Video game awards season is officially underway, with the nominations for the 44th annual Golden Joystick Awards now announced and voting open across 21 categories. 007 First Light and Big Walk lead the field with six nominations each, followed by Resident Evil Requiem with four. In my review, I said 007 First Light still felt like a generic third-person action game in the Uncharted mold, but that the sameness ended up feeling oddly refreshing, and it’s now up for Console Game of the Year, Best Storytelling, and Best Soundtrack among others. Control Resonant and Silent Hill: Townfall both came out yesterday and are already on the ballot, with Control Resonant nominated for Best Visual Design and Frankie Kevich’s Zoe de Vera in the running for Best Supporting Performer.
Voting is open on goldenjoysticks.com until October 23, 2026, at 4:00 PM Pacific (7:00 PM Eastern), though the Ultimate Game of the Year shortlist won’t be revealed until October 26, and voting for that category opens the same day. Known as the People’s Gaming Awards, the show drew a record 21 million public votes last year, when Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 took home seven awards, including Ultimate Game of the Year. Ghost of Yōtei, Hollow Knight: Silksong, Grand Theft Auto VI, and PEAK also won multiple awards in 2025.
The winners will be announced at a ceremony in central London on November 11, 2026, which will also be livestreamed, and it falls one week before Grand Theft Auto VI arrives on November 19. Future’s Daniel Dawkins said no single game dominates the field this year and called it one of the most open and unpredictable years the awards have had. As usual, a few awards aren’t part of the public vote, including the Breakthrough Award, the Critics’ Choice Award, and the Streamers’ Choice Award, with those winners selected by a panel of journalists from GamesRadar+, PC Gamer, Future Games Show, Edge, Knowledge, and Retro Gamer.
Quite a few of this year’s nominees have been through our review process, including Forza Horizon 6, Saros, Pragmata, and Pokémon Pokopia in the Console Game of the Year category, along with Star Wars Zero Company on the PC side and Orbitals for Best Visual Design. Marvel’s Wolverine has Liam McIntyre and Troy Baker up for performer awards, and Dispatch is nominated for Best Storytelling, Best Soundtrack, and Best Lead Performer. On the Early Access side, we’ve published first impressions of both Slay the Spire 2 and Subnautica 2, and we reviewed the Steam Controller, which is up for Best Gaming Hardware. Palworld, Vampire Crawlers, Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced, and DOOM: The Dark Ages | Revelations are also among the nominees we’ve covered.
The full list of nominees is below, so make sure to cast your vote before the October 23 deadline.
Golden Joystick Awards 2026 Nominations
Best Audio Design
- Big Walk
- Marathon
- Onimusha: Way of the Sword
- Rhythm Heaven Groove
- SAROS
- STAR WARS: Galactic Racer
Best Early Access Game
- Dead as Disco
- MENACE
- skate.
- Slay the Spire 2
- Subnautica 2
- WARDOGS
Best Game Adaptation
- Devil May Cry (Season 2)
- Exit 8
- Fallout (Season 2)
- Iron Lung
- Mortal Kombat II
- Resident Evil
Best Game Expansion
- Cult of the Lamb: Woolhaven
- DAVE THE DIVER – In the Jungle Content Pack
- DOOM: The Dark Ages | Revelations
- Quake: Dawn of the Machine
- The Alters: Last Variable
- World of Warcraft: Midnight
Best Game Trailer
- Battlefield 6 x Top Gun: Carrier Strike Cinematic Trailer
- Big Walk – Release Date Announcement
- Cairn – Launch Trailer
- MOUSE: P.I. For Hire | Official Launch Trailer
- Prove You’re Human – Announcement Trailer
- Resident Evil Requiem – Evil Has Always Had A Name
Best Gaming Hardware
- Logitech G PRO X2 SUPERSTRIKE
- Razer Viper V4 Pro
- Secretlab ATLAS
- Sony INZONE M10S II
- Steam Controller
- Turtle Beach Stealth Pro II
Best Indie Game
- Big Walk
- Denshattack!
