No Man's Sky: Origins flies to the top as the winner of the best game expansion at the Golden Joystick Awards 2020

No Man's Sky: Origins has earned the Best Game Expansion trophy at the Golden Joystick Awards 2020.

There have been some amazing expansions to current releases this year, and No Man's Sky won the vote to beat out the likes of Control's Alan Wake AWE expansion, Final Fantasy 14's Reflections in Crystal, and The Sims 4 Star Wars: Journey to Batuu.

You can see the full list of nominees below:

Control: AWE (Remedy Games / 505 Games)
No Man's Sky: Origins (Hello Games / Hello Games)
Total War: Warhammer 2 - The Warden and the Paunch (Creative Assembly)
Pokemon Sword and Shield - Expansion Pass (Nintendo / Nintendo)
The Sims 4 Star Wars: Journey to Batuu (Maxis / EA)
Mortal Kombat 11: Aftermath (NetherRealm Studios / Warner Bros Interactive Entertainment)
The Outer Worlds: Peril on Gorgon (Obsidian Entertainment / Private Division)

Breathing new life into its starry universe, Hello Games launched the No Man's Sky Origins update in September. The major expansion set out to deliver a richer, more diverse universe for players to explore. With new planets, biomes, lifeforms, and natural hazards, Origins also introduced more binary and ternary star systems and landscapes, as well as more dynamic weather. Following a plethora of other updates, Origins also brought in a host of fan-requested features such as multi-tool upgrades and planetary NPC encounters, along with various improvements across the game.

And long time fans were also treated to the addition of the much-fabled Sandworm. The large worm first appeared in a reveal trailer all the way back in 2013, and it's now officially found its way planetside for space-faring players to encounter.

Expansions can give games a renewed lease of life, and keep players invested for years to come. The work that goes into bringing more content to the games we love should be celebrated, and big congratulations are due to Hello Games for earning the votes for this award, along with all of the nominees for making the shortlist.

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Heather Wald is the Evergreen Editor, Games at GamesRadar+. Her writing career began on a student-led magazine at Bath Spa University, where she earned a BA (Hons) in English literature. Heather landed her first role writing about tech and games for Stuff Magazine shortly after graduating with an MA in magazine journalism at Cardiff University. Now with almost seven years of experience working with GamesRadar+ on the features team, Heather helps to develop, maintain, and expand the evergreen features that exist on the site for games, as well as spearhead the Indie Spotlight series. You'll also see her contribute op-eds, interview-led features, and more. In her spare time, you'll likely find Heather tucking into RPGs and indie games, reading romance novels, and drinking lots of tea.