Golden Joystick Award for Game of the Year

The Golden Joystick Award for Game of the Year is an award presented annually at the Golden Joystick Awards ceremony, which has its winners voted in by the British general public.^[1][2] The award is given in honor to the best video game released in a particular year. The first Golden Joystick Awards were held in 1983, with the Ultimate Play the Game–developed shooter Jetpac winning Game of the Year.^[3]

The award was initially given to 8-bit computer games, as 8-bit microcomputers were the most popular home video game platforms in the UK market for much of the 1980s. Following the rise of 16-bit home computers and 8-bit game consoles in the late 1980s, they began awarding separate Game of the Year awards for 8-bit computers, 16-bit computers and game consoles from 1989.^[4] From 1991, they began awarding a single Game of the Year award for all platforms.^[5]

The award was originally given under the Game of the Year name and held this name from the original 1983 ceremony to the 2002 ceremony, with the exception of the 1991/1992 ceremonies, and later again in 2013 and 2014. From 1988 to 1990, the Golden Joystick Awards handed out several Game of the Year awards, for an 8-bit computer game, 16-bit computer game, and console game. During the 1991 ceremony, the award was presented as the Overall Game of the Year (including all systems), in order to distinguish it from another category (16-bit Game of the Year, specifically for 16-bit computers), before switching back for the 1992/93 ceremony. In 1996/97, the top award was once again given under the Game of the Year name. However, the Golden Joystick Awards were put on hiatus until 2002. Returning for one year under its original name, the award was then presented as the Ultimate Game of the Year for the 2003 ceremony, a moniker it held until 2012, and then again from 2015 onwards.

