41st Golden Joystick Awards Winners Revealed

Winners in the 41st Golden Joystick Awards Powered by Intel were revealed today in a glittering ceremony live from the Royal Lancaster Hotel in London and streamed worldwide on YouTube, Twitch, Bilibili, Steam, Facebook, TikTok and Twitter/X.

Nearly 5 million public votes were cast to pick the winners in 20 different categories reflecting the remarkable volume of high-scoring games released this year. Three more categories, Critics’ Choice, Breakthrough Award and Streamers’ Choice were critically chosen. Baldur’s Gate 3 and Larian Studios picked up seven wins including Ultimate Game of the Year, Best Game Community, Best Storytelling and Studio of the Year, plus Neil Newbon, Astarion in Baldur’s Gate 3, won new category Best Supporting Performer.

Other winners on the night included Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty which won Best Game Expansion and Best Game Trailer; Geometric Interactive who won the Breakthrough Award for Cocoon; Alan Wake 2 which received the coveted Critics’ Choice Award and Sea of Stars which took home the Best Indie Game. Meanwhile other winners included Final Fantasy VII Rebirth in Most Wanted Game, Resident Evil 4 in PlayStation Game of the Year, Starfield in Xbox Game of the Year and The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom in Nintendo Game of the Year.

Awards were also handed out for the best performances of the year with Ben Starr, Clive Rosfield in Final Fantasy XVI, winning Best Lead Performer and Neil Newbon, Astarion in Baldur’s Gate 3, winning Best Supporting Performer.

The awards were hosted by Troy Baker, alongside special guests from the world of gaming including actors Manon Gage, Maggie Robertson, Ben Starr, Yuri Lowenthal, Stephanie Joosten, Samantha Béart and Neil Newbon; as well as Elvira Björkman and Nicklas Hjertberg from Two Feathers and Gosia Mitręga, Executive Producer of the new Witcher saga at CD PROJEKT RED. Plus Amelia Tyler, Narrator of Baldur’s Gate 3 who helped guide viewers through the games and studios that were nominated this year.

The 41st Golden Joystick Awards Powered by Intel winners are:

• Best Storytelling - Baldur’s Gate 3 (public vote)
• Still Playing Award - No Man’s Sky (public vote)
• Best Visual Design - Baldur’s Gate 3 (public vote)
• Studio of the Year - Larian Studios (public vote)
• Best Game Expansion - Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty (public vote)
• Best VR Game - Horizon Call of the Mountain (public vote)
• Best Indie Game - Sea of Stars (public vote)
• Best Multiplayer Game - Mortal Kombat 1 (public vote)
• Best Audio - Final Fantasy XVI (public vote)
• Best Game Trailer - Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty - Official Cinematic Trailer (public vote)
• Streamers’ Choice - Valorant (critically chosen)
• Best Game Community - Baldur’s Gate 3 (public vote)
• Best Gaming Hardware - PlayStation VR2 (public vote)
• Breakthrough Award - Cocoon / Geometric Interactive (critically chosen)
• Critics’ Choice Award - Alan Wake 2 (critically chosen)
• Best Lead Performer - Ben Starr - Clive Rosfield, Final Fantasy XVI (public vote)
• Best Supporting Performer - Neil Newbon - Astarion, Baldur’s Gate 3 (public vote)
• Nintendo Game of the Year - The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (public vote)
• PC Game of the Year - Baldur’s Gate 3 (public vote)
• Xbox Game of the Year - Starfield (public vote)
• PlayStation Game of the Year - Resident Evil 4 (public vote)
• Most Wanted Game - Final Fantasy VII Rebirth (public vote)
• Ultimate Game of the Year - Baldur’s Gate 3 (public vote)

In total over 115 games, studios, hardware and actors were represented in 20 award categories voted for by the public including ‘Ultimate Game of the Year’, ‘Most Wanted’, ‘Best Gaming Hardware’ and ‘Studio of the Year’. The critics judged two awards - ‘Critics’ Choice’ and ‘Breakthrough Award’, with content creators awarding the ‘Streamers’ Choice Award’.

The awards also featured a special musical performance of “You Are My Sunshine”, a remarkable collaboration between Bloober Team and the Polish artist Natalia Szroeder.