12th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards


The 12th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards was the 12th edition of the Interactive Achievement Awards, an annual awards event that honored the best games in the video game industry during 2008. The awards were arranged by the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences and were held at the Red Rock Casino, Resort & Spa in Las Vegas, Nevada on. It was also held as part of the Academy's 2009 D.I.C.E. Summit, and was hosted by stand-up comedian Jay Mohr.
The award for "Outstanding Achievement in Game Direction" was introduced this year. Even though the award for "Outstanding Achievement in Game Design" was not listed in the rules & procedures for the 12th annual awards, there were still finalists named for the category. Separate awards for "Outstanding Achievement in Story" were offered for original material and adapted material. "Downloadable Game of the Year" was not offered this year. Finalists were named for "Fighting Game of the Year" and "Casual Game of the Year" this year.
Gears of War 2 and LittleBigPlanet were tied for the most nominations, with the latter winning the most awards, including "Overall Game of the Year". Sony Computer Entertainment was the most award-winning publisher. Electronic Arts had the most nominated and award-winning games. Spore won "Outstanding Achievement in Gameplay Engineering", while the mobile spin-off Spore Origins won "Cellular Game of the Year".
Bruce Shelley, creator of Age of Empires, was inducted into the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences Hall of Fame.

Winners and Nominees

Winners are listed first, highlighted in boldface, and indicated with a double dagger.

Special Awards

Hall of Fame

Multiple nominations and awards

Multiple Nominations

NominationsGame
10Gears of War 2
10LittleBigPlanet
8Fallout 3
8Left 4 Dead
7Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots
6Fable II
4Dead Space
4Grand Theft Auto IV
4Prince of Persia
3Professor Layton and the Curious Village
3Rock Band 2
3Spore
3World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King
2Advance Wars: Days of Ruin
2Braid
2Call of Duty: World at War
2Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia
2God of War: Chains of Olympus
2Mirror's Edge
2Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe
2MotorStorm: Pacific Rift
2Naruto: The Broken Bond
2NHL 09
2Patapon
2Tom Clancy's EndWar
2Tomb Raider: Underworld
2Wii Fit
2World of Goo

NominationsGamesCompany
219Sony Computer Entertainment
205Microsoft Game Studios
1811Electronic Arts
127Nintendo
116Ubisoft
101Epic Games
101Media Molecule
92Konami
81Bethesda Game Studios
81Valve South
71Kojima Productions
61Lionhead Studios
43Activision
41Rockstar North
32Treyarch
31Blizzard Entertainment
31Harmonix
31Maxis
31MTV Games
31Level-5
222K Games
22Namco Bandai Games
22THQ
212D Boy
21Crystal Dynamics
21DICE
21Eidos Interactive
21Evolution Studios
21Intelligent Systems
21Midway Games
21Number None
21Ready at Dawn

Multiple awards

AwardsGame
8LittleBigPlanet
2Dead Space
2Fallout 3
2Left 4 Dead

AwardsGamesCompany
92Sony Computer Entertainment
87Electronic Arts
81Media Molecule
22Nintendo
21Bethesda Game Studios
21Valve South