The winners were determined by votes from its 30,000+ members of industry experts, honoring the video games of 2023 with 23 different categories including exceptional achievements in technology, art, animation, story and audio.

Marvel’s Spider-Man 2‘s six awards include Outstanding Achievement in Animation, Outstanding Achievement in Character, Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Composition, Outstanding Achievement in Audio Design, Outstanding Technical Achievement, and Action Game of the Year.

Baldur’s Gate 3 has been winning a lot of Game of the Year awards including at The Game Awards. The D.I.C.E. Awards honored the game and developer Larian Studios with five awards including Outstanding Achievement awards across Story, Game Direction and Game Design, Role-Playing Game of the Year and Game of the Year.

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom was awarded Adventure Game of the Year and Remedy Entertainment’s Alan Wake 2 won for Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction.

Legendary Japanese composer, Koji Kondo, was also honored for his work in the industry, who has worked on iconic music from Super Mario to The Legend of Zelda video game series. Composer Brian Tyler (The Super Mario Bros Movie) had the honor of presenting the Academy’s Hall of Fame award to Kondo-san.

“The 27th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards are a testament to the talent and creativity of the interactive entertainment industry, gathering to honor the visionaries whose dedication, innovation, and passion have set new standards and brought us unforgettable gaming experiences,” stated Meggan Scavio, President of the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences. “From all of us at the Academy, and on behalf of your peers around the world, we extend our warmest congratulations to the outstanding 2023 nominees and winners for their remarkable contributions to the world of gaming.”

Here’s the full list of winners at the 27th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards:

Outstanding Achievement in Animation
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2

Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction
Alan Wake 2

Outstanding Achievement in Character
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 – Miles Morales

Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Composition
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2

Outstanding Achievement in Audio Design
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2

Outstanding Achievement in Story
Baldur’s Gate 3

Outstanding Technical Achievement
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2

Action Game of the Year
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2

Adventure Game of the Year
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

Family Game of the Year
Super Mario Bros. Wonder

Fighting Game of the Year
Street Fighter 6

Racing Game of the Year
Forza Motorsport

Role-Playing Game of the Year
Baldur’s Gate 3

Sports Game of the Year
MLB® The Show 23

Strategy/Simulation Game of the Year
Dune: Spice Wars

Online Game of the Year
Diablo IV

Immersive Reality Technical Achievement
Horizon: Call of the Mountain

Immersive Reality Game of the Year
Asgard’s Wrath 2

Outstanding Achievement for an Independent Game
COCOON

Mobile Game of the Year
WHAT THE CAR?

Outstanding Achievement in Game Design
Baldur’s Gate 3

Outstanding Achievement in Game Direction
Baldur’s Gate 3

Game of the Year
Baldur’s Gate 3

Featured image courtesy of Larian Studios.

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Played by Jacqueline Piñol, Rio has been in three different Spider-Man games from Insomniac Games. In Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, Rio is supportive of Miles (played by Nadji Jeter) and his activities as a superhero in addition to helping out as a councilwoman.

“Nadji and I had some really heartfelt moments,” Piñol tells Nerd Reactor. “And each game has allowed us to play a few of those key moments that I think – although not as a playable character – but on that mission when the gamers get to go through those scenes or if they choose to, I think it just gives it more depth. You’re going to care more about Miles. You’re going to be more invested in his journey and his outcome when you see the vulnerable sides of him.”

“When you see the things that he cares about that have high stakes for him – because if anything were to happen to his mom or things that his mom cares about, it would affect Miles greatly, especially after having lost his dad,” she explained. “So I really love the way the writers and Insomniac took the story. And it’s not just about action/playing because – of course, that’s exciting – but sometimes it carries more weight when there’s something big at stake. I think that the important part of me being in those moments with Nadji is that it gives every character and the story more depth.”

In Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, Miles wants justice for his father’s death and seeks out Martin Li, aka Mister Negative. Rio wants him to move past that, but the thirst for vengeance is strong.

