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The Golden Joystick Awards 2026 took place in London on November 11, bringing another year of public voting, industry recognition and arguments about which game deserved which trophy. The 44th annual ceremony ended with Resident Evil Requiem taking Ultimate Game of the Year, Crimson Desert winning PC Game of the Year and Capcom being named Studio of the Year.
There were plenty of other results worth discussing. Meccha Chameleon collected multiple awards, Dispatch won for its storytelling and soundtrack, and The Witcher 4 emerged as the most anticipated upcoming release. Anyone expecting a ceremony dominated by one enormous blockbuster got a considerably more varied evening.
Capcom's survival horror sequel secured the ceremony's most prestigious award, Ultimate Game of the Year. Its competition included Crimson Desert, Control Resonant, Dispatch, Phantom Blade Zero, Pokémon Pokopia and several other major titles.
Requiem also won Console Game of the Year, beating nominees such as Forza Horizon 6, Nioh 3, Pragmata and Onimusha: Way of the Sword. Angela Sant'Albano received Best Lead Performer for her work in the game.
The awards didn't stop there. The trailer Evil Has Always Had a Name won Best Game Trailer, receiving 27% of the vote in its category.
Capcom's broader success was reflected in the Studio of the Year result. The company received 57% of the vote against competitors including Nintendo EPD, Square Enix and IO Interactive. That is a particularly decisive result in an event where many categories feature closely matched nominees.
Crimson Desert won PC Game of the Year, defeating a field that included Escape from Tarkov, Mewgenics, Valheim and Star Wars Zero Company. The category brought together games with very different audiences, making the result a useful snapshot of PC players' preferences.
Dispatch was another notable winner. It claimed Best Storytelling ahead of 007 First Light, The Blood of Dawnwalker and Silent Hill: Townfall. Its soundtrack also took first place, earning 26% of the vote.
Control Resonant received Best Visual Design with 31%, while Onimusha: Way of the Sword won Best Audio Design with 32%. The latter result gave Capcom another reason to celebrate, even beyond its Resident Evil victories.
The distribution of these awards is worth noting. Different games were recognized for different strengths rather than one title collecting every available prize. That's arguably more interesting than watching a single winner return to the stage every ten minutes.
Meccha Chameleon emerged as one of the ceremony's biggest surprises. It won Best Multiplayer Game with 31% of the vote and Best Self-Published Indie Game with 32%.
It also received the Streamers' Choice and Developers' Choice awards. Those distinctions are especially interesting because they extend beyond ordinary public voting, indicating recognition from people who create and broadcast games.
Elsewhere, Valheim won Best Indie Game with 28%, while Big Walk received the Critics' Choice award. Subnautica 2 took Best Early Access Game with 35%, defeating nominees including Slay the Spire 2.
The results underline how broad the indie category has become. A multiplayer favorite, a survival game and a project recognized by critics can all succeed without appealing to precisely the same audience.
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Remastered won Best Remake or Remaster with 37% of the vote, ahead of Gothic 1 Remake and Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced.
Minecraft secured the Still Playing award for PC and consoles with 23%. It defeated a long list of established live-service games, including Fortnite, GTA Online, Helldivers 2 and World of Warcraft.
Balatro won Still Playing on mobile with 22%, demonstrating that a game doesn't need enormous multiplayer infrastructure to remain part of players' routines.
The hardware category produced another clear winner. Steam Controller received 51% of the vote, comfortably ahead of competing peripherals. Meanwhile, the film adaptation Iron Lung won Best Game Adaptation, beating projects including Fallout's second season.
The Most Wanted Game award went to The Witcher 4, which faced competition from Fable, Persona 6, Kingdom Hearts 4 and several other highly anticipated projects.
Unlike the awards for released games, this category measures excitement rather than the quality of a finished experience. CD Projekt has earned attention, but the next Witcher adventure will still need to justify that enthusiasm when players finally get their hands on it.
Another major title was absent from the main awards. GTA VI launches on November 19, after the eligibility window, so it wasn't part of this year's competition.
That distinction matters when comparing the ceremony's results with the broader gaming calendar. A missing game hasn't lost an award. It simply wasn't competing.
Most Golden Joystick categories are decided by players, with selected awards determined by industry representatives and critics. The ceremony therefore offers a picture of popularity and appreciation rather than a universal verdict on quality.
This year, that picture was unusually diverse. Resident Evil Requiem dominated the biggest headlines, but Crimson Desert, Dispatch and Meccha Chameleon all earned meaningful recognition. There will inevitably be arguments about the winners, particularly in categories where the voting was close. That's practically part of the event's tradition.
Still, the 2026 ceremony provided something more interesting than a predictable procession of famous names. It showed that audiences can celebrate horror, sprawling adventures, experimental multiplayer games and decade-old favorites in the same evening, without agreeing that any single one represents the entire industry.
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