You can now vote for your favourite games in the 42nd Golden Joystick Awards in categories like PC Game of the Year and Console Game of the Year. The polls will remain open until Friday, November 1, at 4pm PDT/7pm EDT/11pm GMT, so you have a month to figure out where your loyalties lie.
“2023 was one of video gaming’s best years ever, with Baldur’s Gate 3 and Larian Studios claiming a record seven trophies at last year’s Golden Joystick Awards,” content director Daniel Dawkins says in a press release. “2024 has been a challenging year for the games industry in so many ways, but the variety and diversity of releases over the last 12 months has made this one of the most difficult—and exciting—Golden Joystick Awards nominees list we’ve ever compiled.”
I think “challenging” is a bit of an understatement, but it is true that we’ve seen some fantastic games released this year. My current favourites, and games I’d like to see take home an award include Ultros in Best Indie Game, Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree in Best Game Expansion, and Lethal Company in Best Early Access Game. But there are so many exceptional games that deserve an award, it’s probably going to be a tight race.
“Above all, this could be a year of BIG surprises—who saw Palworld, Helldivers 2, or Balatro coming,” Dawkins continues. “We can’t wait to see who you vote for as your games, studios, and personalities of 2024!”
There are also a couple of categories that are new to the Golden Joysticks: The Still Playing awards and a new indie game category may help ease all the arguments surrounding what constitutes an indie game. The Self-published category will “(hopefully) better reflect how games reach the market,” Dawkins says.
The 42nd Golden Joystick Awards will take place on November 21 in central London, and it will also be livestreamed. However, the most important thing to remember right now is that voting for the Ultimate Game of the Year (arguably the most important category) is not open yet. But you will be able to vote for it on November 4, the same day the shortlist of contenders will be announced.