The annual voting for the Golden Joystick Awards begins

The 42nd Golden Joystick Awards are in full swing and it’s time to make your voice heard. The polls are open to all categories, including PC Game of the Year, Console Game of the Year, Best Gaming Hardware and much more. You have until Friday, November 1, 11:00 PM to cast your vote.

2023 was an excellent year for video games, with Baldur’s Gate 3 and Larian Studios taking home seven awards at last year’s ceremony. Despite the challenges the games industry has faced in 2024, the diverse range of releases has created an exceptionally competitive line-up of nominees. In addition to the categories we’re used to, there are a few additions, such as the Still Playing awards and a special independent games category for self-published titles.

The full list of categories and respective nominees follows:

Best stories

• 1000x resistance
• Emio – The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club
• Final Fantasy VII Rebirth
• Like a dragon: infinite wealth
• Lorelei and the laser eyes
• Tactical Breach Wizards

Best multiplayer game

• Abiotic factor
• EA Sports College Football 25
• Hell divers 2
• Sons of the forest
• Tekken 8
• The Final

Best Visual Design

• Astrobot
• Black Myth: Wukong
• Harold Halibut
• Metaphor: ReFantazio
• Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II
• Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2

Best indie game

• Animal welfare
• Arco
• Balatro
• Beyond Galaxyland
• Conscript
• Indika
• Lorelei and the laser eyes
• Thank God you’re here!
• The brave squire
• Ultros

Best Indie Game – Self-Published

• Arctic eggs
• Another treasure of a crab
• Crowland
• Duck Detective: The Secret Salami
• I am your beast
• Little Kitty, big city
• Riven
• Tactical Breach Wizards
• Little Glade
• UFO 50

Still Playing Award: PC and Console

• Apex Legends
• Counterattack 2
• EA Sports FC
• Dota 2
• Fortnite
• GTA Online
• Minecraft
• Naraka: Bladepoint
• Roblox
• Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege
• Valorant
• War frame

Still Playing Award – Mobile

• Call of Duty: Warzone mobile
• Free fire
• Honkai: Star Rail
• Roblox
• Marvel Snap
• Monopoly Go!
• Mini highways
• PUBG: Battlefields
• Team breakers
• Star Wars: Hunters
• Subway surfers
• The Sims Mobile

Studio of the year

• 11-bit studios
• Arrowhead Game Studios
• Capcom
• Digital solar eclipse
• Team ASOBI
• Visual concepts

Best game expansion

• Alan Wake 2 Expansion Pass
• Destiny 2: The Final Form
• Diablo IV: Vessel of Hate
• Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree
• God of War Ragnarök: Valhalla
• World of Warcraft: The War Within

Best audio design

• Astrobot
• Balatro
• Robebeat
• Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II
• Star Wars Outlaws
• Still awakens the depth

Best soundtrack

• A Highland Song
• Astrobot
• Final Fantasy VII Rebirth
• Hauntii
• Silent Hill 2
• Shin Megami Tensei V: Revenge

Best Lead Artist

• Cody Christian (Cloud Strife in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth)
• Kaiji Tang (Ichiban Kasuga in Like a Dragon: Infinite Riches)
• Humberly Gonzalez (Kay Vess in Star Wars Outlaws)
• Luke Roberts (James Sunderland in Silent Hill 2)
• Melina Juergens (Senua in Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II)
• Sonequa Martin-Green (Alvilda in Asgard’s Wrath 2)

Best Supporting Artist

• Abbi Groenland and Helen Goalen (The Furies in Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II)
• Briana White (Aerith Gainsborough in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth)
• Dawn M. Bennett (Aigis in Persona 3 Reload)
• Debra Wilson (Amanda Waller in Suicide Squad)
• Matt Berry (Herbert in Thank God You’re Here!)
• Neve McIntosh (Suze in Still Wakes the Deep)

PC Game of the Year

• Animal welfare
• Balatro
• Frostpunk 2
• Satisfactory
• Tactical Breach Wizards
• UFO 50

Console Game of the Year

• Astrobot
• Dragon dogma 2
• Final Fantasy VII Rebirth
• Hell divers 2
• Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown
• The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom

Best early access game

• Enveloped
• Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor
• Hades II
• Landlords
• Deadly company
• Palworld

Best gaming hardware

• Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 (2024)
• Backbone One (2nd generation)
• LG UltraGear 32GS95UE
• Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070Super
• Turtle Beach Stealth Ultra
• Steam deck OLED

Best game trailer

• Caravan Sandwitch – Launch of a trailer
• Death Stranding 2: On The Beach – State of Play Announces Trailer
• Helldivers 2 – Launch Trailer ‘The Fight for Freedom Begins’
• Kingmakers – Official Announcement Trailer
• Sid Meier’s Civilization VII – Narrator Reveal Trailer
• The Plucky Squire – Launch Trailer

Most searched game

• Atomic fall
• Assassin’s Creed Shadows
• Sid Meier’s Civilization VII
• Chiaroscuro: Expedition 33
• Impasse
• Death Stranding 2: On the beach
• Doom: the Dark Ages
• Exodus
• Fable
• Spirit of Yotei
• Grand Theft Auto VI
• Hollow Knight: Silk Song
• Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
• Kingdom Come: Deliverance II
• Light Not Fire
• Mafia: the old country
• Monster Hunter Wilds
• Skate.
• Kill the spire 2
• South of midnight

The winners will be announced on November 21 at an event in central London and broadcast live online. Voting for the Ultimate Game of the Year, perhaps the most prestigious category, won’t open until November 4, along with the announcement of the shortlist of participants. If you want to vote, you can do so HERE.

KitGuru says: Do you agree with the nominations? What game did you expect to see nominated but wasn’t on the list?

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