The 44th Golden Joystick Awards are in the books, and Resident Evil Requiem is officially the Ultimate Game of the Year. Capcom’s survival horror sequel took the top prize at tonight’s ceremony in London on Wednesday, November 11, 2026, capping off a huge night for the publisher — and for a year of games that gave voters one of the strongest shortlists in the awards’ history.
The show was streamed live on YouTube, Instagram, X and Facebook, hosted by Angela Sant’Albano and Grace Saif. Saif had a particularly good evening: in addition to hosting duties, she picked up the Best Supporting Performer award for her work in Pragmata, another Capcom title. Public voting for the awards closed on October 30, and the ceremony also served up new trailers, including a fresh mission trailer for The Expanse: Osiris Reborn.
Requiem did not just win the big one. It also took PlayStation Game of the Year and Xbox Game of the Year, sweeping every platform prize it was eligible for and beating a field that included some of the most talked-about releases of 2026. The game, which puts FBI agent Grace Ashcroft at the center of a return to Raccoon City, has been one of the year’s defining releases, and the Golden Joystick voters have now made that official. For Capcom, it was the headline of a night that also brought home Best Audio for Onimusha: Way of the Sword and a supporting performance win for Pragmata, underlining just how deep the publisher’s 2026 lineup has been.
Dispatch and MECCHA CHAMELEON Share the Spotlight
While Requiem owned the headline categories, two other games dominated the rest of the night. Dispatch, the superhero workplace comedy from AdHoc Studio, won three awards: Best Debut Game, Best Storytelling and the Streamers’ Choice Award. Its lead performer, Alix Wilton Regan, also won Best Lead Performer, making it four wins in total for the game and its cast.
MECCHA CHAMELEON was another of the evening’s big winners, taking Best Game Adaptation, Best Game Expansion and Best Multiplayer Game. Few games cross that many different kinds of categories in a single night, and the haul speaks to a release that found an audience across single-player, multiplayer and adaptation fans alike.
Elsewhere, Crimson Desert was named Best PC Game, while the Best Visual Design award went to CONTROL Resonant and Best Soundtrack went to Iron Lung. The Witcher IV, which is still to come, was voted Most Wanted Game — a result that will only add to the anticipation around CD Projekt Red’s next chapter — and The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Remastered took Best Remake or Remaster, a reminder that Geralt’s last adventure still casts a long shadow.
The Rest of the Winners
Valheim won Best Indie Game, Lego Party! took Best Family Game, and the Steam Controller won Best Hardware. Subnautica 2 was named Best Early Access Game, while Digimon Story Time Stranger won Nintendo Game of the Year. Balatro proved it is still the game that will not go away, winning Best Game Community, Mobile Game of the Year and the Still Playing Award for mobile, while Minecraft took the Still Playing Award for consoles and PC. Big Walk won the Critics’ Choice Award, Adam Boulds took the Breakthrough Award, and Richard Garfield was inducted into the PC Gaming Hall of Fame.
That spread tells its own story about 2026. The biggest prizes went to blockbuster horror and big-budget spectacle, but the voters also made room for indie breakouts, long-running live games and a remaster of a decade-old classic. It was a year with something for every kind of player, and the winners list reflects that.
Full Winners List — Golden Joystick Awards 2026
- Ultimate Game of the Year: Resident Evil Requiem
- PlayStation Game of the Year: Resident Evil Requiem
- Xbox Game of the Year: Resident Evil Requiem
- Best PC Game: Crimson Desert
- Nintendo Game of the Year: Digimon Story Time Stranger
- Most Wanted Game: The Witcher IV
- Best Audio: Onimusha: Way of the Sword
- Best Soundtrack: Iron Lung
- Best Visual Design: CONTROL Resonant
- Best Storytelling: Dispatch
- Best Debut Game: Dispatch
- Streamers’ Choice Award: Dispatch
- Best Lead Performer: Alix Wilton Regan (Dispatch)
- Best Supporting Performer: Grace Saif (Pragmata)
- Best Game Adaptation: MECCHA CHAMELEON
- Best Game Expansion: MECCHA CHAMELEON
- Best Multiplayer Game: MECCHA CHAMELEON
- Best Indie Game: Valheim
- Best Family Game: Lego Party!
- Best Hardware: Steam Controller
- Best Early Access Game: Subnautica 2
- Best Remake or Remaster: The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Remastered
- Best Game Community: Balatro
- Mobile Game of the Year: Balatro
- Still Playing Award — Mobile: Balatro
- Still Playing Award — Consoles & PC: Minecraft
- Critics’ Choice Award: Big Walk
- Breakthrough Award: Adam Boulds
- PC Gaming Hall of Fame: Richard Garfield
Proven Gamer covered the road to tonight’s show in the run-up to the ceremony, including The Golden Joystick Awards Are This Wednesday — Here’s How to Watch the 44th Show Live and 12 Games, ONE Winner — Golden Joystick Ultimate Game of the Year Voting Is LIVE, and It Closes Friday. If you missed the broadcast, the full show is available to rewatch on the Golden Joystick Awards channels.
Source: the full winners announcement from Future via Games Press.
Follow Proven Gamer: X/Twitter | Facebook | Bluesky | Twitch | YouTube | Patreon | TikTok | Instagram | Threads | Discord
