Voting for the 44th Golden Joystick Awards has opened up, and the public vote is live right now on goldenjoysticks.com. The organizers have revealed this year's nominees, and they're inviting us the help pick winners.
The vote will stay open until 4pm PT / 7pm ET / midnight BST on Friday, October 23, 2026, so you've got just under a month to go and get it done... you should probably go now though before you forget!
What can you vote on?
There are 21 categories filled with a ton of games (too many to list here coherently):
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
Ultimate Game of the Year - Announced Oct 26
Lat year a record 21 million public votes were cast during the awards. Last year's big winner was Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, which claimed seven awards, with other multiple-award winners including Ghost of Yotei, Hollow Knight: Silksong, Grand Theft Auto VI, and PEAK. So, what was the criteria for being nominated?
Quote From Games Radar
To be eligible for core voting across 22 categories, the game must have been released between 1st November 2025 and 25th September 2026.
Exceptions are sometimes made for games that release early in the public voting window, which might have already been extensively played or tested by our judges (for example, if we received a copy weeks earlier for an embargoed review)
Ongoing / online games which launched before this period are eligible for the ‘Still Playing’ and ‘Best Game Expansion’ categories.
Games set for release after 11th November 2026 will be eligible for the Most Wanted award. This year’s Most Wanted award focuses on titles due in 2027 or with visible release windows, which excludes some notable games with distant release dates or no visibility.
Games released between 8th November, 2025 and 25th October 2026 will be considered for Ultimate Game of the Year.
Exceptions are sometimes made for games that release early in the Ultimate Game of the Year voting window (e.g. 27th October 2026), which might have already been extensively played or tested by our judges (for example, if we received a copy weeks earlier for an embargoed review).
Games released between 20th November 2025 and 11th November 2026 will be considered for our 2026 critically selected categories.
Who's leading the nominations this year?
This year's field is wide open, with several titles racking up multiple nods:
007 First Light and Big Walk - six nominations each
Resident Evil Requiem - four nominations
Dispatch, MECCHA CHAMELEON, Mewgenics, SAROS, The Blood of Dawnwalker, and Valheim - all with multiple nominations
One thing to keep on your radar: the 'Ultimate Game of the Year' shortlist won't be announced until Monday, October 26, with voting in that category opening the same day. On top of that, an extra selection of critically chosen winners will be revealed at the ceremony itself, including the Breakthrough Award and the Critics' Choice Award.
When and where are the winners announced?
The winners will be crowned at a ceremony in central London and streamed globally on Wednesday, November 11, 2026. With no single game dominating the field this year, every vote counts - so which game are you backing to take home the joystick trophy? Let us know in the comments below.
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