The Academy’s 5th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards were presented at a ceremony held in Las Vegas at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino on February 28, 2002, the first evening of the D.I.C.E. Summit.

Actor and comedian Patton Oswalt, who stars as "Spence" on The King of Queens on CBS and has appeared in such feature films as Man on the Moon, Zoolander, and Magnolia, hosted the 5th annual awards. Also on hand for the event was an all-star lineup of gaming industry guest presenters and special guests from the television, film, music and sports, including: Resident Evil Director Paul Anderson, Cliff Bleszinkski of Epic Games, motocross champion Mike Cinqmars, Richard Garriott of Destination Games, X-Files star Dean Haglin, Richard Hilleman of Electronic Arts, Academy Chair Don James of Nintendo of America, pro-surfer Veronica Kay, Lorne Lanning of Oddworld Inhabitants, American McGee of Carbon6 Entertainment, Sid Meier of Firaxis Games, Shigeru Miyamoto of Nintendo, Dr. Ray Muzyka of BioWare Corp., Ted Price of Insomniac Games, V.I.P's Natalie Raitano, kickboxing champion Lucia Rijker, Jason Rubin of Naughty Dog, Jez San of Argonaut Games, George Sanger of Big Fat Inc., Steven Schirripa from the The Sopranos, visual director of Tron Richard Taylor, and musical guest The X-ecutioners.

Halo: Combat Evolved, developed by Bungie and published by Microsoft, won four awards, including overall Game of the Year and Console Game of the Year.  Black & White, developed by Lionhead Studios and published by Electronic Arts, won two awards, including PC Game of the Year.

The Academy presented Interactive Achievement Awards in 29 craft, console, computer and online categories. The Academy also inducted Will Wright, chief designer and co-founder of Maxis, into the Academy's Hall of Fame. In keeping with Academy tradition, John Carmack, last year's Hall of Fame inductee and founder of id Software, returned to make the presentation.