Golden Joystick Awards 2026: Winners so far

This year's gaming awards season begins in earnest today with the 44th annual Golden Joystick Awards. It is an especially interesting event given how unsettled the 2026 Game of the Year race has been. Unlike 2025, which had a clear frontrunner in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, this year's slate has been full of quality titles, but none has singularly captured the public's interest in a way that assures it will take home awards. The Golden Joysticks could be an early indicator of which games will rise to awards recognition, especially at Geoff Keighley's The Game Awards in December.

There are two elephants in the room at this year's Golden Joystick Awards, however. The first is Grand Theft Auto 6. Rockstar Games' much-anticipated blockbuster will not be released until Nov. 19, meaning it is not in competition at this particular awards show. GTA 6 will undoubtedly upend the awards landscape, so later shows could look completely different from what we see today.

There is also the Big Walk issue. Developer House House revealed this week that it used AI, specifically large language models (LLMs), in the final phase of development. While the studio says that under 0.1% of the game's code had anything to do with generative AI tools, this will likely be a hardline for many that puts the critical darling out of contention. As the Golden Joystick Awards closed voting on Nov. 5, voters were not aware of this controversy, but Big Walk winning awards may leave a bad taste for some people that may be reflected in fewer accolades later this year.

Here is the complete list of winners from the Golden Joystick Awards 2026, which we will update as the show goes on.

Best Audio Design

• WINNER: Onimusha: Way of the Sword

• Big Walk

• Marathon

• Rhythm Heaven Groove

• Saros

• Star Wars: Galactic Racer

Best Early Access Game

• WINNER: Subnautica 2

• Dead as Disco

• Menace

• skate.

• Slay the Spire 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

• WINNER: Doom: The Dark Ages | Revelations

• Cult of the Lamb: Woolhaven

• Dave the Diver - In the Jungle Content Pack

• Quake: Dawn of the Machine

• The Alters: Last Variable

• World of Warcraft: Midnight

Best Game Trailer

• WINNER: Resident Evil Requiem - Evil Has Always Had A Name

• 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

Best Gaming Hardware

• WINNER: Steam Controller

• Logitech G PRO X2 SUPERSTRIKE

• Razer Viper V4 Pro

• Secretlab ATLAS

• Sony INZONE M10S II

• Turtle Beach Stealth Pro II

Best Indie Game

• WINNER: Valheim

• Big Walk

• Denshattack!

• Esoteric Ebb

• Mixtape

• Mouse: P.I. for Hire

• Order of the Sinking Star

• Reanimal

• Sovereign Tower

• Titanium Court

Best Indie Game - Self-published

• WINNER: Meccha Chameleon

• Cairn

• Fields of Mistria

• 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, Dispatch

• Angela Sant'Albano - Grace Ashcroft, Resident Evil Requiem

• Anna Demetriou - Sophia, Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy

• Liam McIntyre - Wolverine, Marvel's Wolverine

• Patrick Gibson - James Bond, 007 First Light

• Will de Renzy-Martin - Coen, The Blood of Dawnwalker

Best Supporting Performer

• Frankie Kevich - Zoe de Vera, Control Resonant

• Grace Saif - Diana, Pragmata

• Lennie James - John Greenway, 007 First Light

• Terry O'Quinn - Richard, Silent Hill: Townfall

• Troy Baker - Nathaniel Essex, Marvel's Wolverine

• Vic Michaelis - Runa Blask, Star Wars Zero Company

Best Multiplayer Game

• WINNER: Meccha Chameleon

• ARC Raiders

• Big Walk

• Marathon

• Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls

• 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

• WINNER: Dispatch

• 007 First Light

• Crimson Desert

• Lumines Arise

• Mewgenics

• Mixtape

Best Storytelling

• WINNER: Dispatch

• 007 First Light

• Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave

• Silent Hill: Townfall

• The Blood of Dawnwalker

• Zero Parades: For Dead Spies

Best Visual Design

• WINNER: 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 7 Revelation

• God of War Laufey

• Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet

• Kingdom Hearts 4

• 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 - Mobile

• WINNER: 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 - PC & Console

• WINNER: Minecraft

• Apex Legends

• Call of Duty: Warzone

• Fortnite

• GTA Online

• Helldivers 2

• Hitman World of Assassination

• No Man's Sky

• Palworld

• The Elder Scrolls Online

• Warframe

• World of Warcraft

Studio of the Year

• WINNER: 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

Ultimate Game of the Year

• 007 First Light

• Big Walk

• Control Resonant

• Crimson Desert

• Dispatch

• Forza Horizon 6

• Phantom Blade Zero

• Pokémon Pokopia

• Pragmata

• Resident Evil Requiem

• Star Wars: Galactic Racer

• The Blood of Dawnwalker