Voting in our most-coveted award Ultimate Game of the Year is now live!
Head below to pick your top games of 2024 from a shortlist of 12 top titles. Hurry! You've only got until Friday November 8 to cast your vote.
The Ultimate Game of the Year vote takes place in its own voting window from Nov to Nov 8 to give you more time to consider 2024's big winter releases.
We've also opened voting on a new category, Best Game Adaptation, which recognises the cultural impact of games on movies and TV.
Main voting across 19 other categories, including Best Storytelling, Best Studio and Most Wanted Game, has now closed in the Golden Joystick Awards, the world’s longest-running video game awards.
Winners of ALL awards will be revealed in our live broadcast on Thursday, November 21 at 4pm GMT / 11am EST. Follow the Golden Joystick Awards on social for info on hosts, guests and more surprises.
Claim a FREE gaming ebook when you vote!
As an added bonus, everyone who votes can claim a free ebook worth up to £12.99 / $18.99 from a selection including:
- 100 Retro Games to Play Before You Die
- 100 PlayStation Games To Play Before You Die
- The History of Videogames
- Ultimate Fan's Guide to Pokémon
- Ultimate Guide to Roblox
To claim your free ebook, simply enter your email address and click the ‘Register my Votes’ button when you finish voting. We will contact you shortly afterwards and you can choose your free ebook from our selection.
Golden Joystick Awards 2024 Categories
The Golden Joystick Awards 2024 nominations have been revealed, with Final Fantasy VII Rebirth and Astro Bot leading the way with five nominations each. Breakout hit Helldivers 2 follows closely behind with four nominations and roguelike deck builder, Balatro with three nominations. Fan favourites such as Dragon’s Dogma 2 and Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree also make the shortlist. Plus acclaimed indies such as Lorelei and the Laser Eyes, UFO 50 and Animal Well. You can see the full list of publicly voted categories below, with new categories for 2024 flagged as *NEW. See the voting module for more category descriptions.
- Best Storytelling
- Best Multiplayer Game
- Best Visual Design
- Best Indie Game
- Best Indie Game - Self Published (*NEW)
- Still Playing Award - PC and Console (*NEW)
- Still Playing Award - Mobile (*NEW)
- Studio of the Year
- Best Game Expansion
- Best Audio Design (*NEW)
- Best Soundtrack (*NEW)
- Best Lead Performer
- Best Supporting Performer
- PC Game of the Year
- Console Game of the Year (*NEW)
- Best Early Access Game
- Best Gaming Hardware
- Best Game Trailer
- Most Wanted Game
When does voting for Ultimate Game of the Year take place?
Main voting opens on the same date as we reveal the nominees on October 4, and closes on Friday November 1,
The Ultimate Game of the Year award takes place in a separate voting window, which starts on Monday Nov 4 until Friday Nov 8. This allows you more time to play the big winter releases and offer your support for the best games of 2024.
You can read about all of the Golden Joystick Awards 2023 winners here, with Baldur’s Gate 3 / Larian Studios taking home a record seven trophies, plus Sea of Stars, PS VR2 and Ben Starr among the winners.
What are the Golden Joystick Awards?
The GJAs are held in special regard because they are voted for by those who buy and play games. Every year, millions of fans support their favorite games, developers, publishers, and people of the last 12 months.
Now in its 42nd year, the Golden Joystick Awards will be returning as an in-person live show at the De Vere Connaught Rooms, London on November 21, 2024. You can book your tickets and tables here.
How games are nominated in the Golden Joystick Awards:
Before the first vote is cast, the Golden Joysticks judging panel meets to compile our shortlist of nominees. The judges consist of editors and contributors from our sister brands including PC Gamer, FGS, Edge magazine, Retro Gamer, GamesRadar and a variety of industry experts.
The judges' initial long list is combined with publisher nominations collated through an online form. This year’s judging was more ferociously debated than ever, resulting in one of our most comprehensive and diverse shortlists yet.
We strive to create a broad list of categories and nominees which represent the best that gaming has to offer. Sadly, we've had to exclude some much-loved and popular titles. We strive to make the judging process as transparent and meritocratic as possible and are always looking for constructive feedback.
How does judging work?
Nominations for the Golden Joystick Awards 2024 are now closed. Every year, we invite the industry to nominate the games, people and studios that they believe deserve recognition in this year’s categories. We want to make sure that a wide pool of potential nominees is being considered.
The final shortlist is chosen by the Golden Joystick Awards judging panel consisting of Future editors and our trusted network of journalists with reference to this list of nominees.
By definition, we can’t guarantee that every nominated game will make the shortlist, but you can be assured that it will be considered and debated by our judging panel.
When will the shortlist be announced?
The final shortlist will be announced on October 4, with voting starting that very same day.
Golden Joystick Awards 2023 nominations criteria
- The game must have been released between November 11, 2023 and October 4, 2024 (when core 2024 voting begins).
- Ongoing / online games which launched before this period are eligible for the ‘Still Playing’ and ‘Best Game Expansion’ categories.
- Games set for release after November 21 (the day of our show), 2024 will be eligible for the Most Wanted award.
- Games released between October 4, 2023 (when public voting opens) and November 21, 2024 (the day of the awards) will be considered for our critically selected categories, plus the voted categories Ultimate Game of the Year, Best Lead Performer and Best Supporting Performer.
We look forward to seeing you all on October 4 when we reveal the nominees.
Key Dates for the Golden Joystick Awards 2024
| Nominations open | August 8, 2024 |
| Nominations close | August 31 |
| Shortlist announced and voting opens | October 4 |
| Voting closes | November 1 |
| UGOTY voting opens | November 4 |
| UGOTY voting closes | November 8 |
| Awards ceremony | November 21 |
Stay tuned for announcements about hosts, exclusive trailers and more surprises
Follow @gamesradar or @GoldenJoysticks on Twitter for more announcements about new categories, exclusive trailers and our special guest hosts. The Golden Joystick Awards 2024 will award the best games of the last 12 months. We look forward to seeing you soon!
