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The Golden Joystick Awards use a hybrid system. Publishers and developers submit games, people and studios for consideration; a judging panel of editors, contributors and industry experts debates the entries and chooses the final shortlists. The public then votes in the published public categories. Ultimate Game of the Year has a separate, later public ballot.
For the 2026 awards, nominations ran from August 6 through August 28. The shortlist and main public ballot opened September 25. Main-category voting closes October 23, 2026, at 4pm PT / 7pm ET / midnight BST. Ultimate Game of the Year voting runs October 26–30, and the ceremony is scheduled for November 11 at Troxy in London.
2026 Golden Joystick voting dates
The dates below apply to the 2026 awards and are time-sensitive. The published closing time is shown in three time zones so voters can convert it locally.
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|---|---|---|
| Industry nominations | August 6–28 | Publishers and developers submit games, people and studios for consideration. |
| Shortlist and main ballot | September 25 | The judging panel’s shortlists are published and public voting opens in the main categories. |
| Main-category deadline | October 23, 4pm PT / 7pm ET / midnight BST | Voting closes for the public categories on the main ballot. |
| Ultimate Game of the Year ballot | October 26–30 | A separate public vote runs for the headline award. |
| Live ceremony | November 11 | Winners are announced at Troxy in London. |
Because the 2026 ballot is still a live process until the stated deadlines, check the ballot page itself for any last-minute changes to local cut-off times or category instructions.
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Who chooses Golden Joystick nominees and winners?
1. Publishers and developers submit nominations
Industry publishers and developers are invited to put forward games, studios and individual contributors. This submission stage is designed to create a broad pool, not to guarantee a nomination. A company can submit a title and still see it omitted from the shortlist.
2. The judging panel debates the field
The final shortlist is selected by a Golden Joystick judging panel. GamesRadar describes the panel as including editors and contributors from PC Gamer, Future Games Show, Edge, Retro Gamer and GamesRadar, together with industry experts. Judges can discuss submitted entries and make nominations of their own before agreeing on the published contenders.
3. The public votes on the published categories
Once the shortlist is live, people who buy and play games choose winners in the public categories. The public ballot is therefore not an open nomination process: voters select from the names that the panel has already shortlisted.
4. Some awards can be selected by critics
The public list does not necessarily represent every award presented at the ceremony. Golden Joystick’s historical explanations distinguish public voting from awards that can be critically selected and announced at the show. For 2026, do not assume that an award without a public ballot uses the same process as the listed categories; the current ballot and ceremony announcements are the controlling information.
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All 2026 Golden Joystick categories
The categories can be understood by what they measure. Several judge creative work, while others focus on platform, release stage, audience interest or the wider entertainment context.
| Comparison axis | 2026 categories | What the category is asking voters to judge |
|---|---|---|
| Platform or format | PC Game of the Year; Console Game of the Year; Still Playing Award – PC and Console; Still Playing Award – Mobile | Which game is strongest on a specified platform, or which ongoing game continues to hold players’ attention. |
| Creative craft | Best Storytelling; Best Visual Design; Best Audio Design; Best Soundtrack | A particular creative discipline rather than a game’s overall score. |
| People and organisations | Best Lead Performer; Best Supporting Performer; Studio of the Year | Acting performances and the work of a development studio. |
| Lifecycle or content type | Best Early Access Game; Best Game Expansion; Best Remake / Remaster; Still Playing awards | Games still in development, substantial additions, updated versions of older games, or titles with continuing play. |
| Audience intent | Most Wanted Game; Ultimate Game of the Year | The release audiences most anticipate, and the overall headline choice in its separate ballot. |
| Commercial or media context | Best Gaming Hardware; Best Game Adaptation; Best Game Trailer | Hardware, adaptations from games into other media (or related adaptations as defined by the ballot), and promotional trailers. |
| Indie development | Best Indie Game; Best Indie Game – Self Published | Independent games generally, with a separate category for self-published projects. |
| Overall game awards | PC Game of the Year; Console Game of the Year | The strongest eligible game on each of those platforms, rather than a craft-specific achievement. |
The official public-category list is: Best Storytelling, Best Multiplayer Game, Best Visual Design, Best Indie Game, Best Indie Game – Self Published, Still Playing Award – PC and Console, Still Playing Award – Mobile, Best Remake / Remaster, Studio of the Year, Best Game Expansion, Best Audio Design, Best Soundtrack, Best Lead Performer, Best Supporting Performer, PC Game of the Year, Console Game of the Year, Best Early Access Game, Best Gaming Hardware, Best Game Adaptation, Best Game Trailer, Most Wanted Game and Ultimate Game of the Year. Ultimate Game of the Year is announced and voted separately on October 26–30.
Which games are eligible in 2026?
