The organisers of the 42nd Golden Joystick Awards are delighted to reveal the shortlist for this year’s awards. Voting is now LIVE HERE and will remain open until Friday, November 1, 2024 at 4pm PDT / 7pm EDT / 11pm GMT.
The Golden Joystick Awards is the world's longest-running public-voted games awards show, attracting millions of votes from across the world every year. The winners will be revealed in a star studded award ceremony in central London and live-streamed globally on Thursday, November 21, 2024.
The Golden Joystick Awards is the world's longest-running public-voted games awards show, attracting millions of votes from across the world every year. The winners will be revealed in a star studded award ceremony in central London and live-streamed globally on Thursday, November 21, 2024.
Voting is now live in nineteen categories including ‘Console Game of the Year’, ‘PC Game of the Year’, ‘Best Multiplayer Game’ and more. Astro Bot and Final Fantasy VII Rebirth lead the shortlist with five nominations each, followed by Helldivers 2 with four nominations and roguelike deck builder, Balatro with three nominations. Fan favourites such as Dragon’s Dogma 2 and Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree also make the shortlist. Plus acclaimed indies such as Lorelei and the Laser Eyes, UFO 50 and Animal Well.
Fans should note that the ‘Ultimate Game of the Year’ shortlist will not be announced until Monday, November 4, with voting in that category opening the same day.
This year’s awards introduce new categories including ‘Best Soundtrack’ and ‘Best Audio Design’ - which replace the previous ‘Best Audio’ award. The ‘Still Playing Award’ has also been split into two with separate ‘Mobile’ and ‘Console & PC’ categories. A new ‘Best Indie Game - Self Published’ category has also been added to sit alongside the long standing ‘Best Indie Game’ award.
Fans should note that the ‘Ultimate Game of the Year’ shortlist will not be announced until Monday, November 4, with voting in that category opening the same day.
This year’s awards introduce new categories including ‘Best Soundtrack’ and ‘Best Audio Design’ - which replace the previous ‘Best Audio’ award. The ‘Still Playing Award’ has also been split into two with separate ‘Mobile’ and ‘Console & PC’ categories. A new ‘Best Indie Game - Self Published’ category has also been added to sit alongside the long standing ‘Best Indie Game’ award.
Daniel Dawkins, Content Director - Games, Video and Digital Events explains more:
“2023 was one of video-gaming’s best year’s ever, with Baldur’s Gate 3 and Larian Studios claiming a record seven trophies at last year’s Golden Joystick Awards. 2024 has been a challenging year for the games industry in so many ways, but the variety and diversity of releases over the last 12 months has made this one of the most difficult - and exciting - Golden Joystick Awards nominees list we’ve ever compiled.
We’ve introduced some new categories to reflect the changing ways we play, including Still Playing - PC & Console, and Still Playing - Mobile. We’ve wrestled with the definition of an indie game - we’ll save you the unedited debate! - before introducing a new Best Indie Game - Self Published category to (hopefully) better reflect how games reach the market.
Above all, this could be a year of BIG surprises - who saw Palworld, Helldivers 2 or Balatro coming? We can’t wait to see who you vote for as your games, studios and personalities of 2024!”
“2023 was one of video-gaming’s best year’s ever, with Baldur’s Gate 3 and Larian Studios claiming a record seven trophies at last year’s Golden Joystick Awards. 2024 has been a challenging year for the games industry in so many ways, but the variety and diversity of releases over the last 12 months has made this one of the most difficult - and exciting - Golden Joystick Awards nominees list we’ve ever compiled.
We’ve introduced some new categories to reflect the changing ways we play, including Still Playing - PC & Console, and Still Playing - Mobile. We’ve wrestled with the definition of an indie game - we’ll save you the unedited debate! - before introducing a new Best Indie Game - Self Published category to (hopefully) better reflect how games reach the market.
Above all, this could be a year of BIG surprises - who saw Palworld, Helldivers 2 or Balatro coming? We can’t wait to see who you vote for as your games, studios and personalities of 2024!”
The Nominations are:
Best Storytelling
For more information visit Golden Joystick Awards 2024 or follow us on X and Facebook. #GoldenJoystickAwards
Best Storytelling
- 1000xResist
- Emio - The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club
- Final Fantasy VII Rebirth
- Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth
- Lorelei and the Laser Eyes
- Tactical Breach Wizards
- Abiotic Factor
- EA Sports College Football 25
- Helldivers 2
- Sons Of The Forest
- Tekken 8
- The Finals
- Astro Bot
- Black Myth: Wukong
- Harold Halibut
- Metaphor: ReFantazio
- Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II
- Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2
- Animal Well
- Arco
- Balatro
- Beyond Galaxyland
- Conscript
- Indika
- Lorelei and the Laser Eyes
- Thank Goodness You’re Here!
