The Dice Summit drew the best of the best in the game industry. The conference staged by the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences at the Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas was where game developers and publishers networked, gave talks to their peers, partied like rock stars, made secret deals, and attended the Oscars of video games, the Dice Awards, which were hosted by home-grown video game celebrities Felicia Day and Freddie Wong.
We were there for the whole event, for the 17th year in a row. The industry was optimistic this year and talked about the theme, “The new golden age of gaming,” as a mantra that had already come true. Here’s our photos below, alongside some official AIAS photos. We’ve captioned the photos so you can get a snapshot of what happened at the event.
The people of Dice
The Dice Summit opened with Go-Kart racing and golf.
Mark Geberman stepping out at the Dice Awards after-party.
Jim Merrick chomps on a cigar at the Dice Awards after party at Vanity.
Adam Sessler of Rev3 Games
Mike Gallagher, head of the Entertainment Software Association, and Min Kim of Nexon America.
John Vechey, the co-founder of PopCap and its new general manager, accepted the best casual game award for Plants vs. Zombies 2.
Eugene Jarvis, winner of the Pioneer Award, says we’re in a golden age of games. His advice: make more games.
John Hanke of Google Niantic staged a live event for the Ingress mobile game at the Hard Rock Hotel.
Bruce Straley and Neil Druckmman of Naughty Dog.
Freddie Wong and Felicia Day at an interview with GamesBeat.
The Body English bar at the Hard Rock Hotel
Tearaway creators Rex Crowle and Christophe Villedieu of Media Molecule.
Wargaming’s Victor Kislyi, CEO (right) and a fellow World of Tanks developer.
Elizabeth Sarquis of Global Gaming Initiative has launched a game that makes charitable donations so kids in Africa can have bikes.
Here’s some of the best on-stage shots.
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Trip Hawkins, creator of If You Can, urged game developers to do good. He is making games that teach kids social and emotional intelligence.
Rex Crowle of Media Molecule talks of how paper became a game mechanic in Tearaway
Rami Ismail of Vlambeer blasted cloners of Ridiculous Fishing and thanked game tool makers.
Palmer Luckey couldn’t read his prompter, but the Oculus VR founder says virtual reality is the future.
Keiji Inafune talked about designing a game along with gamer input for Mighty No. 9, a crowdfunded game.
John Hanke of Google Niantic and Susanna Moyer of the Ingress Report.
Hilmar Veigar Petursson of CCP Games talks about building community and making virtual life more meaningful than real life.
Gilman Louie of Alsop Louie Partners talks about disrupting gaming.
Ed Fries, former head of Microsoft Game Studios, specializes in advising game startups. He spoke of his career arc in making things.
Mark Turmell of Zynga quizes Eugene Jarvis and Mark Cerny about the future of gaming.
Austin Wintory, creator of the music for Journey, taught the audience how to create game soundtracks.
Andrew Sheppard of Kabam preached humility and willingness to learn.
Hilmar Veigar Petursson of CCP talked about broadening the reach of Eve Online to new fans of Dust 514 and Eve Valkyrie.
Here’s the Dice Awards show.
YouTube sensations Freddie Wong and Felicia Day hosted the awards show at Dice.
Freddie Wong and Felicia Day
Warren Spector is director of UT Austin’s gaming academy.
Blizzard’s leaders took home the award for best role-playing game for Diablo III on the console.
Rich Hilleman, chief creative director of EA says gaming is expanding on all fronts.
Victor Kislyi, CEO of Wargaming, accepted the award for online game of the year for World of Tanks. He vowed to do his part to expand gaming.
Leslie Benzies and Dan Houser accepting an award.
The creators of Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons, winner of the best downloadable game.
John Vechey credits EA PopCap for creating Plants vs Zombies 2, best casual game. He said, “I had nothing to do with the creation of this game.”
Bruce Straley and Neil Druckmann accept one of ten awards for The Last of Us.
Eugene Jarvis urged the audience to make games. And he said the golden age of games is now.
Mark Turmell introduced Pioneer winner Eugene Jarvis.
Freddie Wong is raising money via Indiegogo for Season 3 of Video Game High School.
Phil Harrison, corporate vice president of Microsoft, lauded the Rockstar Hall of Famers for groundbreaking games like Red Dead Redemption and Grand Theft Auto V.
Troy Baker is the voice of Joel in The Last of Us.
The red carpet for the DICE Awards.
Todd Howard, game director at Bethesda Studios, said he’s working hard on a new game but has nothing to announce.
Patrick Hudson of Hero Academy won last year’s best mobile game with Hero Academy.
Randy Pitchford of Gearbox Software says a number of new games are coming.
Ken Lobb of Microsoft took pride in beating Eugene Jarvis’ top score in Robotron: 2084.
Matias Myllyrinne, CEO of Remedy, says Quantum Break will combine TV narrative and gameplay.
Martin Rae says a new golden age of gaming has begun. That means falling costs to make games and an explosion of creativity.
Here’s most of the photos all in one gallery.
Elizabeth Sarquis of Global Gaming Initiative has launched a game that makes charitable donations so kids in Africa can have bikes.
Hilmar Veigar Petursson of CCP talked about broadening the reach of Eve Online to new fans of Dust 514 and Eve Valkyrie.
Trust is top of the list for player interaction for Hilmar Veigar Petursson of CCP
Susanna Moyer of the (fictional) Ingress Report appeared in person in the real world to talk about a Vegas meetup at Dice.
