The 40th Golden Joystick Awards show is pleased to reveal the shortlisted games, hardware, developers and publishers in this year’s categories. Voting is open now until Friday, November 4 2022.
The Golden Joystick Awards is the world's longest-running public-voted games awards show, attracting millions of votes every year. Players from all over the world will decide who takes home this year’s awards. Winners will be revealed in a virtual celebration of games on Tuesday, November 22, 2022 in an all-digital awards show broadcast on all major streaming platforms.
Headlines:
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Over 70 games are represented in 18 categories to be voted for by the public
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Elden Ring is leading the nominations this year with four nominations for ‘Best Multiplayer Game’, ‘Best Visual Design’, ‘PlayStation Game of the Year’ and developer FromSoftware Inc. being nominated for ‘Studio of the Year’
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Horizon Forbidden West, Splatoon 3, Final Fantasy XIV and Teardown also have multiple nominations
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Indie games feature heavily throughout the shortlist with IMMORTALITY, Cult of the Lamb, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge, Neon White and Teardown rivalling established AAA in key categories
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This year’s awards feature two new categories – Best Early Access Launch and Best Game Trailer. With breakout titles Vampire Survivors, Disney Dreamlight Valley and more going head-to-head for Best Early Access Launch
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Heavyweights MultiVersus, Elden Ring, Splatoon 3 and more will battle it out in the Best Multiplayer Game category
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The shortlist has been chosen by a panel of expert critics from GamesRadar+, Edge Magazine, PC Gamer, Play Magazine, TechRadar Gaming and more
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Don’t forget the shortlist and voting for Ultimate Game of the Year will not go live until November 7
Daniel Dawkins, Content Director, Games and Film explains:
“With a few glorious exceptions, many of 2022’s hotly-anticipated blockbuster releases have shifted into 2023 - or the foggy horizon beyond - making this one of the most eclectic, unpredictable and hard-to-spell-check Golden Joystick Awards shortlists in recent memory. Indies, AAs and even a few solo devs diversify the field, with titles such as Immortality, Cult of the Lamb, Tunic, Vampire Survivors, I Was a Teenage Exocolonist and Neon White - to name but a few - leading the ever-contentious debate among our shortlist judges.
“Of course, some of 2022’s biggest games are 2021’s biggest games. Or even 2013’s biggest games. This shift to always-on ‘service’ gaming is reflected in our ‘Still Playing’ award, where franchise titans jostle to claim the Golden Joystick trophy. Equally, some of 2022’s best games won’t be officially released until 2023, and we recognise the importance of Early Access titles in our new award, ‘Best Early Access Launch’.
“We’re also thrilled to announce a new category: Best Game Trailer, which recognises the most creative and impactful game trailers in this age of digital showcases. The Golden Joystick Awards own broadcast takes place on November 22, with last year’s event reaching over 5 million views across all post-show videos. We can’t wait to see which games have captured the world’s imagination, as the Golden Joystick Awards celebrates its landmark 40th birthday; the world’s longest running video-game awards show”.
The nominations are:
Best Audio:
- We Are OFK
- Xenoblade Chronicles 3
- Metal: Hellsinger
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge
- Gran Turismo 7
- OlliOlli World
Best Storytelling:
- IMMORTALITY
- Return to Monkey Island
- Horizon Forbidden West
- NORCO
- I Was A Teenage Exocolonist
- Wayward Strand
Best Game Community:
- Dreams
- Final Fantasy XIV
- GRID Legends
- No Man’s Sky
- Splatoon 3
- Warframe
Best Game Expansion:
- Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker
- Destiny 2: The Witch Queen
- Cuphead: The Delicious Last Course
- GTA Online: The Contract
- Guild Wars 2: End of Dragons
- Total War: Warhammer III - Immortal Empires
Best Gaming Hardware:
- Playdate
- Steam Deck
- Analogue Pocket
- Backbone One: PlayStation Edition
- Roccat Kone XP
- WD_Black SN850 NVMe SSD for PS5
Best Indie Game:
- Cult of the Lamb
- Tunic
- Rollerdrome
- Dorfromantik
- Neon White
- Teardown
Best Multiplayer Game:
- Elden Ring
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenue
- MultiVersus
- Splatoon 3
- Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands
- LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga
Best Visual Design:
- Elden Ring
- Horizon Forbidden West
- Cult of the Lamb
- Ghostwire: Tokyo
- A Plague Tale: Requiem
- Lost in Play
Most Wanted Game:
- The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
- Final Fantasy XVI
- Assassin’s Creed Mirage
- Dead Island 2
- Forspoken
- Street Fighter 6
- Star Wars Jedi: Survivor
- Warhammer 40,000: Darktide
- Honkai: Star Rail
- Starfield
- Exoprimal
- Redfall
- Hogwarts Legacy
- The Day Before
- Mass Effect
- Marvel’s Spider-Man 2
- Final Fantasy VII Rebirth
- Hollow Knight: Silksong
- Kerbal Space Program 2
- Dead Space
Nintendo Game of the Year:
- Xenoblade Chronicles 3
- Pokémon Legends: Arceus
- Kirby and the Forgotten Land
- Live A Live
- Splatoon 3
- Nintendo Switch Sports
PC Game of the Year:
- Neon White
- Return to Monkey Island
- Hardspace: Shipbreaker
- Teardown
- Total War: Warhammer 3
- Warhammer 40,000: Chaos Gate - Daemonhunters
PlayStation Game of the Year:
- Gran Turismo 7
- Horizon Forbidden West
- Stray
- Elden Ring
- The Last Of Us Part I
- Sifu
Xbox Game of the Year:
- Halo Infinite
- Scorn
- Grounded
- As Dusk Falls
- Sniper Elite 5
- Dying Light 2: Stay Human
Still Playing:
- Genshin Impact
- The Sims 4
- Destiny 2
- Final Fantasy XIV
- Minecraft
- Fortnite
- Pokémon GO
- Apex Legends
- Lost Ark
- The Elder Scrolls Online
Studio of the Year:
- Roll7
- Terrible Toybox
- Half Mermaid
- FromSoftware Inc.
- Interior / Night
- Tribute Games
Best Early Access Launch:
- Disney Dreamlight Valley
- Slime Rancher 2
- Dune: Spice Wars
- Core Keeper
- Vampire Survivors
- Gloomwood
Best Game Trailer
- The Callisto Protocol: The Truth of Black Iron Trailer
- Goat Simulator 3 Announcement Trailer
- Skate: Still Working On It
- Bloody Hell Hotel Reveal Trailer
- Time Flies
- Alan Wake 2 Reveal Trailer
Don’t forget - Ultimate Game of the Year - has a separate voting window that opens on Monday, November 7.
Three additional category winners will be selected by a panel of journalists from brands including gamesradar.com, pcgamer.com, Edge magazine, Retro Gamer and Play magazine, plus Future’s trusted network of freelance writers. These winners will be revealed on the night.
- Best Performer
- Breakthrough Award
- Critics’ Choice Award
Voting opens today and closes at 16:00 PDT / 19:00 EDT / 23:00 GMT on Friday, November 4 2022.
For more information visit Golden Joystick Awards or follow us on Twitter and Facebook #GoldenJoystickAwards.
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Notes to Editors
About The Golden Joystick Awards
The Golden Joystick Awards honor the people and products that have transformed the games industry in 2022. 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 longest-running public voted gaming awards brand. For more information visit goldenjoysticks.com or follow us on twitter.com/goldenjoysticks, facebook.com/goldenjoysticks.
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