Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree has claimed the award for Best Game Expansion at the Golden Joystick Awards 2024.
It's a win that might have come as little surprise – back when it launched in 2022, Elden Ring was the big winner at that year's Golden Joystick Awards ceremony, taking home wins in five categories, including a Studio of the Year nod for developer FromSoftware. But that 2022 dominance was certainly no guarantee of a win this year, especially given how strong the rest of the field for this year's awards were.
Shadow of the Erdtree defeated the expansion pass from 2023 GOTY contender Alan Wake 2, the outstanding Valhalla roguelike update from God of War: Ragnarok, Destiny 2's decade-capping The Final Shape, Diablo 4's Vessel of Hatred expansion, and The War Within's new horizon for World of Warcraft. There's an easy argument to be made for any one of those expansions to have won this year's award, which makes Elden Ring's win even more impressive.
- Dark Souls and Elden Ring owner says Shadow of the Erdtree boosted revenue, and plans to expand its gaming division thanks to investment from Sony
- Baldur's Gate 3 director Swen Vincke says indie poker roguelike Balatro was his 2024 GOTY, beating out Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, Astro Bot, and Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree
In our five-star Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree review, we said that it was "one of the most beautiful experiences" of the year, even in spite of its exhausting final boss (though perhaps a few nerfs have helped with that in the months since release). There's no word on the future of Elden Ring yet, but with critical and commercial success for both the base game and the expansion, here's hoping FromSoftware is preparing to return to The Lands Between as soon as possible.
