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The Golden Joystick Awards divide games and creators into platform, craft, performance, production, format, audience, lifecycle and top-honor categories. Console Game of the Year is the leading console-platform award for eligible releases in that awards year; it is separate from PC Game of the Year and from the overall Ultimate Game of the Year. In 2026, TechRadar reported that public voting runs through October 23, with winners scheduled to be revealed at the November 11 ceremony. Those dates can change if the official voting page is updated.
What the Golden Joystick Awards are
The Golden Joystick Awards are an annual video-game awards program that recognizes games, studios, performers, technical work and industry achievements. GamesRadar described the 2025 event as the 43rd annual ceremony. TechRadar’s 2026 announcement calls the next event the 44th annual awards and notes that the joystick trophy reaches back to the awards’ 1983 inception.
That history matters when reading a category list: the awards are not limited to one genre, platform or type of achievement. A single ceremony can honor a console release, a PC release, a soundtrack, an actor, an expansion, an early-access title, a studio and an overall game of the year. Category names and the exact slate can change from one year to the next, so always attach the year when comparing lists.
Content director Daniel Dawkins described the 2026 presentation as a new look that embraces “the iconic joystick trophy that traces all the way back to our inception in 1983.”
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The Golden Joystick category map
The following five groups make the long list easier to scan. They describe what each award measures, not an official hierarchy; a specialist craft award is not automatically less important than a platform award.
| Group | Categories reported in recent ceremonies | What the group is about |
|---|---|---|
| Platform awards | Console Game of the Year; PC Game of the Year | The strongest eligible release associated with a console or PC platform in that year. |
| Craft awards | Best Audio Design; Best Soundtrack; Best Storytelling; Best Visual Design | Specific creative and technical disciplines inside a game. |
| People and production | Best Lead Performer; Best Supporting Performer; Studio of the Year; Best Gaming Hardware | Individual performances, the team behind a game and notable gaming hardware. |
| Format, audience and lifecycle | Best Indie Game; Best Indie Game – Self-published; Best Multiplayer Game; Best Early Access Game; Best Remake / Remaster; Best Game Expansion; Most Wanted Game; Still Playing – Mobile; Still Playing – PC & Console; Best Game Trailer | How a game is made, delivered, supported, anticipated or played over time. |
| Cross-media and top honors | Best Game Adaptation; Critics’ Choice; Breakthrough Award; Streamers’ Choice; Ultimate Game of the Year | Adaptations, specialist or community perspectives, emerging achievements and the ceremony’s overall top honor. |
Platform awards
Console Game of the Year and PC Game of the Year are parallel platform awards. A game can be eligible for one or both depending on the year’s rules and release circumstances, but the awards answer different platform-focused questions. Console Game of the Year asks which eligible console release stood out most; PC Game of the Year asks the equivalent question for PC.
Craft awards
These categories isolate parts of a game’s creative execution. Best Audio Design concerns the broader use of sound effects and sonic presentation, while Best Soundtrack focuses on the musical score or song selection. Best Storytelling covers narrative delivery, and Best Visual Design covers the game’s visual achievement. A title can therefore win a craft award without winning a platform or overall award.
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Best Lead Performer and Best Supporting Performer recognize acting or performance work in their respective roles. Studio of the Year looks at the developer or production team’s achievement across its work. Best Gaming Hardware shifts the focus from software to a device or hardware product that made a notable contribution during the relevant period.
Format, audience and lifecycle
This is the broadest group. Best Indie Game and Best Indie Game – Self-published distinguish independent development generally from a game released by its own developer or team. Best Multiplayer Game focuses on shared play. Best Early Access Game is tied to a title still being developed in an early-access model. Best Remake / Remaster covers substantial reworked or technically enhanced versions of existing games, while Best Game Expansion covers major additional content.
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Most Wanted Game is forward-looking rather than a completed-release award. Still Playing – Mobile and Still Playing – PC & Console recognize games that maintained an active audience on those platform groupings. Best Game Trailer evaluates a promotional video rather than the finished game itself.
Cross-media and top honors
Best Game Adaptation is for work that translates a game into another medium or brings another property into game form, depending on that year’s eligible entries. Critics’ Choice and Streamers’ Choice signal a defined judging perspective rather than a simple platform classification. Breakthrough Award highlights a notable emerging achievement. Ultimate Game of the Year is the broadest top honor: it is the ceremony’s overall choice, not a console-only or PC-only prize.
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Console Game of the Year is the leading console-platform award for that year’s eligible releases. It is not a prize for the best console hardware, the best-selling game or the game with the largest audience. It is a category-level decision about console software among the nominated releases.
| Award | Scope | How to interpret it |
|---|---|---|
| Console Game of the Year | Console platform | The standout eligible console release in that awards year. |
| PC Game of the Year | PC platform | The parallel platform award for eligible PC releases. |
| Ultimate Game of the Year | Overall ceremony | The top honor across the field, not restricted to one platform. |
Because the award is platform-focused, the winner does not have to be the same game that wins Ultimate Game of the Year. A game can also be celebrated in a craft, performance or multiplayer category without taking either platform award.
