D.I.C.E. Award for Outstanding Achievement in Character

The D.I.C.E. Award for Outstanding Achievement in Character is an award presented annually by the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences during the D.I.C.E. Awards. This award is "presented to the individual or team whose work has furthered the interactive experience through the creation of a memorable character within an interactive title. Outstanding character takes into consideration the marriage of voice acting and performance (motion capture work), character design and execution, and writing". All creative/technical members of the Academy are qualified to vote in this category, regardless of their field of expertise. There were originally separate awards for female and male characters, but eventually merged into one category at the 11th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards in 2008.

The award's most recent winner is for Dr. Henry "Indiana" Jones (portrayed by Troy Baker, directed by Jerk Gustafsson, written by Tommy Tordsson Björk, and executive produced by Todd Howard), from Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, developed by MachineGames and published by Bethesda Softworks.

History

There used to be separate awards presented for a female character performance and a male character performance. Over the years it would go back and forth between Outstanding Achievement in Character Performance and Outstanding Character Performance, before being simplified to just Outstanding Achievement in Character in 2015.

Outstanding Achievement in Character Performance - Female (2004, 2007)
Outstanding Achievement in Character Performance - Male (2004, 2007)
Outstanding Character Performance - Female (2005–2006)
Outstanding Character Performance - Male (2005–2006)
Outstanding Character Performance (2008–2009, 2011, 2014)
Outstanding Achievement in Character Performance (2010, 2012)
Outstanding Character Performance - Male or Female (2013)
Outstanding Achievement in Character (2015–present)

Winners and nominees

2000s

2010s

2020s

Multiple nominations and wins

Developers and publishers

Sony has published the most nominees and the most winners. Sony's subsidiary Naughty Dog has developed the most nominees. Valve and Sony's Santa Monica Studio are tied for developing the most winners. Electronic Arts and Microsoft Game Studios are the only publishers with back-to-back wins. Electronic Arts has published back-to-back winners for a Male Character in 2004 and 2005, while Microsoft has published back-to-back winners for a Female Character in 2006 and 2007. Electronic Arts and Microsoft have published both winners for a Female Character and a Male Character in 2005 and 2007, respectively. Ubisoft has published the most nominees without publishing a single winner, and its subsidiary Ubisoft Montreal has developed the most nominees without developing a single winner.

Franchises and Characters

Uncharted has received the most nominations in this category, but has never won. The God of War, Marvel's Spider-Man, and Portal franchises are the only franchises to have won more than once, with God of War being the most award-winning franchise. There have been numerous games that have two finalists in the same year:

Uncharted, The Last of Us, and God of War are the only franchises to have multiple nominated characters within a single game more than once. Infamous is the only franchise to receive nominations for more than one game in a single year. Portal is the only franchise that has won with more than one character (GLaDOS and Wheatley). God of War is the only franchise with the same pair of characters nominated concurrently in multiple games (Kratos and Atreus).

Kratos and Nathan Drake are the most nominated characters in this category. Kratos and Miles Morales are the only characters with more than one win. Commander Shepard is the only character that have both the male and female versions named as a finalist.