Winners

Year	Game	Developer	Publisher	Genre	Platform(s)	Ref.
1983 (1st)	Jetpac	Ultimate Play the Game	Ultimate Play the Game	Shooter	VIC-20 ZX Spectrum	[3]
1984 (2nd)	Knight Lore	Ultimate Play the Game	Ultimate Play the Game	Action-adventure	ZX Spectrum	[3]
1985 (3rd)	The Way of the Exploding Fist	Beam Software	Melbourne House	Fighting	Commodore 64	[3]
1986 (4th)	Gauntlet	Atari Games	U.S. Gold	Hack and slash	Amstrad CPC Commodore 64 MSX ZX Spectrum	[6]
1987 (5th)	Out Run	Sega AM2	U.S. Gold	Arcade racing	Amstrad CPC Commodore 64 MSX ZX Spectrum	[7]
1988 (6th)	Operation Wolf (8-bit computers)	Taito	Ocean Software	Light gun shooter	Amstrad CPC Commodore 64 MSX ZX Spectrum	[4]
	Speedball (16-bit computers)	The Bitmap Brothers	Image Works	Sports	Amiga Atari ST	[3]
	Thunder Blade (game consoles)	Sega	Sega	Combat flight simulator	Master System	[4]
1989 (7th)	The Untouchables (8-bit computers)	Ocean Software	Ocean Software	Side-scroller	Amstrad CPC Commodore 64 MSX ZX Spectrum	[3]
	Kick Off (16-bit computers)	Dino Dini	Anco Software	Sports	Atari ST	[3]
1990 (8th)	Rick Dangerous 2 (8-bit computers)	Core Design	Micro Style	Platform	Amstrad CPC Commodore 64 ZX Spectrum	[3]
	Kick Off 2 (16-bit computers)	Dino Dini	Anco Software	Sports	Atari ST	[3]
	Mega Man (8-bit consoles)	Capcom	Nintendo	Action-platformer	NES	[8]
	John Madden Football (16-bit consoles)	Park Place Productions	Electronic Arts	Sports (American football)	Sega Mega Drive
1991 (9th)	Sonic the Hedgehog	Sonic Team	Sega	Platform	Sega Mega Drive	[5]
1992 (10th)	Street Fighter II	Capcom	Capcom	Fighting	Super NES	[9]
1994 (12th)	Super Mario All-Stars (consoles)	Nintendo EAD	Nintendo	Platformer	Super NES	[10]
	The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening (handheld)	Nintendo EAD	Nintendo	Platformer	Game Boy
1996 / 1997 (14th)	Super Mario 64	Nintendo EAD	Nintendo	Platformer	Nintendo 64	[3]
2002 (20th)	Grand Theft Auto III	DMA Design	Rockstar Games	Action-adventure Third-person shooter	PlayStation 2 Windows Xbox	[3]
2003 (21st)	Grand Theft Auto: Vice City	Rockstar North	Rockstar Games	Action-adventure Third-person shooter	PlayStation 2 Windows Xbox	[3]
2004 (22nd)	Doom 3	id Software	Activision	First-person shooter	Windows	[3]
2005 (23rd)	Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas	Rockstar North	Rockstar Games	Action-adventure Third-person shooter	PlayStation 2 Windows Xbox	[3]
2006 (24th)	The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion	Bethesda Game Studios	Bethesda Softworks 2K Games	Action role-playing	Windows Xbox 360 PlayStation 3	[11]
2007 (25th)	Gears of War	Epic Games	Microsoft Game Studios	Third-person shooter	Windows Xbox 360	[12]
2008 (26th)	Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare	Infinity Ward	Activision	First-person shooter	Windows Xbox 360 PlayStation 3	[13]
2009 (27th)	Fallout 3	Bethesda Game Studios	Bethesda Softworks	Action role-playing	Windows Xbox 360 PlayStation 3	[14]
2010 (28th)	Mass Effect 2	BioWare	Electronic Arts	Action role-playing	Windows Xbox 360 PlayStation 3	[15]
2011 (29th)	Portal 2	Valve	Valve Electronic Arts	Puzzle platformer	Windows OS X Linux Xbox 360 PlayStation 3	[16]
2012 (30th)	The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim	Bethesda Game Studios	Bethesda Softworks	Action role-playing	Windows Xbox 360 PlayStation 3	[17]
2013 (31st)	Grand Theft Auto V	Rockstar North	Rockstar Games	Action-adventure	PlayStation 3 Windows Xbox 360	[18]
2014 (32nd)	Dark Souls II	FromSoftware	Bandai Namco Entertainment	Action role-playing	PlayStation 3 Windows Xbox 360	[19]
2015 (33rd)	The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	CD Projekt Red	CD Projekt	Action-adventure	PlayStation 4 Windows Xbox One	[20]
2016 (34th)	Dark Souls III	FromSoftware	Bandai Namco Entertainment	Action role-playing	PlayStation 4 Windows Xbox One	[21]
2017 (35th)	The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild	Nintendo EPD	Nintendo	Action-adventure	Nintendo Switch Wii U	[22]
2018 (36th)	Fortnite Battle Royale	Epic Games	Epic Games	Battle royale	Various	[23]
2019 (37th)	Resident Evil 2	Capcom R&D Division 1	Capcom	Survival horror	PlayStation 4 Windows Xbox One	[24]
2020 (38th)	The Last of Us Part II	Naughty Dog	Sony Interactive Entertainment	Action-adventure	PlayStation 4	[25]
2021 (39th)	Resident Evil Village	Capcom R&D Division 1	Capcom	Survival horror	PlayStation 5 Windows Xbox Series X/S	[26]
2022 (40th)	Elden Ring	FromSoftware	Bandai Namco Entertainment	Action role-playing	PlayStation 5 Windows Xbox Series X/S	[27]
2023 (41st)	Baldur's Gate 3	Larian Studios	Larian Studios	Role-playing	PlayStation 5 Windows Xbox Series X/S	[28]

