2026 Golden Joystick Awards: Nominations, Predictions & Snubs

Every Category at the Golden Joystick Awards 2026

Here's what this year's nominees are competing for:

• Ultimate Game of the Year
• 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 Early Access Game
• Best Game Expansion
• Best Remake / Remaster
• Best Game Adaptation
• Best Game Trailer
• Best Gaming Hardware
• Studio of the Year
• Most Wanted Game
• Still Playing: PC & Console
• Still Playing: Mobile
• Streamers' Choice Award (jury pick)
• Breakthrough Award (jury pick)
• Critics' Choice Award (jury pick)

Golden Joystick Awards 2026 Nominees and Predictions

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

Our prediction: Resident Evil Requiem takes Ultimate Game of the Year. It launched on every major platform and is the best-selling game in the US this year. It also has timing on its side. The Resident Evil movie arrived in September, which could pull in returning fans and newcomers who haven’t played a Resident Evil game before.

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

Our prediction: Resident Evil Requiem. The same strengths carry over here. It's the fastest-selling game in the series' history, and it has passed 8 million copies.

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

Our prediction: Valheim takes PC Game of the Year. Fans have stuck with it through more than five years of Early Access, and its full 1.0 release on September 9 brought the hype right back. The launch added the Deep North, the game's final biome, finally giving Valheim a proper conclusion.

Best Storytelling

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

Our prediction: Dispatch, with 007 First Light close behind. Dispatch is built almost entirely around its characters and choices, and its story is the main reason people talk about it. Its long eligibility window also means more players have had time to finish it than most nominees.

Best Visual Design

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

Our prediction: CONTROL Resonant. Its warped, shape-shifting Manhattan is unlike anything players have seen in a game before, with every district bursting into its own surreal look. Saros is its closest challenger.

Best Audio Design

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

Our prediction: Saros. Its sound design actually helps you track threats in combat, and players love how it pairs with the DualSense haptics.

Best Soundtrack

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

Our prediction: 007 First Light. Its title theme was co-written by Lana Del Rey and longtime Bond composer David Arnold, giving it instant recognition and a sound that feels new and nostalgic at the same time.

Best Lead Performer

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

Our prediction: Aaron Paul (Dispatch). His star power gives him the edge in a fan vote.

Best Supporting Performer

• Frankie Kevich as Zoe de Vera (CONTROL Resonant)
• Grace Saif as Diana (PRAGMATA)
• Lennie James as John Greenway (007 First Light)
• Terry O'Quinn as Richard (Silent Hill: Townfall)
• Troy Baker as Nathaniel Essex (Marvel's Wolverine)
• Vic Michaelis as Runa Blask (Star Wars Zero Company)

Our prediction: Lennie James (007 First Light). 007 First Light is one of the best-selling games of the year, so more voters have seen his performance than most of the other nominees'.

Best Multiplayer Game

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

Our prediction: ARC Raiders. It's the biggest multiplayer hit on this list by a wide margin, with sales past 15 million copies and a cross-platform peak of 960,000 concurrent players. It has kept its community busy all year with regular updates.

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

Our prediction: Big Walk. The latest game from House House, the studio behind Untitled Goose Game, sold a million copies in its first six days.

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

Our prediction: MECCHA CHAMELEON. The hide-and-seek game from a two-person team has sold more than 20 million copies since its June launch, making it one of the biggest breakout hits of the year, and clips of players blending into walls are all over social media. Mewgenics is a close second, with a hugely dedicated fanbase that made it one of the best-selling games of early 2026.

Best Early Access Game

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

Our prediction: Subnautica 2. The underwater survival sequel sold more than 4 million copies in its first week of Early Access, and it launched on Xbox and Game Pass as well as PC, giving it the widest reach in the category. Slay the Spire 2 is a close second after its record-breaking launch, with WARDOGS not far behind.

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

Our prediction: World of Warcraft: Midnight. No other expansion here has a player base as large or as organized as WoW's. Midnight also delivered player housing, a feature fans had requested for years, and its early access launch was busy enough to produce long login queues.

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

Our prediction: The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Remastered. The remaster picked up plenty of social media hype, and it's built on one of the most beloved RPGs of the last decade. It gives fans a reason to revisit a classic, and that nostalgia goes a long way in a fan vote.

Best Game Adaptation

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

Our prediction: Fallout (Season 2). The second season drew 83 million viewers in its first 13 weeks, making it Prime Video's second most-watched returning series. Last year a big TV series, Arcane Season 2, won this category, and Fallout fits that pattern.

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

Our prediction: Resident Evil Requiem, "Evil Has Always Had A Name." The Battlefield 6 x Top Gun trailer, with actors from Top Gun: Maverick returning to their roles, is the biggest threat.

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

Our prediction: Steam Controller. It's Valve's first new controller since the original in 2015, and it does things other controllers don't: two trackpads that work like a mouse, motion aiming that pauses when you loosen your grip, and four extra buttons on the back.

Studio of the Year

• Capcom
• Frogwares
• House House
• IO Interactive
• Nintendo EPD
• Square Enix

Our prediction: Capcom. Players have been calling 2026 Capcom's best year ever, with hits across different genres: Resident Evil Requiem, Monster Hunter Stories 3, PRAGMATA (its first brand-new series in years) and the return of Onimusha.

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 5
• 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

Our prediction: The Witcher 4. GTA 6 won here last year, and with it out of the picture, this is the most open the category has been in a while. The Witcher 3 Remastered has put the series back in the spotlight this year, which should only build anticipation for the next entry.

Still Playing: PC & Console

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

Our prediction: Minecraft. It has won this category two years running, in 2024 and 2025, and nothing else on the list comes close to its reach. Trackers estimate about 212 million monthly players, roughly double Fortnite's estimated 110 million.

Still Playing: 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

Our prediction: Genshin Impact. Gacha game communities are some of the most dedicated out there, and Genshin has the biggest and longest-running fanbase of HoYoverse's games.

Biggest Snubs 

• Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave: Fans see it as the biggest omission from the Ultimate list, pointing to its story as one of the year's best. It also missed out on Best Soundtrack.
• Saros: Housemarque's action game picked up three nominations but still missed the Ultimate list.
• Ace Combat 8: Fans of the flight series were surprised to see it shut out completely.
• Onimusha: Way of the Sword: It made Console Game of the Year but not the Ultimate list.
• Overwatch: Players called out its absence from Still Playing after a strong comeback year of new content.

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