The Golden Joystick Awards celebrates 50 years of games this November

Golden Joystick Awards 2021
(Image credit: Future)

The Golden Joystick Awards 2021 are officially returning this November and will be a celebration of 50 years of games.

The awards show will once again be a virtual one and, as part of our celebrations of 50 years of games, will include two brand new categories: Ultimate Game of All Time and Best Gaming Hardware of All Time. 

Pretty big awards, right? Well, here's where you come in. The Golden Joystick Awards are voted for by fans, so as well as having your say in the usual categories - such as Most Wanted, Best Studio, and Best Storytelling to name a few - you'll be voting for the hardware and game you think towers above all the others throughout the past five decades. No pressure.

Daniel Dawkins, Content Director of Games and Film, explains: “We’re inviting players to celebrate ‘50 Years of Games’ with us in a landmark moment for the gaming industry and the Golden Joystick Awards. The world’s first commercially available video game: Computer Space, released in November 1971. As the first coin-operated arcade machine, it represented the first time a videogame was ever played in exchange for money: the birth of videogames as a commercial industry."

Voting for this year's awards will begin in October, where we'll be announcing all the categories alongside nominees for this year's awards. You can then see which games, studios, and developers will be taking home prizes on Tuesday, November 23. Be sure to head back to GamesRadar for more details on how to watch this year's Golden Joystick Awards. 

Keep up-to-date by following The Golden Joysticks Awards on Twitter and Facebook.

Ben Tyrer

Hello, I'm GamesRadar's News Editor. I've been working in the games industry since 2013, after graduating from Bournemouth University with a degree in multimedia journalism. Since then I've worked for Official PlayStation Magazine as a staff writer and games editor, as well as writing for Official Xbox Magazine, Edge, PC Gamer, GamesMaster, PC Games N, and more. When I'm not moaning about being beaten on FIFA and Warzone, I'm writing news, features, and reviews for this wonderful site.