Golden Joystick Awards 2026 winners list for every category, including Ultimate Game of the Year

It’s a wrap on the 44th annual Golden Joystick Awards, and the final results are in. As per usual with these award shows, there’s a sprawling amount of categories to account for, from indie to AAA titles, and we’ve put together the full list of winners and nominees in one place. The event took place on November 11 in London, hosted by British actress Alix Wilton Regan.

It may not be the biggest ceremony of the year (that would be The Game Awards next month), but the Golden Joystick Awards remains a prestigious event with excellent representation. We’re well into the video game industry’s award season, and if you want to watch the reveals on stage, be sure to check out the livestream VOD below. If you just want a roundup, see down below.

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Golden Joystick Awards 2026 full winners and nominees list

Let’s jump straight into the results. You can find all the categories and nominees below, with the winner highlighted in bold. The organizers also shared specific voting percentages for the majority of categories, if you were wondering just how close it all was. Unlike The Game Awards, which relies primarily on a jury panel, the Golden Joystick Awards is based on public votes, excluding the Streamer’s Choice, Developer’s Choice, and Critics’ Choice categories.

Best Storytelling

• Dispatch – (41%)
• The Blood of Dawnwalker – 2nd (21%)
• 007 First Light – 3rd (16%)
• Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave
• Silent Hill: Townfall
• Zero Parades: For Dead Spies

Best Audio Design

• Onimusha: Way of the Sword – (32%)
• Big Walk – 2nd (23%)
• Star Wars: Galactic Racer – 3rd (16%)
• Saros
• Marathon
• Rhythm Heaven Groove

Best Multiplayer Game

• Meccha Chameleon – (31%)
• Valheim – 2nd (21%)
• Big Walk – 3rd (20%)
• Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls
• Marathon
• Arc Raiders

Best Visual Design

• Control Resonant – (31%)
• Forza Horizon 6 – 2nd (30%)
• Orbitals – 3rd (17%)
• Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy
• Saros
• Phonopolis

Best Expansion

• Doom: The Dark Ages – Revelations – (33%)
• Cult of the Lamb: Woolhaven – 2nd (32%)
• World of Warcraft: Midnight – 3rd (12%)
• Dave the Diver – In The Jungle
• Quake: Dawn of the Machine
• The Alters: Last Variable

Best Self-Published Indie Game

• Meccha Chameleon – (32%)
• Mewgenics – 2nd (27%)
• Cairn – 3rd (14%)
• Mina the Hollower
• Rhythm Doctor
• Perfect Tides: Station to Station
• Phonopolis
• The Incident at Galley House
• Fields of Mistria
• Vampire Crawlers

Best Indie Game

• Valheim – (28%)
• Big Walk – 2nd (22%)
• Mouse PI For Hire – 3rd (19%)
• Order of the Sinking Star
• Titanium Court
• Mixtape
• Denshattack
• Esoteric Ebb
• Renaimal
• Sovereign Tower

Best Hardware

• Steam Controller – (51%)
• Razer Viper V4 Pro – 2nd (15%)
• Logitech G Pro X2 Superstrike – 3rd (12%)
• Sony Inzone M10S 2
• Secretlab Atlas
• Turtle Beach Stealth Pro 2

Best Studio

• Capcom – (57%)
• House House – 2nd (15%)
• Square Enix – 3rd (11%)
• Nintendo EPD
• IO Interactive
• Frogwares

Best Early Access Game

• Subnautica 2 – (35%)
• Wardogs – 2nd (23%)
• Slay The Spire 2 – 3rd (21%)
• Menace
• skate.
• Dead as Disco

Best Soundtrack

• Dispatch – (26%)
• Crimson Desert – 2nd (23%)
• Mewgenics – 3rd (23%)
• 007 First Light
• Mixtape
• Lumines Arise

Still Playing (Mobile)

