Key Highlights:
- Resident Evil Requiem wins Ultimate Game of the Year and three additional awards at the 2026 Golden Joysticks.
- Indie sensation MECCHA CHAMELEON matches Requiem with four trophies, while Capcom is associated with seven wins overall.
- Crimson Desert takes PC Game of the Year, with The Witcher 4 winning Most Wanted Game.
The Golden Joystick Awards 2026 winners have been announced, with Resident Evil Requiem claiming Ultimate Game of the Year at the ceremony in London on 11 November. Capcom’s survival horror game collected four awards overall, making it one of the night’s biggest winners.
The 44th annual Golden Joystick Awards were held at Troxy in London and hosted by actor Alix Wilton Regan. A total of 25 awards were presented, with 22 categories decided by public voting and three selected by specialist panels.
Resident Evil Requiem also won Console Game of the Year, Best Game Trailer for “Evil Has Always Had a Name”, and Best Lead Performer for Angela Sant’Albano’s portrayal of Grace Ashcroft.
The result follows our Golden Joystick Awards 2026 nominations coverage, where Requiem was among 12 games shortlisted for the top prize.
However, the final vote was remarkably close. Resident Evil Requiem secured 17% of the Ultimate Game of the Year vote, narrowly beating Phantom Blade Zero on 16%, while Crimson Desert finished third with 15%.
I’m more surprised by that winning margin than the four trophies. Phantom Blade Zero only launched on 29 October, a day before voting closed, yet still came within a single percentage point of taking the biggest award.
Elsewhere, MECCHA CHAMELEON matched Requiem with four awards, winning Best Multiplayer Game, Best Indie Game (Self-Published), Streamers’ Choice and Developers’ Choice.
The multiplayer hit has enjoyed an extraordinary year, having sold 15 million copies in less than a month. Its four-award success marks another significant achievement for the independent title.
Capcom also won Studio of the Year, with Onimusha: Way of the Sword receiving Best Audio Design and Grace Saif winning Best Supporting Performer for her role as Diana in PRAGMATA. These results brought Capcom’s total involvement to seven awards.
Meanwhile, Dispatch claimed Best Storytelling and Best Soundtrack, Crimson Desert won PC Game of the Year, and Big Walk received the Critics’ Choice Award.
Golden Joystick Awards 2026: Full Winners List
Here are all 25 winners, as confirmed in the official Golden Joystick Awards results.
| Award | Winner |
|---|---|
| Ultimate Game of the Year | Resident Evil Requiem |
| Console Game of the Year | Resident Evil Requiem |
| PC Game of the Year | Crimson Desert |
| Most Wanted Game | The Witcher 4 |
| Studio of the Year | Capcom |
| Best Storytelling | Dispatch |
| Best Visual Design | CONTROL Resonant |
| Best Audio Design | Onimusha: Way of the Sword |
| Best Multiplayer Game | MECCHA CHAMELEON |
| Best Game Expansion | DOOM: The Dark Ages |
| Best Indie Game | Valheim |
| Best Indie Game (Self-Published) | MECCHA CHAMELEON |
| Best Early Access Game | Subnautica 2 |
| Best Soundtrack | Dispatch |
| Best Gaming Hardware | Steam Controller |
| Best Game Trailer | Resident Evil Requiem: Evil Has Always Had a Name |
| Best Remake / Remaster | The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Remastered |
| Best Game Adaptation | Iron Lung |
| Best Lead Performer | Angela Sant’Albano (Grace Ashcroft, Resident Evil Requiem) |
| Best Supporting Performer | Grace Saif (Diana, PRAGMATA) |
| Still Playing (Console & PC) | Minecraft |
| Still Playing (Mobile) | Balatro |
| Streamers’ Choice | MECCHA CHAMELEON |
| Developers’ Choice | MECCHA CHAMELEON |
| Critics’ Choice | Big Walk |
The three panel-selected awards were Streamers’ Choice, Developers’ Choice and Critics’ Choice. The remaining 22 categories were determined through public voting.
For Capcom, the results are another major milestone in a year already marked by Resident Evil Requiem’s commercial and critical success. I awarded the game 8.5/10 in my Resident Evil Requiem PS5 review, praising its combination of traditional survival horror and action-focused combat.
The 2026 Golden Joystick Awards have now concluded, with attention turning to The Game Awards on 10 December, when another set of major gaming honours will be decided.
