The video games industry heralded Untitled Goose Game, made by a small Melbourne studio, as the finest game of last year. House House, the game’s publisher, and a number of other indie outfits, won big at the 2020 DICE Awards, hosted by the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences in Las Vegas Thursday night.
Developer House House wasn’t in town to accept its award when it beat out other award-winning big-budget titles, such as Death Stranding and Control. Instead, they sent their pal and fellow Melbourne developer Trent Kusters, co-founder of game development collective League of Geeks.
“It was the hip thing to be into indie games, but now indie games are so accessible and ubiquitous, they’re now just games that cater to different types of people,” Kusters said, beaming with pride for his friends and peers. “Just like Disco Elysium caters to different people than Sekiro does.”
Disco Elysium, by developer ZA/UM, won Outstanding Achievement in Story, beating out bigger-budget titles like Control.
“For me, indie games have always been so important, especially because of the innovation,” said Helen Hindpere, the game’s writer. “When I think about indie games having great stories, they’ve influenced me and my writing.”
Other big indie wins: Baba Is You by Hempuli Oy won Outstanding Achievement in Game Design, beating out Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice by From Software, the influential Japanese studio behind the Dark Souls series.
Immersive Reality Game of the Year went to Pistol Whip, a VR game made by Cloudhead Games, which beat out Sony’s Blood and Truth (which later won the award for Immersive Reality Technical Achievement). Cloudhead Games, based out of Vancouver, has a staff of only 20 people.
“People don’t know who we are and it’s amazing to get this recognition as a small studio doing, I guess, an interesting thing that people are connecting with,” said Cloudhead’s CEO and creative director Denny Unger.
The team added that its notable that they’re a small studio making only games in VR, a still very-young market that’s already crowded with giants like Sony and Facebook.
Big budget titles still won big awards at DICE, including Remedy’s Control for Outstanding Achievement in Game Direction, EA’s Apex Legends for Outstanding Achievement in Online Gameplay and Nintendo winning the Strategy/Simulation Game of the Year for Fire Emblem: Three Houses.
Kusters said he believes award categories targeting smaller games – think “Best Indie Game” versus “Best Game” – are still necessary, but that he welcomes the celebration of small budget works on a bigger stage, especially at a show as prestigious as the DICE Awards.
“Maybe it’s unfair to put a micro game up against Sekiro or Overwatch for game of the year, so it’s good to have your own categories,” Kusters said. “But when it comes to actual game of the year? Let it take down Sekiro, or if Sekiro is better, let it take the win. Doesn’t matter if it’s made by three dudes in Slovakia or some girl in Estonia Skyping in most days.”
Here is the full list of winners:
Game of the Year: Untitled Goose Game
Publisher: Panic
Developer: House House
Outstanding Achievement in Game Direction: Control
Publisher: 505 Games
Developer: Remedy Entertainment
Outstanding Achievement in Game Design: Baba Is You
Publisher: Hempuli Oy
Developer: Hempuli Oy
Portable Game of the Year: Sayonara Wild Hearts
Publisher: Annapurna Interactive
Developer: Simogo
Outstanding Achievement for an Independent Game: Untitled Goose Game
Publisher: Panic
Developer: House House
Immersive Reality Game of the Year: Pistol Whip
Publisher: Cloudhead Games
Developer: Cloudhead Games
Immersive Reality Technical Achievement: Blood & Truth
Publisher: Sony Interactive Entertainment
Developer: SIE London Studio
Outstanding Achievement in Online Gameplay: Apex Legends
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Developer: Respawn Entertainment
Strategy/Simulation Game of the Year: Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Publisher: Nintendo Co., Ltd.
Developer: Nintendo Co., Ltd., Intelligent Systems Co., Ltd. and Koei Tecmo Games Co., Ltd.
Sports Game of the Year: FIFA 2020
Publisher: EA Sports
Developer: EA Vancouver
Role-Playing Game of the Year: The Outer Worlds
Publisher: Private Division
Developer: Obsidian Entertainment
Racing Game of the Year: Mario Kart Tour
Publisher: Nintendo Co., Ltd.
Developer: Nintendo Co., Ltd.
Fighting Game of the Year: Mortal Kombat 11
Publisher: Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
Developer: NetherRealm Studios
Family Game of the Year Super: Mario Maker 2
Publisher: Nintendo Co., Ltd.
Developer: Nintendo Co., Ltd.
Adventure Game of the Year: Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Developer: Respawn Entertainment
Action Game of the Year: Control
Publisher: 505 Games
Developer: Remedy Entertainment
Outstanding Technical Achievement: Death Stranding
Publisher: Sony Interactive Entertainment
Developer: Kojima Productions Co., Ltd.
Outstanding Achievement in Story: Disco Elysium
Publisher: ZA/UM
Developer: ZA/UM
Outstanding Achievement in Audio Design: Death Stranding
Publisher: Sony Interactive Entertainment
Developer: Kojima Productions Co., Ltd.
Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Composition: Control
Publisher: 505 Games
Developer: Remedy Entertainment
Outstanding Achievement in Character: Untitled Goose Game
Publisher: Panic
Developer: House House
Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction: Control
Publisher: 505 Games
Developer: Remedy Entertainment
Outstanding Achievement in Animation: Luigi’s Mansion 3
Publisher: Nintendo Co., Ltd.
Developer: Next Level Games