Main public categories
The core eligibility period generally covers games released from November 1, 2025 through September 25, 2026. The guide allows exceptions for games released early in the public-voting window when judges had extensive access to a playable pre-release version. That exception addresses timing for judging; it does not turn every game outside the core period into an automatic contender.
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Ongoing, online and expansion content
An ongoing or online game that launched before the core window can still qualify for Still Playing. An expansion can also qualify for Best Game Expansion even when the underlying game is older. These categories recognise continuing support and newly released content rather than applying only the date of the original launch.
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Most Wanted Game
Most Wanted is aimed at games expected in 2027 or games with a visible release window. It is about anticipation, so a title does not need to have launched during the core eligibility period.
Ultimate Game of the Year
Ultimate Game of the Year uses a wider window: games released between November 8, 2025 and October 25, 2026 are considered for that award. Its ballot opens after the main-category deadline, from October 26 through October 30.
Critically selected categories
Games released between November 20, 2025 and November 11, 2026 can be considered for critically selected categories announced at the ceremony. This is a different window from the main public ballot and explains why a game may be eligible for a critics’ award even when it does not fit the public categories’ core dates.
PC Gamer gives the same November 1, 2025–September 25, 2026 explanation for the 2026 PC Game of the Year shortlist, while noting the playable pre-release exception.
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How to vote in the public ballot
- Open the published 2026 ballot after September 25. The shortlist, rather than every submitted entry, appears on the voting form.
- Read each category label before selecting. A craft award such as Best Audio Design is asking about one discipline; PC Game of the Year and Console Game of the Year are platform-wide awards.
- Check eligibility context. A title may appear because it is an expansion, an ongoing game, an early-access release or a Most Wanted candidate, not because it fits the standard release window.
- Submit the main ballot before October 23 at 4pm PT / 7pm ET / midnight BST. Waiting until the last minute risks missing the closing time in your region.
- Return for the separate Ultimate ballot. It opens October 26 and closes October 30; a main-ballot submission does not replace this later vote.
The sources confirm which categories are publicly voted and that Ultimate Game of the Year has its own window. They do not publish a complete 2026 rule saying how many selections each voter may make in every category, whether every category permits the same number of choices, or whether any category uses weighted votes. Follow the instructions displayed on the live form instead of assuming a universal one-vote-per-category rule.
What “fan voted” means here
Calling the awards fan voted is accurate for the published public categories, but incomplete as a description of the whole process. Fans do not submit the final shortlist directly. Industry submissions and the panel’s deliberation determine which candidates reach the ballot; public voters then decide the winners in those categories. The combination gives the awards both an editorial selection stage and a broad audience decision.
Historical ballot formats should not be treated as binding 2026 rules. For example, a GamesRadar explainer notes that Most Wanted has used multiple-choice voting in the past and that some awards can be critically selected. Those observations describe earlier practice, not a guaranteed setting for the current ballot.
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Best Indie Game versus Best Indie Game – Self Published
The two indie categories overlap in subject but not necessarily in publishing relationship. Best Indie Game covers independent releases broadly; the self-published category narrows the field to projects released by their own developers or teams under the ballot’s definition.
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Still Playing versus Best Game Expansion
Still Playing recognises an ongoing game’s ability to retain players. Best Game Expansion focuses on a particular substantial add-on. A long-running game can therefore be relevant to both categories for different reasons, while an expansion is not automatically a Still Playing nominee.
Best Lead Performer versus Best Supporting Performer
These are performance awards, not game-quality awards. Evaluate the credited performances and the role’s narrative or dramatic contribution rather than using the category as another way to vote for a favourite game.
Most Wanted versus Ultimate Game of the Year
Most Wanted concerns an anticipated future release, commonly one due in 2027 or with a stated release window. Ultimate Game of the Year is a later overall award for eligible released games and has its own October 26–30 vote.
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GamesRadar and Future reported more than 21 million votes across the 2025 categories. That is the published 2025 total; no 2026 total is available while voting remains open. It should not be used as a forecast of this year’s turnout or as evidence that every category receives the same number of votes.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Confusing submission with nomination. A publisher’s entry is a request for consideration, not a guaranteed shortlist place.
- Assuming every award is decided by the public. Some awards can be critically selected and announced at the ceremony.
- Using the wrong eligibility window. The main public period, Ultimate Game of the Year period and critically selected period have different dates.
- Missing the second ballot. Ultimate Game of the Year is not voted on during the main September–October ballot.
- Importing old ballot rules. Historical multiple-choice or vote-limit descriptions do not establish the 2026 mechanics.
- Reading a category as a general popularity contest. Craft, platform, lifecycle and performance categories each ask a different question.
Who announces the awards?
Winners are announced at the live ceremony scheduled for November 11, 2026, at Troxy in London. The event follows the public voting windows, while critically selected awards may be revealed as part of the ceremony program.
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