a five-time nominee at The Game Awards 2025, it secured only one nomination at the DICE Awards, for Adventure Game of the Year.
Unlike The Game Awards, which are voted on by game critics and the public, the DICE Awards are handed out by an industry body, the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences, which is modeled on the motion picture Academy that runs the Oscars. But AIAS often makes similar choices to the Game Awards jury anyway — the two ceremonies have agreed on Game of the Year eight of the last 11 times.
The DICE Awards will take place Feb. 12 at 8 p.m. PST, and will be livestreamed by IGN. Kinda Funny Games founder Greg Miller and media personality Stella Chung will return to co-host the event, which features 23 different categories honoring the games that professional game developers loved in 2025. Though some titles have certainly dominated the list of nominees, the overall variety of games honored spans a myriad of genres, encompassing everything from Despelote to Sword of the Sea to Split Fiction.
A full list of the DICE Awards nominees for 2026 can be found below.