Resident Evil Requiem won Ultimate Game of the Year at the Golden Joystick Awards 2026, beating Phantom Blade Zero by a single percentage point in the public vote. Capcom’s survival horror game left with four trophies, the joint-highest total of any game across the 25 categories.
The 44th Golden Joysticks were handed out in London on 11 November. Self-published multiplayer game Meccha Chameleon matched Requiem’s four wins, Crimson Desert took PC Game of the Year, and Big Walk won the Critics’ Choice Award.
Golden Joystick Awards 2026 Winners in Every Category
Every category is listed below with its winner and the rest of the shortlist, starting with the night’s biggest prizes.
CategoryWinnerOther NomineesUltimate Game of the YearResident Evil Requiem007 First Light, Big Walk, Control Resonant, Crimson Desert, Dispatch, Forza Horizon 6, Phantom Blade Zero, Pokemon Pokopia, Pragmata, Star Wars: Galactic Racer, The Blood of DawnwalkerConsole Game of the YearResident Evil Requiem007 First Light, Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave, Forza Horizon 6, Lego Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight, Nioh 3, Onimusha: Way of the Sword, Pokemon Pokopia, Pragmata, SarosPC Game of the YearCrimson DesertBig Walk, Escape from Tarkov, Esoteric Ebb, Meccha Chameleon, Mewgenics, Order of the Sinking Star, Star Wars Zero Company, The Blood of Dawnwalker, ValheimCritics’ Choice AwardBig WalkDevelopers’ ChoiceMeccha ChameleonHorses, Mortal Shell 2, Orbitals, Penguin Colony, Village in the ShadeStudio of the YearCapcomFrogwares, House House, IO Interactive, Nintendo EPD, Square EnixStreamer’s Choice AwardMeccha ChameleonMost Wanted GameThe Witcher 4Alien: Isolation 2, Ananta, Black Myth: Zhong Kui, Exodus, Fable, Final Fantasy 7 Revelation, God of War Laufey, Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet, Kingdom Hearts 4, Metro 2039, No Law, Persona 6, Resident Evil Veronica, Stranger Than Heaven, Stuntman: Hollywood, The Expanse: Osiris Reborn, Tides of Annihilation, Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis, Total War: Warhammer 40,000Best StorytellingDispatch007 First Light, Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave, Silent Hill: Townfall, The Blood of Dawnwalker, Zero Parades: For Dead SpiesBest Visual DesignControl ResonantForza Horizon 6, Orbitals, Phonopolis, Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy, SarosBest Audio DesignOnimusha: Way of the SwordBig Walk, Marathon, Rhythm Heaven Groove, Saros, Star Wars: Galactic RacerBest SoundtrackDispatch007 First Light, Crimson Desert, Lumines Arise, Mewgenics, MixtapeBest Lead PerformerAngela Sant’Albano (Grace Ashcroft, Resident Evil Requiem)Aaron Paul (Robert Robertson III, Dispatch), Anna Demetriou (Sophia, Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy), Liam McIntyre (Wolverine, Marvel’s Wolverine), Patrick Gibson (James Bond, 007 First Light), Will de Renzy-Martin (Coen, The Blood of Dawnwalker)Best Supporting PerformerGrace Saif (Diana, Pragmata)Frankie Kevich (Zoe de Vera, Control Resonant), Lennie James (John Greenway, 007 First Light), Terry O’Quinn (Richard, Silent Hill: Townfall), Troy Baker (Nathaniel Essex, Marvel’s Wolverine), Vic Michaelis (Runa Blask, Star Wars Zero Company)Best Multiplayer GameMeccha ChameleonARC Raiders, Big Walk, Marathon, Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls, ValheimBest Indie GameValheimBig Walk, Denshattack!, Esoteric Ebb, Mixtape, Mouse: P.I. for Hire, Order of the Sinking Star, Reanimal, Sovereign Tower, Titanium CourtBest Indie Game (Self-Published)Meccha ChameleonCairn, Fields of Mistria, Mewgenics, Mina the Hollower, Perfect Tides: Station to Station, Phonopolis, Rhythm Doctor, The Incident at Galley House, Vampire Crawlers: The Turbo Wildcard from Vampire SurvivorsBest Early Access GameSubnautica 2Dead as Disco, Menace, Skate, Slay the Spire 2, WardogsBest Game ExpansionDoom: The Dark Ages (Revelations)Cult of the Lamb: Woolhaven, Dave the Diver (In the Jungle Content Pack), Quake: Dawn of the Machine, The Alters: Last Variable, World of Warcraft: MidnightBest Remake/RemasterThe Witcher 3: Wild Hunt RemasteredAssassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced, Gothic 1 Remake, Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol. 2, Star Fox, Trails in the Sky 2nd ChapterBest Game TrailerResident Evil Requiem (“Evil Has