The Golden Joystick Awards 2024 have unveiled an impressive lineup of nominees across over ten categories, spotlighting the remarkable growth and recognition of indie games within the industry. This year's event, scheduled for November 21, 2024, will celebrate titles released between November 11, 2023, and October 4, 2024, marking its 42nd annual celebration of gaming excellence.
Golden Joystick Awards 2024 Nominees
A highlight of this year's awards is the introduction of a new category dedicated to self-published indie games. This category celebrates the creativity and innovation of small-scale teams that develop and publish their own titles, emphasizing the evolving landscape of indie gaming. According to the organizers, "The award recognizes the increasingly broad definition of 'indie' games, with a special focus on teams without the financial or technical support of a larger games publisher; and titles entering markets less well served by traditional publishing."
Below are the categories and nominees for the Golden Joystick Awards 2024:
Best Soundtrack
- A Highland Song
- Astro Bot
- Final Fantasy VII Rebirth
- Hauntii
- Silent Hill 2
- Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance
Best Audio Design
- Astro Bot
- Balatro
- Robobeat
- Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II
- Star Wars Outlaws
- Still Wakes the Deep
Best Game Trailer
- Caravan Sandwitch - Launch Trailer
- Death Stranding 2: On The Beach - State of Play Announce Trailer
- Helldivers 2 - “The Fight for Freedom Begins” Launch Trailer
- Kingmakers - Official Announcement Trailer
- Sid Meier’s Civilization VII - Narrator Reveal Trailer
- The Plucky Squire - Launch Trailer
Best Game Expansion
- Alan Wake 2 Expansion Pass
- Destiny 2: The Final Shape
- Diablo IV: Vessel of Hatred
- Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree
- God of War Ragnarok: Valhalla
- World of Warcraft: The War Within
Best Early Access Game
- Enshrouded
- Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor
- Hades II
- Manor Lords
- Lethal Company
- Palworld
Still Playing Award - Mobile
- Call of Duty: Warzone Mobile
- Free Fire
- Honkai: Star Rail
- Roblox
- Marvel Snap
- Monopoly Go!
- Mini Motorways
- PUBG: Battlegrounds
- Squad Busters
- Star Wars: Hunters
- Subway Surfers
- The Sims Mobile
Still Playing Award - Console & PC
- Apex Legends
- Counter-Strike 2
- EA Sports FC
- Dota 2
- Fortnite
- GTA Online
- Minecraft
- Naraka: Bladepoint
- Roblox
- Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege
- Valorant
- Warframe
Best Indie Game
- Animal Well
- Arco
- Balatro
- Beyond Galaxyland
- Conscript
- Indika
- Lorelei and the Laser Eyes
- Thank Goodness You’re Here!
- The Plucky Squire
- Ultros
Best Indie Game - Self Published
- Arctic Eggs
- Another Crab’s Treasure
- Crow Country
- Duck Detective: The Secret Salami
- I Am Your Beast
- Little Kitty, Big City
- Riven
- Tactical Breach Wizards
- Tiny Glade
- UFO 50
Console Game of the Year
- Astro Bot
- Dragon’s Dogma 2
- Final Fantasy VII Rebirth
- Helldivers 2
- Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown
- The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom
Best Multiplayer Game
- Abiotic Factor
- EA Sports College Football 25
- Helldivers 2
- Sons of the Forest
- Tekken 8
- The Finals
Best Lead Performer
- Cody Christian (Cloud Strife in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth)
- Kaiji Tang (Ichiban Kasuga in Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth)
- Humberly Gonzalez (Kay Vess in Star Wars Outlaws)
- Luke Roberts (James Sunderland in Silent Hill 2)
- Melina Juergens (Senua in Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II)
- Sonequa Martin-Green (Alvilda in Asgard’s Wrath 2)
Best Supporting Performer
- Abbi Greenland and Helen Goalen (The Furies in Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II)
- Briana White (Aerith Gainsborough in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth)
- Dawn M. Bennett (Aigis in Persona 3 Reload)
- Debra Wilson (Amanda Waller in Suicide Squad)
- Matt Berry (Herbert in Thank Goodness You’re Here!)
- Neve McIntosh (Suze in Still Wakes the Deep)
Best Storytelling
- 1000xResist
- Emio - The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club
- Final Fantasy VII Rebirth
- Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth
- Lorelei and the Laser Eyes
- Tactical Breach Wizards
Best Visual Design
- Astro Bot
- Black Myth: Wukong
- Harold Halibut
- Metaphor: ReFantazio
- Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II
- Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2
Most Wanted Game
- Atomfall
- Assassin’s Creed Shadows
- Sid Meier’s Civilization VII
- Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
- Deadlock
- Death Stranding 2: On The Beach
- Doom: The Dark Ages
- Exodus
- Fable
- Ghost of Yotei
- Grand Theft Auto VI
- Hollow Knight: Silksong
- Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
- Kingdom Come: Deliverance II
- Light No Fire
- Mafia: The Old Country
- Monster Hunter Wilds
- Skate.
- Slay the Spire 2
- South of Midnight
Best Gaming Hardware
- Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 (2024)
- Backbone One (2nd Gen)
- LG UltraGear 32GS95UE
- Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 Super
- Turtle Beach Stealth Ultra
- Steam Deck OLED
Studio of the Year
- 11 Bit Studios
- Arrowhead Game Studios
- Capcom
- Digital Eclipse
- Team ASOBI
- Visual Concepts
PC Game of the Year
- Animal Well
- Balatro
- Frostpunk 2
- Satisfactory
- Tactical Breach Wizards
- UFO 50
Voting Period
Fan voting for the Golden Joystick Awards 2024 is now open, with nominees selected by a distinguished panel including PC Gamer, GamesRadar, the Future Games Show, Edge magazine, and Retro Gamer. You can cast your vote on the official website. Voting for the Ultimate Game of the Year category will open later, with the shortlist revealed on November 4 and voting running from November 4 to 8, 2024. Titles released between October 4, 2024, and November 21, 2024, remain eligible for the Best Performance and Ultimate Game of the Year categories.
As an incentive for voting, participants can claim a free ebook valued at up to approximately $19 from a curated 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
Fans Express Disappointment Over GOTY Nominees 2024
The Golden Joystick Awards have yet to announce the finalists for the Ultimate Game of the Year category, leaving the gaming community buzzing with anticipation and some frustration. Notable omissions from the Game of the Year lists for PC and Console include Metaphor: ReFantazio, Space Marine 2, and particularly, Black Myth Wukong, causing a stir among fans.
Supporters of Black Myth Wukong have voiced their discontent, accusing the organizers of overlooking their favorite titles. One fan remarked on social media, "When you are accused, you use the 'UGOTY' award as a shield... we are well aware that you are trying to maintain your arrogant 'authority and elitism' while telling us the deceptive lie of 'We stand with u'."
In response to the criticism, the Golden Joystick Awards organization clarified via a tweet that the full list of Ultimate Game of the Year nominees has not yet been released: "Thanks to everyone who has been in touch to ask why Game X or Game Y was not included in our GOTY list. One reason is that we have not launched our GOTY shortlist, which opens on Nov 4."