• Balatro – (22%)
• Pokemon Go – 2nd (16%)
• Genshin Impact – 3rd (13%)
• Wuthering Waves
• Marvel Snap
• Monopoly Go
• Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Mobile
• Old School RuneScape
• Honkai Star Rail
• NTE: Neverness to Everness
• Sky: Children of the Light

Still Playing (PC & Console)

• Minecraft – (23%)
• No Man’s Sky – 2nd (16%)
• Helldivers 2 – (14%)
• Fortnite
• The Elder Scrolls Online
• Warframe
• GTA Online
• Hitman: World of Assassination
• Apex Legends
• World of Warcraft
• Palworld
• Call of Duty: Warzone

Streamers’ Choice

• Meccha Chameleon

Best Trailer

• Resident Evil Requiem – (27%)
• Mouse PI For Hire – 2nd (24%)
• Big Walk – 3rd (19%)
• Prove You’re Human
• Cairn
• Battlefield 6 x Top Gun

Best Remake/Remaster

• The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Remastered – (37%)
• Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced – 2nd (23%)
• Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection vol. 2 – 3rd (13%)
• Star Fox
• Trails in the Sky 2nd Chapter
• Gothic 1 Remake

Developers’ Choice

• Meccha Chameleon
• Mortal Shell 2
• Village In The Shade
• Penguin Colony
• Orbitals
• Horses

Best Game Adaptation

• Iron Lung – (32%)
• Resident Evil – 2nd (27%)
• Fallout Season 2 – (22%)
• Mortal Kombat 2
• Devil May Cry Season 2
• Exit 8

Best Supporting Actor

• Grace Saif (Pragmata) – (54%)
• Lennie James (007: First Light) – 2nd (12%)
• Troy Baker (Wolverine) – 3rd (11%)
• Vic Michaelis (Star Wars Zero Company)
• Terry O’Quinn (Silent Hill: Townfall)
• Frankie Kevich (Control Resonant)

Best Lead Actor

• Angela Sant’Albano (Resident Evil Requiem) – (36%)
• Aaron Paul (Dispatch) – 2nd (31%)
• Patrick Gibson (007 First Light) – 3rd (12%)
• Liam McIntyre (Wolverine)
• Will de Renzy-Martin (The Blood of Dawnwalker)
• Anna Demetriou (Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy)

PC Game of the Year

• Crimson Desert – (18%)
• The Blood of Dawnwalker – 2nd (14%)
• Meccha Chameleon – 3rd (13%)
• Big Walk
• Star Wars Zero Company
• Order of the Sinking Star
• Esoeric Ebb
• Mewgenics
• Escape From Tarkov
• Valheim

Console Game of the Year

• Resident Evil Requiem – (27%)
• Pragmata – 2nd (19%)
• 007 First Light – 3rd (10%)
• Pokemon Pokopia
• Lego Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight
• Saros
• Nioh 3
• Forza Horizon 6
• Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave
• Onimusha: Way of the Sword

Critic’s Choice Award

• Big Walk

Most Wanted Game

• The Witcher 4 – (18%)
• Resident Evil Veronica – 2nd (10%)
• Fable – 3rd (8%)
• God of War Laufey
• Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet
• Final Fantasy 7 Revelation
• Kingdom Hearts 4
• Persona 6
• The Expanse: Osiris Reborn
• Metro 2039
• Total War: Warhammer 40K
• Stranger Than Heaven
• Tides of Annihilation
• Exodus
• Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis
• Alien: Isolation 2
• No Law
• Stuntman: Hollywood
• Ananta
• Black Myth: Zhong Kui

Ultimate Game of the Year

• Resident Evil Requiem – 1st (17%)
• Phantom Blade Zero – 2nd (16%)
• Crimson Desert – 3rd (15%)
• Control Resonant – 4th
• The Blood of Dawnwalker – 5th
• 007 First Light
• Big Walk
• Dispatch
• Forza Horizon 6
• Pokemon Pokopia
• Pragmata
• Star Wars: Galactic Racer

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