Winners Announced at the 42nd Golden Joystick Awards

The winners in the 42nd Golden Joystick Awards were revealed today in a glittering ceremony live from the De Vere Grand Connaught Rooms in London and streamed worldwide on YouTube, Twitch, Steam, Facebook, X, bilibili, Ginx TV, Future Games Show, GamesRadar, WhatCulture Gaming and PC Gamer.

Over 12 million public votes were cast to pick the winners in 21 different categories. Three more categories - Critics’ Choice, Breakthrough Award and Streamers’ Choice - were critically chosen.

Black Myth: Wukong won the biggest award of the night - Ultimate Game of the Year, as well as the award for Best Visual Design. Final Fantasy VII Rebirth won four awards for Best Storytelling, Best Soundtrack, Best Supporting Performer (Briana White) and Best Lead Performer (Cody Christian), meanwhile Helldivers 2 also picked up four awards for Best Multiplayer Game, Best Game Trailer, Console Game of the Year and the coveted Critics’ Choice Award.

Other winners were Astro Bot, which won Best Audio Design with the game’s developers, Team ASOBI, also taking home Studio of the Year. Elsewhere, fan favourite Satisfactory picked up PC Game of the Year, while roguelike deck builder Balatro won Best Indie Game and the critically chosen Breakthrough Award.

The awards were hosted by Ben Starr, alongside special guests from the world of gaming, including actors Alex McKenna, Alix Wilton Regan, Derek Siow, Neil Newbon, Patricia Summersett and Samantha Béart, as well as content creator GeeNelly; music composer Alex Moukala; Monika Janowska from CD PROJEKT RED; Gareth Damian Martin from Jump Over the Age; previous winners Philip Barclay and Thierry Boulanger from Sabotage Studio and actor, game developer and producer Abubakar Salim.

The 42nd Golden Joystick Awards winners are:

• Best Storytelling - Final Fantasy VII Rebirth (public vote)

• Best Visual Design - Black Myth: Wukong (public vote)

• Best Multiplayer Game - Helldivers 2 (public vote)

• Best Audio Design - Astro Bot (public vote)

• Best Game Expansion - Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree (public vote)

• Best Indie Game Self Published - Another Crab’s Treasure (public vote)

• Best Indie Game - Balatro (public vote)

• Studio of the Year - Team ASOBI (public vote)

• Best Soundtrack - Final Fantasy VII Rebirth (public vote)

• Best Game Trailer - Helldivers 2 (public vote)

• Best Early Access Game - Lethal Company (public vote)

• Still Playing - Mobile - Honkai: Star Rail (public vote)

• Still Playing - Consoles & PC - Minecraft (public vote)

• Streamers’ Choice Award - Chained Together (critically chosen)

• Breakthrough Award - Balatro (critically chosen)

• Best Gaming Hardware - Steam Deck OLED (public vote)

• Best Game Adaptation - Fallout (public vote)

• Best Supporting Performer - Briana White (public vote)

• Best Lead Performer - Cody Christian (public vote)

• PC Game of the Year - Satisfactory (public vote)

• Console Game of the Year - Helldivers 2 (public vote)

• Critics’ Choice Award - Helldivers 2 (critically chosen)

• Most Wanted Game - Grand Theft Auto VI (public vote)

• Ultimate Game of the Year - Black Myth: Wukong (public vote)

Over 125 games, studios, hardware and TV shows are represented in 21 categories voted for by the public including Ultimate Game of the Year, Most Wanted, Best Gaming Hardware presented by EE Game Store and Studio of the Year.

You can rewatch the show on YouTube now or catch up with the highlights on X and Facebook. #GoldenJoystickAwards.

Press Kit

Contact:

For press queries: Helen Jones / Eva Field

T: +44 (0) 7789 226 939 / +44 (0) 7814 039 983

E: hels@noisycommunications.com or eva@noisycommunications.com

Notes to Editors

The nominees were:

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

Best Multiplayer Game

• Abiotic Factor

• EA Sports College Football 25

• Helldivers 2

• Sons Of The Forest

• Tekken 8

• The Finals

Best Visual Design

• Astro Bot

• Black Myth: Wukong

• Harold Halibut

• Metaphor: ReFantazio

• Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II

• Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2

Best Indie Game

• Animal Well

• Arco

• Balatro

• Beyond Galaxyland

• Conscript

• Indika

• Lorelei and the Laser Eyes

• Thank Goodness You’re Here!

• The Plucky Squire

• Ultros

Best Indie Game - Self Published

• 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

Still Playing - PC and Console

• 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

Still Playing - Mobile

• 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

Studio of the Year

• 11 Bit Studios

• Arrowhead Game Studios

• Capcom

• Digital Eclipse

• Team ASOBI

• Visual Concepts

Best Game Expansion

• 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

Best Audio Design

• Astro Bot

• Balatro

• Robobeat

• Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II

• Star Wars Outlaws

• Still Wakes the Deep

Best Soundtrack

• A Highland Song

• Astro Bot

• Final Fantasy VII Rebirth

• Hauntii

• Silent Hill 2

• Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance

Best Lead Performer

• 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

Best Supporting Performer

• 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

PC Game of the Year

• Animal Well

• Balatro

• Frostpunk 2

• Satisfactory

• Tactical Breach Wizards

• UFO 50

Console Game of the Year

• 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

Best Early Access Game

• Enshrouded

• Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor

• Hades II

• Manor Lords

• Lethal Company

• Palworld

Best Gaming Hardware

• Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 (2024)

• Backbone One (2nd Gen)

• LG UltraGear 32GS95UE

• Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 Super

• Turtle Beach Stealth Ultra

• Steam Deck OLED

Best Game Trailer

• 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

Most Wanted Game

• 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

Ultimate Game of the Year

• Animal Well
• Astro Bot
• Balatro
• Black Myth: Wukong
• Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
• Dragon Age: The Veilguard
• Final Fantasy VII Rebirth
• Helldivers 2
• Metaphor: ReFantazio
• Satisfactory
• Silent Hill 2
• Tekken 8

Best Game Adaptation

• Borderlands
• Fallout
• Halo Season 2
• Knuckles
• Like a Dragon: Yakuza
• Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft

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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