The 40th Golden Joystick Awards has revealed this year's shortlisted games, and voting is now open worldwide until Friday, November 4 2022. The event is the longest-running public-voted game awards show around, with millions of votes cast every year, and is run by PC Gamer's parent company Future.
Winners will be revealed in an all-digital awards show broadcast on all major streaming platforms on Tuesday, November 22, 2022. The 18 categories include over 70 games, so you'll surely find something worth your own precious vote.
Among the hot favourites is Elden Ring, which has a whopping four nominations including 'Best Multiplayer Game', 'Best Visual Design', 'PlayStation Game of the Year', with developer FromSoftware Inc. being nominated for 'Studio of the Year'. Other biggies with multiple nominations include Horizon Forbidden West, Splatoon 3, Final Fantasy XIV and Teardown.
There's even a spot for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge, which warms this old shellhead's heart.
"With a few glorious exceptions, many of 2022’s hotly-anticipated blockbuster releases have shifted into 2023 [...] making this one of the most eclectic, unpredictable and hard-to-spell-check Golden Joystick Awards shortlists in recent memory," writes Daniel Dawkins, content director of games and film. "Indies, AAs and even a few solo devs diversify the field, with titles such as Immortality, Cult of the Lamb, Tunic, Vampire Survivors, I Was a Teenage Exocolonist and Neon White (to name but a few) leading the ever-contentious debate among our shortlist judges.
"Of course, some of 2022’s biggest games are 2021’s biggest games. Or even 2013’s biggest games. This shift to always-on 'service' gaming is reflected in our 'Still Playing' award, where franchise titans jostle to claim the Golden Joystick trophy. Equally, some of 2022’s best games won’t be officially released until 2023, and we recognise the importance of Early Access titles in our new award, 'Best Early Access Launch'."
The Nominations are:
Best Audio
- We Are OFK
- Xenoblade Chronicles 3
- Metal: Hellsinger
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge
- Gran Turismo 7
- OlliOlli World
Best Storytelling
- IMMORTALITY
- Return to Monkey Island
- Horizon Forbidden West
- NORCO
- I Was A Teenage Exocolonist
- Wayward Strand
Best Game Community
- Dreams
- Final Fantasy XIV
- GRID Legends
- No Man’s Sky
- Splatoon 3
- Warframe
Best Game Expansion
- Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker
- Destiny 2: The Witch Queen
- Cuphead: The Delicious Last Course
- GTA Online: The Contract
- Guild Wars 2: End of Dragons
- Total War: Warhammer III - Immortal Empires
Best Gaming Hardware
- Playdate
- Steam Deck
- Analogue Pocket
- Backbone One: PlayStation Edition
- Roccat Kone XP
- WD_Black SN850 NVMe SSD for PS5
Best Indie Game
- Cult of the Lamb
- Tunic
- Rollerdrome
- Dorfromantik
- Neon White
- Teardown
Best Multiplayer Game
- Elden Ring
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenue
- MultiVersus
- Splatoon 3
- Tiny Tina's Wonderlands
- LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga
Best Visual Design
- Elden Ring
- Horizon Forbidden West
- Cult of the Lamb
- Ghostwire: Tokyo
- A Plague Tale: Requiem
- Lost in Play
Most Wanted Game
- The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
- Final Fantasy XVI
- Assassin's Creed Mirage
- Dead Island 2
- Forspoken
- Street Fighter 6
- Star Wars Jedi: Survivor
- Warhammer 40,000: Darktide
- Honkai: Star Rail
- Starfield
- Exoprimal
- Redfall
- Hogwarts Legacy
- The Day Before
- Mass Effect
- Marvel’s Spider-Man 2
- Final Fantasy VII Rebirth
- Hollow Knight: Silksong
- Kerbal Space Program 2
- Dead Space
Nintendo Game of the Year
- Xenoblade Chronicles 3
- Pokémon Legends: Arceus
- Kirby and the Forgotten Land
- Live A Live
- Splatoon 3
- Nintendo Switch Sports
PC Game of the Year
- Neon White
- Return to Monkey Island
- Hardspace: Shipbreaker
- Teardown
- Total War: Warhammer 3
- Warhammer 40,000: Chaos Gate - Daemonhunters
PlayStation Game of the Year
- Gran Turismo 7
- Horizon Forbidden West
- Stray
- Elden Ring
- The Last Of Us Part I
- Sifu
Xbox Game of the Year
- Halo Infinite
- Scorn
- Grounded
- As Dusk Falls
- Sniper Elite 5
- Dying Light 2: Stay Human
Still Playing
- Genshin Impact
- The Sims 4
- Destiny 2
- Final Fantasy XIV
- Minecraft
- Fortnite
- Pokémon GO
- Apex Legends
- Lost Ark
- The Elder Scrolls Online
Studio of the Year
- Roll7
- Terrible Toybox
- Half Mermaid
- FromSoftware Inc.
- Interior / Night
- Tribute Games
Best Early Access Launch
- Disney Dreamlight Valley
- Slime Rancher 2
- Dune: Spice Wars
- Core Keeper
- Vampire Survivors
- Gloomwood
Best Game Trailer
- The Callisto Protocol The Truth of Black Iron Trailer
- Goat Simulator 3 Announcement Trailer
- skate. Still Working On It Trailer
- Bloody Hell Hotel Reveal Trailer
- Time Flies Announcement Trailer
- Alan Wake 2 Reveal Trailer
The one category not included above is Ultimate Game of the Year, which has a separate voting window opening on Monday, November 7. There are also three categories decided by a panel of journalists from across Future's various gaming titles, including GamesRadar, PC Gamer, Edge magazine, Retro Gamer and Play magazine. The winners of the 'Best Performer', 'Breakthrough Award' and 'Critics' Choice Award' will all be revealed on the night.
You can vote here, but make sure to cast that ballot before November 4.