Console Game of the Year winners and nominees
2024 winner
Helldivers 2 won Console Game of the Year at the 2024 Golden Joystick Awards. The same ceremony named Satisfactory PC Game of the Year, Black Myth: Wukong Ultimate Game of the Year and Helldivers 2 Critics’ Choice.
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2025 nominees and winner
The 2025 Console Game of the Year field contained six nominees:
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- Ghost of Yōtei — winner
- Death Stranding 2: On the Beach
- Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds
- Mario Kart World
Ghost of Yōtei’s win identifies it as the 2025 console-category winner; it does not mean the title also won the ceremony’s overall award. In the same year, Hollow Knight: Silksong won PC Game of the Year and Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 won Ultimate Game of the Year.
2026 nominees reported so far
TechRadar’s September 29, 2026 announcement listed these Console Game of the Year nominees:
- 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
The reported list is a nominee slate, not a winner announcement. The result was scheduled for the 2026 ceremony, so readers checking after the event should verify the official winners page for the final outcome.
Recent winners across the categories
| Year | Category | Winner |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Console Game of the Year | Helldivers 2 |
| 2024 | PC Game of the Year | Satisfactory |
| 2024 | Ultimate Game of the Year | Black Myth: Wukong |
| 2024 | Critics’ Choice | Helldivers 2 |
| 2025 | Console Game of the Year | Ghost of Yōtei |
| 2025 | PC Game of the Year | Hollow Knight: Silksong |
| 2025 | Ultimate Game of the Year | Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 |
| 2025 | Studio of the Year | Sandfall Interactive |
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 also won seven 2025 Golden Joysticks, tying the record set in 2023 by Baldur’s Gate 3 and Larian. That achievement illustrates why counting category wins and identifying the overall winner are different ways to read the results.
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When and how to vote in the 2026 awards
TechRadar reported that public voting for the 2026 Golden Joystick Awards was open through October 23, 2026. Winners were scheduled to be revealed at the ceremony on November 11, 2026, and the Ultimate Game of the Year shortlist was scheduled for October 26. These are time-sensitive dates from the September 29 announcement; use the current official voting page if its timetable changes.
- Open the current official Golden Joystick Awards voting page during the published voting window.
- Review the nominees under the specific category you care about, such as Console Game of the Year or Best Storytelling.
- Submit the public vote through the page’s form and follow any on-screen confirmation.
- Check the official ceremony or winners announcement after November 11 for the final results.
The available announcements identify public voting but do not publish a complete weighting methodology showing how every vote, critics’ label or streamers’ label contributes to each result. Do not infer a precise percentage split from the category names alone.
How much public participation does the ceremony attract?
GamesRadar’s 2025 report said the public voted “in their millions.” A description attached to the 2024 Golden Joystick video stated, “Over 12 million of you have voted across 20+ categories, making this our biggest year yet!” The 12-million figure belongs specifically to that 2024 event description; it should not be presented as a fixed turnout for every ceremony.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.A practical way to compare categories and winners
When two awards appear to overlap, compare them on five axes:
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- Platform: Is the award limited to console, PC, mobile or a combined platform group?
- Scope: Is it a specialist category, a platform award or the overall Ultimate Game of the Year?
- Judging audience: Does the label indicate a public vote, critics’ perspective or streamers’ perspective?
- Release lifecycle: Is the entry a new release, early-access game, remake, remaster, expansion or an established “still playing” title?
- Creative dimension: Is the award about audio, music, story, visuals, performance, multiplayer or production?
For example, a console title winning Best Visual Design has been recognized for a creative dimension, while the same title winning Console Game of the Year has won the platform comparison. A game winning Ultimate Game of the Year has cleared a broader field than either result.
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Why category names and comparisons can be tricky
Year-to-year labels are not guaranteed to match
Recent lists include small wording changes and different combinations of categories. “Best Indie Game – Self-published,” “Still Playing – PC & Console” and similar labels should therefore be quoted with their year rather than treated as permanent categories.
A nomination is not a win
Nominee lists show the eligible shortlist reported for that ceremony. Only the announced result establishes a winner. This distinction is especially important for the 2026 Console Game of the Year list, which was reported before the scheduled ceremony.
A specialist win is not an overall ranking
Winning Best Audio Design, Best Game Trailer or Best Multiplayer Game answers a narrower question than winning Ultimate Game of the Year. The categories are complementary signals, not a single league table.
Bottom line
Console Game of the Year is the Golden Joystick’s principal console-platform honor, with PC Game of the Year as its parallel PC category and Ultimate Game of the Year as the overall top prize. Helldivers 2 won the console award in 2024, Ghost of Yōtei won in 2025, and the 2026 field included ten nominees awaiting the November 11 ceremony. To interpret any result accurately, check the year, platform, award scope, judging label and release lifecycle rather than treating every Golden Joystick category as the same kind of contest.
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