References

1. Weston, D.B. (2012). Greatest Moments in Video Game History. p. 47. ASIN B008ULZ55G.
2. Gleyo, Fritz (31 October 2015). "'The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt' Wins Ultimate Game Of The Year At Golden Joysticks 2015, Sweeps Four Other Awards". Tech Times. Retrieved 13 February 2017.
3. "Golden Joysticks Awards' Ultimate List of Ultimate Games: 1983 - 2015". GamesRadar+. 15 October 2015. p. 2. Retrieved 13 February 2017.
4. "Golden Joystick Awards 1989". Computer and Video Games (92). Future Publishing: 62–63. June 1989.
5. Jim Douglas, ed. (May 1992). "News: Luvvies! Dahlings!". The One (44). EMAP: 17.
6. "Golden Joystick Awards". Computer and Video Games (66). EMAP: 101. April 1987.
7. "Golden Joystick Awards 1988". Computer and Video Games (79). Future Publishing: 39. May 1988.
8. "The Golden Joystick Awards '91". Computer and Video Games (115). EMAP: 10. June 1991.
9. "12 hot facts about the Golden Joystick Awards". GamesRadar+. 14 September 2009. Retrieved 13 February 2017.
10. "News". Nintendo Magazine System. No. 22. July 1994. pp. 10–1.
11. Orry, James (30 October 2006). "Oblivion takes home the shiniest golden joystick". VideoGamer.com. Pro-G Media. Retrieved 13 February 2017.
12. "Golden Joysticks shift into Gears". GameSpot. 29 October 2007. Retrieved 13 February 2017.
13. "Joystick gold for action shooter". BBC. 31 October 2008. Retrieved 13 February 2017.
14. Fahey, Mike (30 October 2009). "Fallout 3 Wins The Golden Joysticks". Kotaku. Retrieved 13 February 2017.
15. Cocker, Guy (30 October 2010). "Mass Effect 2 wins Golden Joystick double". GameSpot. Retrieved 13 February 2017.
16. Whitworth, Dan (21 October 2011). "Golden Joystick Awards: Portal 2 named ultimate game". BBC. Retrieved 13 February 2017.
17. Nunneley, Stephany (26 October 2012). "2012 Golden Joystick Awards – Skyrim wins Ultimate Game of the Year". VG247. Retrieved 13 February 2017.
18. Nunneley, Stephany (25 October 2013). "Golden Joystick Awards: GTA 5 gets Game of The Year, The Last of Us wins three awards". VG247. Retrieved 13 February 2017.
19. Nunneley, Stephany (24 October 2014). "Dark Souls 2 wins Game of the Year at Golden Joystick Awards". VG247. Retrieved 13 February 2017.
20. "Golden Joysticks 2015: The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt wins five gaming awards". BBC. 30 October 2015. Retrieved 13 February 2017.
21. "Overwatch and Dark Souls 3 win big at this year's Golden Joystick Awards". PC Gamer. 18 November 2016. Retrieved 13 February 2017.
22. "The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild named ultimate game at the Golden Joysticks". BBC News. 17 November 2017. Retrieved 17 November 2017.
23. Sheridan, Connor (16 November 2018). "Golden Joystick Awards 2018 winners: God of War wins big but Fortnite gets Victory Royale". GamesRadar+. Retrieved 17 November 2018.
24. "Golden Joysticks: Resident Evil 2 wins big award". BBC News. BBC. 15 November 2019. Retrieved 24 November 2019.
25. Tyrer, Ben (24 November 2020). "Every winner at the Golden Joystick Awards 2020". GamesRadar+. Retrieved 25 November 2020.
26. Weber, Rachel (November 23, 2021). "Resident Evil Village is the Golden Joysticks 2021 Ultimate Game of the Year".
27. Loveridge, Sam (22 November 2022). "Here are all the Golden Joystick Awards 2022 winners". Archived from the original on 22 November 2022. Retrieved 23 November 2022.
28. Loveridge, Sam (November 11, 2023). "Here are all the Golden Joystick Awards 2023 winners".