Video game awards are a peculiar prospect since there are plenty of them to go around and each will come to a different conclusion regarding the best games of the year. The longest-running game awards are the Golden Joystick awards. The Golden Joystick awards are run by Future, the parent company of video game outlets like Edge and Gamesradar. Gamers can now enter their votes across a huge variety of categories for this year’s selection, and they have until November 4 to do so.

Once the votes have been tallied, an awards show will be streamed on November 22 across all major platforms. Daniel Dawkins from Gamesradar speaks about some of the notable nominations on the official website.

“Elden Ring leads the nominations, closely followed by Horizon Forbidden West, and there are over 70 games in contention for this year’s coveted trophies, including indies such as Immortality, Tunic, and Neon White; plus blockbusters games such as Final Fantasy XIV, Destiny 2, Minecraft and Fortnite vying for our Still Playing award.”

Dawkins also discusses how the judging process will work for the 40th anniversary Golden Joystick awards. The list of nominees and categories should theoretically represent the best of gaming in any given year. He says: “Publishers and developers are invited to nominate their games, studios, and people in early September. These nominations are added to a long list of titles selected by Future PLC editors, trusted freelancers, and external experts.”

After this process is complete, a panel of editors from Future will assemble a shortlist of a broad selection of games that cover aspects like having a positive critical reception, impressive technology, and innovation. Any nominees must have come out between the periods of “November 23, 2021, and November 4, 2022.”

It’s also mentioned that games released before the day of the award show broadcast can still be considered for certain categories and that online games that have been out before the start of this period will still qualify for categories like “Still Playing.”

In total there are 18 categories in this year’s Golden Joystick awards, but the Ultimate Game of the Year award will not begin its voting process until November 7. The categories and nominees are as follows:

Best Game Community

• GRID Legends

• Dreams

• No Man’s Sky

• Splatoon 3

• Final Fantasy XIV

• Warframe

Best Game Expansion

• Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker

• Destiny 2: The Witch Queen

• GTA Online: The Contract

• Cuphead: The Delicious Last Course

• Total War: Warhammer III – Immortal Empires

• Guild Wars 2: End of Dragons

Best Gaming Hardware

• WD_Black SN850 NVMe SSD for PS5

• Playdate

• Backbone One: PlayStation Edition

• Steam Deck

• Analogue Pocket

• Roccat Kone XP

Best Game Trailer

• The Callisto Protocol The Truth of Black Iron Trailer

• Goat Simulator 3 Announcement Trailer

• Alan Wake 2 Reveal Trailer

• Time Flies Announcement Trailer

• Skate. Still Working On It Trailer

• Bloody Hell Hotel Reveal Trailer

Best Audio

• Gran Turismo 7

• We Are OFK

• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge

• Xenoblade Chronicles 3

• OlliOlli World

• Metal: Hellsinger

Best Storytelling

• IMMORTALITY

• Horizon Forbidden West

• Return to Monkey Island

• NORCO

• Wayward Strand

• I Was A Teenage Exocolonist

Best Indie Game

• Dorfromantik

• Cult of the Lamb

• Tunic

• Rollerdrome

• Teardown

• Neon White

Best Multiplayer Game

• Elden Ring

• LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga

• Splatoon 3

• MultiVersus

• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenue

• Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands

Best Visual Design

• Elden Ring

• Ghostwire: Tokyo

• A Plague Tale: Requiem

• Horizon Forbidden West

• Lost in Play

• Cult of the Lamb

Best Early Access Launch

• Disney Dreamlight Valley

• Core Keeper

• Slime Rancher 2

• Gloomwood

• Dune: Spice Wars

• Vampire Survivors

PC Game of the Year

• Neon White

• Hardspace: Shipbreaker

• Warhammer 40,000: Chaos Gate – Daemonhunters

• Return to Monkey Island

• Teardown

• Total War: Warhammer 3

Xbox Game of the Year

• Grounded

• As Dusk Falls

• Halo Infinite

• Scorn

• Sniper Elite 5

• Dying Light 2: Stay Human

PlayStation Game of the Year

• The Last Of Us Part I

• Gran Turismo 7

• Elden Ring

• Stray

• Horizon Forbidden West

• Sifu

Nintendo Game of the Year

• Kirby and the Forgotten Land

• Live A Live

• Xenoblade Chronicles 3

• Nintendo Switch Sports

• Pokémon Legends: Arceus

• Splatoon 3

Studio of the Year

• FromSoftware Inc.

• Terrible Toybox

• Roll7

• Interior / Night

• Half Mermaid

• Tribute Games

Still Playing

• Fortnite

• Destiny 2

• Genshin Impact

• The Sims 4

• Apex Legends

• Final Fantasy XIV

• Pokémon GO

• Minecraft

• The Elder Scrolls Online

• Lost Ark

Most Wanted Game

• The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

• Honkai: Star Rail

• Star Wars Jedi: Survivor

• Assassin’s Creed Mirage

• Warhammer 40,000: Darktide

• Street Fighter 6

• Final Fantasy XVI

• Dead Island 2

• Forspoken

• Hollow Knight: Silksong

• Starfield

• Exoprimal

• Redfall

• Dead Space

• Hogwarts Legacy

• Final Fantasy VII Rebirth

• The Day Before

• Mass Effect

• Marvel’s Spider-Man 2

• Kerbal Space Program 2

Source