- The Plucky Squire
- Ultros
- Arctic Eggs
- Another Crab’s Treasure
- Crow Country
- Duck Detective: The Secret Salami
- I Am Your Beast
- Little Kitty, Big City
- Riven
- Tactical Breach Wizards
- Tiny Glade
- UFO 50
- Apex Legends
- Counter-Strike 2
- EA Sports FC
- Dota 2
- Fortnite
- GTA Online
- Minecraft
- Naraka: Bladepoint
- Roblox
- Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege
- Valorant
- Warframe
- Call of Duty: Warzone Mobile
- Free Fire
- Honkai: Star Rail
- Roblox
- Marvel Snap
- Monopoly Go!
- Mini Motorways
- PUBG: Battlegrounds
- Squad Busters
- Star Wars: Hunters
- Subway Surfers
- The Sims Mobile
- 11 Bit Studios
- Arrowhead Game Studios
- Capcom
- Digital Eclipse
- Team ASOBI
- Visual Concepts
- Alan Wake 2 Expansion Pass
- Destiny 2: The Final Shape
- Diablo IV: Vessel of Hatred
- Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree
- God of War Ragnarök: Valhalla
- World of Warcraft: The War Within
- Astro Bot
- Balatro
- Robobeat
- Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II
- Star Wars Outlaws
- Still Wakes the Deep
- A Highland Song
- Astro Bot
- Final Fantasy VII Rebirth
- Hauntii
- Silent Hill 2
- Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance
- Cody Christian as Cloud Strife in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth
- Kaiji Tang as Ichiban Kasuga in Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth
- Humberly Gonzalez as Kay Vess in Star Wars Outlaws
- Luke Roberts as James Sunderland in Silent Hill 2
- Melina Juergens as Senua in Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II
- Sonequa Martin-Green as Alvilda in Asgard’s Wrath 2
- Abbi Greenland & Helen Goalen as The Furies in Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II
- Briana White as Aerith Gainsborough in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth
- Dawn M. Bennett as Aigis in Persona 3 Reload
- Debra Wilson as Amanda Waller in Suicide Squad
- Matt Berry as Herbert in Thank Goodness You’re Here!
- Neve McIntosh as Suze in Still Wakes the Deep
- Animal Well
- Balatro
- Frostpunk 2
- Satisfactory
- Tactical Breach Wizards
- UFO 50
- Astro Bot
- Dragon’s Dogma 2
- Final Fantasy VII Rebirth
- Helldivers 2
- Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown
- The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom
- Enshrouded
- Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor
- Hades II
- Manor Lords
- Lethal Company
- Palworld
- Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 (2024)
- Backbone One (2nd Gen)
- LG UltraGear 32GS95UE
- Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 Super
- Turtle Beach Stealth Ultra
- Steam Deck OLED
- Caravan Sandwitch - Launch trailer
- Death Stranding 2 On The Beach - State of Play Announce Trailer
- Helldivers 2 - “The Fight for Freedom Begins” Launch Trailer
- Kingmakers - Official Announcement Trailer
- Sid Meier’s Civilization VII - Narrator Reveal Trailer
- The Plucky Squire - Launch Trailer
- Atomfall
- Assassin’s Creed Shadows
- Sid Meier’s Civilization VII
- Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
- Deadlock
- Death Stranding 2: On The Beach
- Doom: The Dark Ages
- Exodus
- Fable
- Ghost of Yotei
- Grand Theft Auto VI
- Hollow Knight: Silksong
- Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
- Kingdom Come: Deliverance II
- Light No Fire
- Mafia: The Old Country
- Monster Hunter Wilds
- Skate.
- Slay the Spire 2
- South of Midnight
- Streamers’ Choice Award
- Breakthrough Award
- Best Game Adaptation
- Critics’ Choice Award
For more information visit Golden Joystick Awards 2024 or follow us on X and Facebook. #GoldenJoystickAwards
Notes to Editors:
About The Golden Joystick Awards
The Golden Joystick Awards honour the people and products that have transformed the games industry in 2024. The event features over 20 categories, the majority of which are voted for by the global gaming public. The event was first held in 1983 and is now the world’s oldest publicly voted gaming awards brand. For more information visit goldenjoysticks.com or follow us on twitter.com/goldenjoysticks and facebook.com/goldenjoysticks.
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