Golden Joystick Awards 2026 Nominees: The Full List and How to Vote

Public voting for the Golden Joystick Awards 2026 is now open. The 44th edition of the world's longest-running public-voted games awards covers 21 categories, and IO Interactive's 007 First Light and House House's Big Walk lead the field with six nominations each, including their studios' nods for Studio of the Year.

Resident Evil Requiem, Mewgenics, MECCHA CHAMELEON, SAROS, Valheim, Dispatch and The Blood of Dawnwalker also appear in several categories. Below is the full list of Golden Joystick Awards 2026 nominees, category by category.

Key dates: main voting closes 23 October 2026. Ultimate Game of the Year voting runs separately from 26 to 30 October. Winners are revealed at the ceremony in London on Wednesday 11 November 2026.

Register your votes now

Golden Joystick Awards 2026 categories

• Console Game of the Year
• PC Game of the Year
• Best Storytelling
• Best Visual Design
• Best Audio Design
• Best Soundtrack
• Best Lead Performer
• Best Supporting Performer
• Best Multiplayer Game
• Best Indie Game
• Best Indie Game – Self Published
• Best Remake / Remaster
• Best Game Expansion
• Best Early Access Game
• Studio of the Year
• Still Playing (PC & Console)
• Still Playing (Mobile)
• Best Gaming Hardware
• Best Game Trailer
• Best Game Adaptation
• Most Wanted Game

Golden Joystick Awards 2026 nominees: the full list

Console Game of the Year nominees (rank your top three)

• Resident Evil Requiem
• PRAGMATA
• Pokémon Pokopia
• 007 First Light
• Forza Horizon 6
• Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave
• Onimusha: Way of the Sword
• LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight
• SAROS
• Nioh 3

PC Game of the Year nominees (rank your top three)

• Big Walk
• Escape from Tarkov
• Valheim
• STAR WARS Zero Company
• The Blood of Dawnwalker
• Esoteric Ebb
• Mewgenics
• MECCHA CHAMELEON
• Crimson Desert
• Order of the Sinking Star

Best Storytelling nominees

• 007 First Light
• The Blood of Dawnwalker
• Dispatch
• ZERO PARADES: For Dead Spies
• SILENT HILL: Townfall
• Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave

Best Visual Design nominees

• Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy
• Forza Horizon 6
• SAROS
• Phonopolis
• CONTROL Resonant
• Orbitals

Best Audio Design nominees

• Rhythm Heaven Groove
• Big Walk
• SAROS
• Marathon
• STAR WARS: Galactic Racer
• Onimusha: Way of the Sword

Best Soundtrack nominees

• Lumines Arise
• Mewgenics
• Mixtape
• Crimson Desert
• Dispatch
• 007 First Light

Best Lead Performer nominees

• Liam McIntyre – Wolverine, Marvel's Wolverine
• Patrick Gibson – James Bond, 007 First Light
• Aaron Paul – Robert Robertson III, Dispatch
• Angela Sant'Albano – Grace Ashcroft, Resident Evil Requiem
• Will de Renzy-Martin – Coen, The Blood of Dawnwalker
• Anna Demetriou – Sophia, Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy

Best Supporting Performer nominees

• Troy Baker – Nathaniel Essex, Marvel's Wolverine
• Vic Michaelis – Runa Blask, STAR WARS Zero Company
• Lennie James – John Greenway, 007 First Light
• Terry O'Quinn – Richard, SILENT HILL: Townfall
• Frankie Kevich – Zoe de Vera, CONTROL Resonant
• Grace Saif – Diana, PRAGMATA

Best Multiplayer Game nominees

• Big Walk
• Valheim
• MARVEL Tōkon: Fighting Souls
• Marathon
• ARC Raiders
• MECCHA CHAMELEON

Best Indie Game nominees

• Big Walk
• Valheim
• Order of the Sinking Star
• Titanium Court
• Mixtape
• Denshattack!
• Esoteric Ebb
• MOUSE: P.I. For Hire
• REANIMAL
• Sovereign Tower

Best Indie Game – Self Published nominees

• Mewgenics
• Mina the Hollower
• Perfect Tides: Station to Station
• Phonopolis
• The Incident at Galley House
• MECCHA CHAMELEON
• Rhythm Doctor
• Fields of Mistria
• Vampire Crawlers: The Turbo Wildcard from Vampire Survivors
• Cairn

Best Remake / Remaster nominees

• Trails in the Sky 2nd Chapter
• Gothic 1 Remake
• Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced
• The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Remastered
• METAL GEAR SOLID: MASTER COLLECTION Vol.2
• Star Fox

Best Game Expansion nominees

• DOOM: The Dark Ages | Revelations
• World of Warcraft: Midnight
• DAVE THE DIVER – In the Jungle Content Pack
• Quake: Dawn of the Machine
• The Alters: Last Variable
• Cult of the Lamb: Woolhaven

Best Early Access Game nominees

• Slay the Spire 2
• Subnautica 2
• Dead as Disco
• WARDOGS
• MENACE
• skate.

Studio of the Year nominees

• CAPCOM
• House House
• IO Interactive
• Nintendo EPD
• Frogwares
• SQUARE ENIX

Still Playing (PC & Console) nominees (rank your top three)

• No Man's Sky
• HELLDIVERS 2
• Minecraft
• Fortnite
• The Elder Scrolls Online
• Warframe
• GTA Online
• HITMAN World of Assassination
• Apex Legends
• World of Warcraft
• Palworld
• Call of Duty: Warzone

Still Playing (Mobile) nominees (rank your top three)

• Genshin Impact
• Honkai: Star Rail
• MARVEL SNAP
• Pokémon GO
• Wuthering Waves
• MONOPOLY GO!
• Old School RuneScape
• NTE: Neverness to Everness
• Sky: Children of the Light
• Roblox
• Balatro
• Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Mobile

Best Gaming Hardware nominees

• Sony INZONE M10S II
• Steam Controller
• Secretlab ATLAS
• Logitech G PRO X2 SUPERSTRIKE
• Turtle Beach Stealth Pro II
• Razer Viper V4 Pro

Best Game Trailer nominees

• Big Walk – Release Date Announcement
• Resident Evil Requiem – Evil Has Always Had A Name
• MOUSE: P.I. For Hire – Official Launch Trailer
• Prove You're Human – Announcement Trailer
• Cairn – Launch Trailer
• Battlefield 6 x Top Gun: Carrier Strike – Cinematic Trailer

Best Game Adaptation nominees

• Fallout (Season 2)
• Iron Lung
• Resident Evil
• Exit 8
• Mortal Kombat II
• Devil May Cry (Season 2)

Most Wanted Game nominees (rank your top three)

• The Witcher 4
• God of War Laufey
• Black Myth: Zhong Kui
• Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet
• Fable
• FINAL FANTASY VII REVELATION
• KINGDOM HEARTS IV
• Persona 6
• The Expanse: Osiris Reborn
• METRO 2039
• Total War: WARHAMMER 40,000
• STRANGER THAN HEAVEN
• Tides of Annihilation
• EXODUS
• Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis
• Resident Evil Veronica
• Alien: Isolation 2
• NO LAW
• Stuntman: Hollywood
• ANANTA

How to vote in the Golden Joystick Awards 2026

Voting is free and takes place on GamesRadar+ and goldenjoysticks.com. Most categories take a single pick, while Console Game of the Year, PC Game of the Year, Most Wanted Game and both Still Playing awards ask you to rank your top three. You can skip any category you haven't played.

Register your votes now