Golden Joystick Awards 2026 Winners: Resident Evil Requiem Wins Ultimate Game of the Year

The Golden Joystick Awards 2026 winners are in, and Capcom's Resident Evil Requiem has taken home the night's biggest prize. At the 44th Golden Joystick Awards in London on November 11, 2026, Requiem was named Ultimate Game of the Year, beating Phantom Blade Zero by a single percentage point in one of the closest finishes in the show's history. The survival horror sequel finished the night with four awards, while Capcom was named Studio of the Year.

Resident Evil Requiem Wins Ultimate Game of the Year

Requiem took 17% of the public vote for Ultimate Game of the Year, ahead of Phantom Blade Zero on 16% and Crimson Desert on 15%, with Control Resonant and The Blood of Dawnwalker rounding out the top five. Requiem is the ninth mainline Resident Evil game, starring new protagonist Grace Ashcroft, and its victory confirms the series' return to the top of the industry in a year when no single game dominated the conversation. The Golden Joystick Awards are voted for by the public in 22 of their 25 categories, so the result is a genuine measure of what players loved most in 2026.

Requiem's four awards on the night were Ultimate Game of the Year, Console Game of the Year, Best Game Trailer for its live-action short film "Evil Has Always Had A Name", and Best Lead Performer for Angela Sant'Albano's portrayal of Grace Ashcroft. The short film stars Maika Monroe as a mother living through the fall of Raccoon City.

Capcom's Big Night: Studio of the Year and Seven Awards

Capcom was named Studio of the Year with 57% of the public vote, the largest share of any winner on the night. Onimusha: Way of the Sword won Best Audio Design and Grace Saif won Best Supporting Performer for Pragmata, taking Capcom's connected total to seven awards.

Golden Joystick Awards 2026 Winners: The Full List

• Ultimate Game of the Year: Resident Evil Requiem
• Console Game of the Year: Resident Evil Requiem
• PC Game of the Year: Crimson Desert
• Best Storytelling: Dispatch
• Best Soundtrack: Dispatch
• Best Audio Design: Onimusha: Way of the Sword
• Best Visual Design: Control Resonant
• Best Multiplayer Game: Meccha Chameleon
• Best Indie Game: Valheim
• Best Indie Game – Self-Published: Meccha Chameleon
• Best Game Expansion: Doom: The Dark Ages – Revelations
• Best Early Access Game: Subnautica 2
• Best Remake / Remaster: The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Remastered
• Best Game Trailer: Resident Evil Requiem – Evil Has Always Had A Name
• Best Lead Performer: Angela Sant'Albano (Grace Ashcroft, Resident Evil Requiem)
• Best Supporting Performer: Grace Saif (Diana, Pragmata)
• Best Game Adaptation: Iron Lung
• Still Playing – PC & Console: Minecraft
• Still Playing – Mobile: Balatro
• Best Gaming Hardware: Steam Controller
• Studio of the Year: Capcom
• Streamers' Choice: Meccha Chameleon
• Developers' Choice: Meccha Chameleon
• Critics' Choice: Big Walk
• Most Wanted Game: The Witcher 4

Meccha Chameleon: The Night's Biggest Surprise

The night's biggest surprise was Meccha Chameleon, a viral co-op hide-and-seek game made by two developers in Japan in just a couple of months. It matched Requiem's four awards, winning Best Multiplayer Game, Best Indie Game (Self-Published), the Streamers' Choice Award and the Developers' Choice Award — a small, strange game that players discovered and voted for in huge numbers.

The Witcher 4, Crimson Desert and Dispatch Share the Spoils

CD Projekt Red won two awards: The Witcher 4 took Most Wanted Game with 18% of the vote, and The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Remastered won Best Remake / Remaster. Crimson Desert won PC Game of the Year, Dispatch won Best Storytelling and Best Soundtrack, Valve's Steam Controller won Best Gaming Hardware with 51% of the vote, and Minecraft and Balatro took the Still Playing awards.

GTA 6 and Zelda Could Not Compete — But The Game Awards Await

Two of the year's biggest releases were missing entirely. Grand Theft Auto 6, which launches on November 19, and The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake, which launched on November 5, both fell outside the eligibility window, so neither could be nominated. Both will be eligible for The Game Awards on December 10. One winner arrived with a debate attached: Big Walk took the Critics' Choice Award days after developer House House revealed it had used large language models in the final phase of development, though the studio says under 0.1% of the game's code involved generative AI.

Golden Joystick Awards 2026 Winners: Frequently Asked Questions

The 44th Golden Joystick Awards belonged to Resident Evil Requiem and Capcom, but the night's real story was how widely the prizes were spread — unlike 2025, when Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 won almost everything. With GTA 6 days away and The Game Awards coming on December 10, the 2026 Game of the Year race is only just getting started.