Boris Sofman shows off Anki Drive, where smart AI cars can out-race humans.
Ted Price of Insomniac Games admitted making mistakes and showed the audience how to learn from them.
Wargaming’s Victor Kislyi, CEO (right) and a fellow World of Tanks developer.
David Helgason, CEO of Unity Technologies, says reusable assets have saved $1 billion in expenses for game developers.
Chris Charla of Microsoft hides behind a bowling ball in the lane in the penthouse suite at the Hard Rock Hotel.
The hot tub didn’t get much action at the EEDAR party.
Hilmar Veigar Petursson of CCP wants to know when Oculus will ship. Brendan Iribe, CEO of Oculus, avoids the answer.
Eugene Jarvis and Mark Cerny joked and prognosticated about the future of games.
Andrew Sheppard of Kabam preached humility and listening to fans.
John Hanke of Google Niantic staged a live event for the Ingress mobile game at the Hard Rock Hotel.
Shuhei Yoshida of Sony is happy after the The Last of Us sweeps the awards.
Martin Rae says a new golden age of gaming has begun. That means falling costs to make games and an explosion of creativity.
Resogun’s creators
Matias Myllyrinne, CEO of Remedy, says Quantum Break will combine TV narrative and gameplay.
Randy Pitchford of Gearbox Software says a number of new games are coming.
Patrick Hudson of Hero Academy won last year’s best mobile game with Hero Academy.
Todd Howard, game director at Bethesda Studios, said he’s working hard on a new game but has nothing to announce.
The red carpet for the DICE Awards.
Troy Baker is the voice of Joel in The Last of Us.
Phil Harrison, corporate vice president of Microsoft, lauded the Rockstar Hall of Famers for groundbreaking games like Red Dead Redemption and Grand Theft Auto V.
Leslie Benzies and Dan Houser of Rockstar Games. Along with Sam Houser, they received the Hall of Fame award.
Freddie Wong is raising money via Indiegogo for Season 3 of Video Game High School.
Mark Turmell introduced Pioneer winner Eugene Jarvis.
Past Game of the Year winners Jenova Chen and Todd Howard
Eugene Jarvis, winner of the Pioneer Award, says we’re in a golden age of games. His advice: make more games.
John Vechey, the co-founder of PopCap and its new general manager, accepted the best casual game award for Plants vs. Zombies 2.
Mike Gallagher, head of the Entertainment Software Association, and Min Kim of Nexon America.
Adam Sessler of Rev3 Games
Las Vegas was cold but the after-party at Vanity was hot.
Jim Merrick chomps on a cigar at the Dice Awards after party at Vanity.
Mark Geberman stepping out at the Dice Awards after-party.
The Dice Summit opened with Go-Kart racing and golf.
Bruce Straley and Neil Druckmann accept one of ten awards for The Last of Us.
Andrew Sheppard of Kabam preached humility and willingness to learn.
Austin Wintory, creator of the music for Journey, taught the audience how to create game soundtracks.
John Vechey credits EA PopCap for creating Plants vs Zombies 2, best casual game. He said, “I had nothing to do with the creation of this game.”
Mark Turmell of Zynga quizes Eugene Jarvis and Mark Cerny about the future of gaming.
David Helgason of Unity says that asset reuse has saved developers $1 billion in reduced costs.
The creators of Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons, winner of the best downloadable game.
Ed Fries, former head of Microsoft Game Studios, specializes in advising game startups. He spoke of his career arc in making things.
Eugene Jarvis, creator of Robotron: 2084, won the Pioneer award at Dice.
Gilman Louie of Alsop Louie Partners talks about disrupting gaming.
Hilmar Veigar Petursson of CCP Games talks about building community and making virtual life more meaningful than real life.
Leslie Benzies and Dan Houser accepting an award.
John Hanke of Google Niantic and Susanna Moyer of the Ingress Report.
Keiji Inafune talked about designing a game along with gamer input for Mighty No. 9, a crowdfunded game.
Ken Lobb of Microsoft was proud to beat Eugene Jarvis’ score on the Robotron: 2084 arcade game at Dice.
Lucas Pope, (dukope) creator of Papers, Please. An indie favorite of 2013.
Victor Kislyi, CEO of Wargaming, accepted the award for online game of the year for World of Tanks. He vowed to do his part to expand gaming.
Palmer Luckey couldn’t read his prompter, but the Oculus VR founder says virtual reality is the future.
Rami Ismail of Vlambeer blasted cloners of Ridiculous Fishing and thanked game tool makers.
Rex Crowle of Media Molecule talks of how paper became a game mechanic in Tearaway
Rich Hilleman, chief creative director of EA says gaming is expanding on all fronts.
Robin Hunicke of Funomena advocated creating feeling-focused games that appeal to player’s emotions.
Blizzard’s leaders took home the award for best role-playing game for Diablo III on the console.
Bruce Straley and Neil Druckmann of Naughty dog nailed 10 awards including Game of the Year.
Steve Gaynor of the Fullbright Company made Gone Home, a popular story-based game.
Ted Price admitted a lot of mistakes and turned those into lessons for the audience at Dice.
Trip Hawkins urged developers to do good. Hawkins’ If You Can is making games to teach children social and emotional intelligence.
Warren Spector is director of UT Austin’s gaming academy.
Freddie Wong and Felicia Day
YouTube sensations Freddie Wong and Felicia Day hosted the awards show at Dice.
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