Public voting now open in the Golden Joystick’s 40th anniversary awards
The longest running public-voted game awards show there is.
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The 40th Golden Joystick Awards has revealed this year’s shortlisted games, andvoting is now open worldwideuntil Friday, November 4 2022. The event is the longest-running public-voted game awards show around, with millions of votes cast every year, and is run by PC Gamer’s parent company Future.
Winners will be revealed in an all-digital awards show broadcast on all major streaming platforms on Tuesday, November 22, 2022. The 18 categories include over 70 games, so you’ll surely find something worth your own precious vote.
Among the hot favourites is Elden Ring, which has a whopping four nominations including ‘Best Multiplayer Game’, ‘Best Visual Design’, ‘PlayStation Game of the Year’, with developerFromSoftwareInc. being nominated for ‘Studio of the Year’. Other biggies with multiple nominations include Horizon Forbidden West, Splatoon 3, Final Fantasy XIV and Teardown.
There’s even a spot for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge, which warms this old shellhead’s heart.
“With a few glorious exceptions, many of 2022’s hotly-anticipated blockbuster releases have shifted into 2023 […] making this one of the most eclectic, unpredictable and hard-to-spell-check Golden Joystick Awards shortlists in recent memory,” writes Daniel Dawkins, content director of games and film. “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’.”
The Nominations are:
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Best Audio
Best Storytelling
Best Game Community
Best Game Expansion
Best Gaming Hardware
Best Indie Game
Best Multiplayer Game
Best Visual Design
Most Wanted Game
Nintendo Game of the Year
PC Game of the Year
PlayStation Game of the Year
Xbox Game of the Year
Still Playing
Studio of the Year
Best Early Access Launch
Best Game Trailer
The one category not included above is Ultimate Game of the Year, which has a separate voting window opening on Monday, November 7. There are also three categories decided by a panel of journalists from across Future’s various gaming titles, including GamesRadar, PC Gamer, Edge magazine, Retro Gamer and Play magazine. The winners of the ‘Best Performer’, ‘Breakthrough Award’ and ‘Critics’ Choice Award' will all be revealed on the night.
You can vote here, but make sure to cast that ballot before November 4.
Rich is a games journalist with 15 years' experience, beginning his career on Edge magazine before working for a wide range of outlets, including Ars Technica, Eurogamer, GamesRadar+, Gamespot, the Guardian, IGN, the New Statesman, Polygon, and Vice. He was the editor of Kotaku UK, the UK arm of Kotaku, for three years before joining PC Gamer. He is the author of a Brief History of Video Games, a full history of the medium, which the Midwest Book Review described as “[a] must-read for serious minded game historians and curious video game connoisseurs alike.”
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