- Esoteric Ebb
- Mixtape
- Mouse: P.I. for Hire
- Order of the Sinking Star
- REANIMAL
- Sovereign Tower
- Titanium Court
- Valheim
Best Indie Game – Self Published
- Cairn
- Fields of Mistria
- MECCHA CHAMELEON
- Mewgenics
- Mina the Hollower
- Perfect Tides: Station to Station
- Phonopolis
- Rhythm Doctor
- The Incident at Galley House
- Vampire Crawlers: The Turbo Wildcard from Vampire Survivors
Best Lead Performer
- Aaron Paul – Robert Robertson III in Dispatch
- Angela Sant’Albano – Grace Ashcroft in Resident Evil Requiem
- Anna Demetriou – Sophia in Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy
- Liam McIntyre – Wolverine in Marvel’s Wolverine
- Patrick Gibson – James Bond in 007 First Light
- Will de Renzy-Martin – Coen in The Blood of Dawnwalker
Best Supporting Performer
- Frankie Kevich – Zoe de Vera in CONTROL Resonant
- Grace Saif – Diana in PRAGMATA
- Lennie James – John Greenway in 007 First Light
- Terry O’Quinn – Richard in SILENT HILL: Townfall
- Troy Baker – Nathaniel Essex in Marvel’s Wolverine
- Vic Michaelis – Runa Blask in STAR WARS Zero Company
Best Multiplayer Game
- ARC Raiders
- Big Walk
- Marathon
- MARVEL Tōkon: Fighting Souls
- MECCHA CHAMELEON
- Valheim
Best Remake / Remaster
- Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced
- Gothic 1 Remake
- METAL GEAR SOLID: MASTER COLLECTION Vol.2
- Star Fox
- The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Remastered
- Trails in the Sky 2nd Chapter
Best Soundtrack
- 007 First Light
- Crimson Desert
- Dispatch
- Lumines Arise
- Mewgenics
- Mixtape
Best Storytelling
- 007 First Light
- Dispatch
- Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave
- SILENT HILL: Townfall
- The Blood of Dawnwalker
- ZERO PARADES: For Dead Spies
Best Visual Design
- CONTROL Resonant
- Forza Horizon 6
- Orbitals
- Phonopolis
- Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy
- SAROS
Most Wanted Game
- Alien: Isolation 2
- ANANTA
- Black Myth: Zhong Kui
- EXODUS
- Fable
- FINAL FANTASY VII REVELATION
- God of War Laufey
- Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet
- KINGDOM HEARTS IV
- METRO 2039
- NO LAW
- Persona 6
- Resident Evil Veronica
- STRANGER THAN HEAVEN
- Stuntman: Hollywood
- The Expanse: Osiris Reborn
- The Witcher 4
- Tides of Annihilation
- Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis
- Total War: WARHAMMER 40,000
Still Playing Award – Mobile
- Balatro
- Genshin Impact
- Honkai: Star Rail
- MARVEL SNAP
- MONOPOLY GO!
- NTE: Neverness to Everness
- Old School RuneScape
- Pokémon GO
- Roblox
- Sky: Children of the Light
- Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Mobile
- Wuthering Waves
Still Playing Award – PC and Console
- Apex Legends
- Fortnite
- GTA Online
- HELLDIVERS 2
- HITMAN World of Assassination
- Minecraft
- No Man’s Sky
- Palworld
- The Elder Scrolls Online
- Warframe
- World of Warcraft
- Call of Duty: Warzone
Studio of the Year
- CAPCOM
- Frogwares
- House House
- IO Interactive
- Nintendo EPD
- SQUARE ENIX
PC Game of the Year
- Big Walk
- Crimson Desert
- Escape from Tarkov
- Esoteric Ebb
- MECCHA CHAMELEON
- Mewgenics
- Order of the Sinking Star
- STAR WARS Zero Company
- The Blood of Dawnwalker
- Valheim
Console Game of the Year
- 007 First Light
- Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave
- Forza Horizon 6
- LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight
- Nioh 3
- Onimusha: Way of the Sword
- Pokémon Pokopia
- PRAGMATA
- Resident Evil Requiem
- SAROS