“Because obviously, there’s that part of you that’s like, ‘Yeah, let’s go get them,'” Piñol said. “You just can’t help yourself. You want to get revenge? Absolutely. So, in real life, I mean, it’s tough to say. I think before I was a mom, I was more of a risk-taker. And I would have been more like, ‘Oh, stop at nothing to get back at him,’ you know? When you become a parent, things change and you go, ‘I need to do whatever I can to keep myself safe and protected because I have to protect my son.’ And I just don’t want anything to backlash at my son, right? So moms think that way. And I think Rio is wired in a way to be very protective of Miles because he’s already lost one parent. So whatever we can do to make sure we’re safe and together, but I think she would do anything to protect him, even if she was in danger.”

On Peter Parker:

“I feel like there’s a bit of a motherly and sort of endearing relationship that I feel toward Peter, because even though he’s older than Myles, he’s still almost like a son, almost like I need to look out for him,” she explained. “Especially if my kid has friends, I want to make sure those friends are okay too. I need to protect them because they’re hanging out with my son. And if Peter is such a big influence on Miles and Miles looks up to him as a mentor and a guide, and they’re out there facing the dangers of the world, of course, I want to make sure Peter is okay. So I think that’s not something that is blatantly apparent in the game, but I will tell you that as Rio, that is something that I really felt. I’m hard on him because I know he’s older and more mature, so he should know better. He’s more experienced. But if you’re taking my son under your wing, you better be careful.”

You can see Jacqueline Piñol as Rio Morales in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, which is now available on PlayStation 5.

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Stephen Oyoung portrayed Li, a philanthropist who ran F.E.A.S.T., a homeless shelter in New York City. The actor is reprising his role in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, and he can be seen in the recent story trailer, sporting a new look due to his time at Raft prison.

“I mean, people are speculating,” Oyoung tells Nerd Reactor. “Oh, you know, ‘What is he in this?’ He’s the same old, good old Martin Li, Mister Negative. You will see Mister Negative come in, as you saw in the trailer. It was like blink and you miss it. Okay, talking about face stuff with Spider-Man, I love the chatter because Jacinda Chew and Bryan Intihar and the whole team at Insomniac made that choice to give Martin Li a kind of a new look. Which I thought was pretty cool. I think it’s so funny that people are like, ‘Oh, this guy looks like either Keanu Reeves or Adam Driver.”

A tragic moment in the first game involved Li and his Inner Demons gang being responsible for the death of Jefferson Davis, Miles Morales’ father. This will be explored further in the sequel where we will see Miles confront Martin about what he had done.

“Miles sees Martin,” Oyoung said. “Okay, and after that, I can’t really say anything, but there is definitely some stuff going down with those two, for sure.”

Li runs a shelter to help the homeless, but something has happened to him, causing him to go down a darker path. There is light and dark with these villains, and that’s what makes them compelling as Peter Parker’s antagonist.

“You got your normal lives and then you have your superhero lives and all the things that that entails, right?” Oyoung describes Spider-Man and Peter Parker. “So that translates the same with your villains, right? We’re not just your two-dimensional evil bad guys. Even the bad guys have their motivations. And especially when it comes to Mister Negative. Obviously, we saw in the first game, he was running the F.E.A.S.T. Center. He was a good dude, and he even had reasons. You could sympathize for his plight and kind of why he did the things he did, which just makes him such a rich character, right? Then, as an actor, again, really fun to play.”

Oyoung has been very busy in the video game voice-acting world, and he can be heard in Starfield, Mortal Kombat 1, Gotham Knights, and more.

“If you didn’t meet Daisuke, you can still meet Headlock and then also there’s Emerson,” Oyoung said of the characters he voiced in Starfield. “He’s around there too. He’s another. He’s actually the level that they patched where they have the mud that you could get infinite supplies. If you pass them and go to Emerson’s shop, you can talk to me.”

For the full video interview, you can check it out below.

About Marvel’s Spider-Man 2

Synopsis: The Spider-Men, Peter Parker and Miles Morales, enter new chapters in their lives as they balance their responsibilities as protectors of Marvel’s New York. As Harry Osborn, Peter’s best friend, returns into his life, and Miles looks to build his future beyond high school, the relationship between our heroes is tested and strained as the Symbiote appears to threaten them, the city, and the ones they love.

Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 will be released on October 20, 2023, exclusively for PlayStation 5.

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