Always Had a Name”)Battlefield 6 x Top Gun: Carrier Strike Cinematic Trailer, Big Walk (Release Date Announcement), Cairn (Launch Trailer), Mouse: P.I. for Hire (Official Launch Trailer), Prove You’re Human (Announcement Trailer)Best Game AdaptationIron LungDevil May Cry (Season 2), Exit 8, Fallout (Season 2), Mortal Kombat II, Resident EvilBest Gaming HardwareSteam ControllerLogitech G Pro X2 Superstrike, Razer Viper V4 Pro, Secretlab Atlas, Sony Inzone M10S II, Turtle Beach Stealth Pro IIStill Playing Award (PC and Console)MinecraftApex Legends, Call of Duty: Warzone, Fortnite, GTA Online, Helldivers 2, Hitman World of Assassination, No Man’s Sky, Palworld, The Elder Scrolls Online, Warframe, World of WarcraftStill Playing Award (Mobile)BalatroGenshin Impact, Honkai: Star Rail, Marvel Snap, Monopoly Go!, NTE: Neverness to Everness, Old School RuneScape, Pokemon Go, Roblox, Sky: Children of the Light, Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Mobile, Wuthering WavesResident Evil Requiem Wins Ultimate Game of the Year by One Point
Requiem took 17% of the Ultimate Game of the Year vote to Phantom Blade Zero’s 16%, with Crimson Desert third, Control Resonant fourth and The Blood of Dawnwalker fifth. The Golden Joysticks are largely decided by public vote, and this shortlist had 12 games on it, so Requiem’s winning share means 83% of voters backed one of the other 11. Phantom Blade Zero came within a point of the top prize and still went home without a trophy.
Requiem’s other three awards were Console Game of the Year, Best Game Trailer for “Evil Has Always Had a Name”, and Best Lead Performer for Angela Sant’Albano, who plays Grace Ashcroft.
Capcom Takes Studio of the Year With Seven Awards
Seven of the night’s 25 awards went to Capcom or its games. On top of Requiem’s four, Onimusha: Way of the Sword won Best Audio Design, Grace Saif took Best Supporting Performer for playing Diana in Pragmata, and Capcom itself was named Studio of the Year ahead of Frogwares, House House, IO Interactive, Nintendo EPD and Square Enix.
Those trophies came from three different games, which makes Studio of the Year the easiest result of the night to justify. Pragmata and Onimusha were also on the Console Game of the Year shortlist, so Capcom had three of the ten nominees in that category.
Meccha Chameleon, Dispatch and the Rest of the 2026 Winners
No game won more than four awards this year, a sharp change from 2025, when Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 won nearly every Golden Joystick it was nominated for. Meccha Chameleon was the only game to match Requiem’s four, winning Best Multiplayer Game, Best Indie Game (Self-Published), the Streamer’s Choice Award and Developers’ Choice. It managed that without a spot on the Ultimate Game of the Year shortlist, and its PC Game of the Year nomination went to Crimson Desert.
Dispatch was the only other game to win more than once, taking Best Storytelling and Best Soundtrack. CD Projekt Red picked up two awards through two different Witcher games: The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Remastered won Best Remake/Remaster, and The Witcher 4 was voted Most Wanted Game. Further down the list, Valheim won Best Indie Game, Subnautica 2 took Best Early Access Game, and Valve’s Steam Controller won Best Gaming Hardware.
Big Walk’s Critics’ Choice Win, the AI Disclosure and GTA 6
Big Walk, from Untitled Goose Game studio House House, won the Critics’ Choice Award but lost every other category it was shortlisted in, from Ultimate Game of the Year and PC Game of the Year to Best Indie Game, Best Multiplayer Game, Best Audio Design and Best Game Trailer. House House also lost Studio of the Year to Capcom.
The same week as the ceremony, House House revealed that it used large language models (LLMs) in the final phase of Big Walk’s development, and said generative AI tools were involved in under 0.1% of the game’s code. Golden Joystick voting closed on 5 November, before that disclosure, so this year’s public vote gives no read on how players weigh it.
Grand Theft Auto 6 wasn’t part of the contest either. Rockstar Games releases it on 19 November, eight days after the ceremony, so it wasn’t in contention this year. The Game Awards follows in December, by which point Grand Theft Auto 6 will be on sale and House House’s disclosure will have been public for weeks.