Alan Wake 2 wins Critics' Choice Award at the Golden Joystick Awards 2023

Alan Wake 2 winning at the Golden Joystick Awards 2023
(Image credit: Remedy Entertainment)

Alan Wake 2 has won the Critics' Choice Award at the Golden Joystick Awards 2023 powered by Intel. 

As voted on by a group of journalists from GamesRadar+, PC Gamer, Future Game Show, EDGE Magazine, Retro Gamer, and PLAY magazine – alongside Future's trusted network of freelance writers – Remedy Entertainment's long-awaited sequel has risen to the top in a year absolutely brimming with top-tier candidates.

Speaking in our Alan Wake 2 review, GamesRadar+'s UK Managing Editor Josh West described the survival horror game as "a strange, imaginative, and truly ambitious sequel that never fails to upend your expectations," ultimately concluding that, "you won't find anything else quite like Alan Wake 2 this generation." The game received the coveted five-star review score from us too.

That's clearly a sentiment shared by the Critics' Choice Award judging panel, in the face of what is surely one of the most ambitious games of the year. 

Launched on October 27, 2023 across PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X and S, Alan Wake 2 is a direct follow-up to its 2010 predecessor, but whereas the first game was an action-adventure game with horror trappings, this sequel leans fully into the survival horror space. 

Alan Wake 2 likewise includes two central protagonists for the first time – the eponymous writer Alan Wake still trapped in the Dark Place, and an FBI agent named Saga Anderson who's been sent to investigate mysterious murders in Bright Falls that just might be connected to Wake's unexplained disappearance.   

Discover the best games of 2023 at the best prices by checking out the Golden Joystick Awards Steam sale page

Joe Donnelly
Features Editor, GamesRadar+

Joe is a Features Editor at GamesRadar+. With over seven years of experience working in specialist print and online journalism, Joe has written for a number of gaming, sport and entertainment publications including PC Gamer, Edge, Play and FourFourTwo. He is well-versed in all things Grand Theft Auto and spends much of his spare time swapping real-world Glasgow for GTA Online’s Los Santos. Joe is also a mental health advocate and has written a book about video games, mental health and their complex intersections. He is a regular expert contributor on both subjects for BBC radio. Many moons ago, he was a fully-qualified plumber which basically makes him Super Mario.