The Golden Joystick Awards 2026 shortlist is out, and two very different games are sharing the top spot. IO Interactive’s 007 First Light and House House’s Big Walk lead the field with five nominations each, according to GamesRadar+, whose parent company Future runs the awards.
Public voting is open now at goldenjoysticks.com and runs until Friday, October 23. Winners will be named at a live show at Troxy in London on Wednesday, November 11.
Who’s leading
Bond’s nods are spread across the board. 007 First Light is up for Console Game of the Year, Best Storytelling and Best Soundtrack. Patrick Gibson’s James Bond is in the running for Best Lead Performer, and Lennie James’ John Greenway made the Best Supporting Performer list.
Big Walk’s five are more of a PC-and-indie sweep: PC Game of the Year, Best Indie Game, Best Multiplayer Game, Best Audio Design and Best Game Trailer, the last for its release date announcement.
GamesRadar puts Resident Evil Requiem right behind the leaders, with Angela Sant’Albano’s Grace Ashcroft among the Best Lead Performer nominees. Five more games have three nominations apiece: Meccha Chameleon, cat-breeding roguelike Mewgenics, vampire RPG The Blood of Dawnwalker, Valheim and Saros.
Console Game of the Year
- 007 First Light
- Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave
- Forza Horizon 6
- LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight
- Nioh 3
- Onimusha: Way of the Sword
- Pokémon Pokopia
- Pragmata
PC Game of the Year
- Big Walk
- Crimson Desert
- Escape from Tarkov
- Esoteric Ebb
- Meccha Chameleon
- Mewgenics
- Order of the Sinking Star
- Star Wars Zero Company
- The Blood of Dawnwalker
- Valheim
Best Storytelling
- 007 First Light
- Dispatch
- Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave
- Silent Hill: Townfall
- The Blood of Dawnwalker
- Zero Parades: For Dead Spies
Best Lead Performer
- Aaron Paul, Robert Robertson III (Dispatch)
- Angela Sant’Albano, Grace Ashcroft (Resident Evil Requiem)
- 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 Performer
- Frankie Kevich, Zoe de Vera (Control Resonant)
- Grace Saif, Diana (Pragmata)
- 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)
Marvel’s Wolverine lands in both performance categories, with Liam McIntyre’s Logan up against Troy Baker’s Nathaniel Essex, better known to X-Men readers as Mister Sinister.
Best Visual Design
- Control Resonant
- Forza Horizon 6
- Orbitals
- Phonopolis
- Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy
- Saros
Best Multiplayer Game
- ARC Raiders
- Big Walk
- Marathon
- Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls
- Meccha Chameleon
- Valheim
Best Soundtrack
- 007 First Light
- Crimson Desert
- Dispatch
- Lumines Arise
- Mewgenics
- Mixtape
Best Remake / Remaster
- Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced
- Gothic 1 Remake
- Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol. 2
- Star Fox
- The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Remastered
- Trails in the Sky 2nd Chapter
Studio of the Year
- Capcom
- Frogwares
- House House
- IO Interactive
- Nintendo EPD
- Square Enix
Most Wanted Game
This one is for games that haven’t shipped yet, and it’s stacked: Alien: Isolation 2, Ananta, Black Myth: Zhong Kui, Exodus, Fable, Final Fantasy VII Revelation, God of War Laufey, Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet, Kingdom Hearts IV, Metro 2039, No Law, Persona 6, Resident Evil Veronica, Stranger Than Heaven, Stuntman: Hollywood, The Expanse: Osiris Reborn, The Witcher 4, Tides of Annihilation, Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis and Total War: Warhammer 40,000.
The rest of the ballot
Best Indie Game – Self-published: Cairn, Fields of Mistria, Meccha Chameleon, Mewgenics, Mina the Hollower, Perfect Tides: Station to Station, Phonopolis, Rhythm Doctor, The Incident at Galley House, and Vampire Crawlers: The Turbo Wildcard from Vampire Survivors.
Best Game Trailer: Battlefield 6 x Top Gun: Carrier Strike Cinematic Trailer, Big Walk’s release date announcement, Cairn’s launch trailer, the Mouse: P.I. for Hire launch trailer, Order of the Sinking Star, Reanimal, Sovereign Tower, Titanium Court and Valheim.
Best Game Expansion: Cult of the Lamb: Woolhaven, Dave the Diver’s In the Jungle content pack, and World of Warcraft: Midnight.
Best Game Adaptation: Devil May Cry (Season 2), Exit 8, Fallout (Season 2), Iron Lung, Mortal Kombat II and Resident Evil.
Still Playing – PC & Console: Apex Legends, Fortnite, GTA Online, Helldivers 2, Hitman World of Assassination, Minecraft, No Man’s Sky, Palworld, The Elder Scrolls Online, Warframe, World of Warcraft and Call of Duty: Warzone.
Still Playing – Mobile: Balatro, Genshin Impact, Honkai: Star Rail, Marvel Snap, Monopoly Go!, NTE: Neverness to Everness, Old School RuneScape, Pokémon Go, Roblox, Sky: Children of the Light, Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Mobile and Wuthering Waves.
Ultimate Game of the Year comes later
The night’s biggest prize runs on its own schedule. Ultimate Game of the Year nominees arrive on October 26, and voting for that category runs from October 26 to October 30. Games released between November 8, 2025 and October 25, 2026 are in the running for it. The main categories cover games released between November 1, 2025 and September 25, 2026.
Three more trophies skip the public vote entirely: the Streamers’ Choice Award, the Breakthrough Award and the Critics’ Choice Award are picked by a jury.
One name you won’t see anywhere is Grand Theft Auto VI. GamesRadar notes that voting closes well before Rockstar’s game launches, so it isn’t eligible this year.
Last year, Sandfall Interactive’s Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 took home seven Golden Joysticks, including Ultimate Game of the Year. Fans have until October 23 to decide who follows it.
