IGDA rolled into DICE awards

From February 18-20 2009, the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences will hold its 12th annual DICE Summit in Las Vegas. Today, the organization announced its Interactive Achievement Awards--doled out at DICE--will now be voted on by members of both the AIAS and another leading game-industry body, the International Game Developers Association. The IGDA currently boasts more than 14,000 members, hailing from a variety of positions.

"The Interactive Achievement Awards have stood as the pinnacle of the awards season as publishing and development peers select the titles that best represent the industry across a number of creative categories," said AIAS president Joseph Olin. "Our partnership with the IGDA deepens the relevance of the Awards by expanding the peer group voting for awards. This basically makes the Interactive Achievement Awards the official awards of the games industry."

As part of the partnership, IGDA members will now have a voice in the "craft" IAA categories, which includes outstanding achievements in story development, sound design, and art direction. From 2001 to 2007, the IGDA had partnered with Think Services (then CMP Media group) on the Game Developers Choice Awards handed out during the Game Developers Conference. However, as of this year's event, Think Services ended that partnership, with GDC show runners taking full control of the 2008 awards ceremony.

Hosted last year by comedian Jay Mohr, the IAAs crowned Infinity Ward's Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare as the 2007 Game of the Year. Other honorees included Valve's The Orange Box for Computer Game of the Year, Nintendo's The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass for Handheld Game of the Year, and Blizzard's World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade for Massively Multiplayer Game of the Year.

The 2009 DICE Summit will return to the Red Rock Hotel & Casino in northern Las Vegas, with speakers and events to be announced shortly. Check out GameSpot's coverage of last year's show for more on the event.