The votes have been counted for Ultimate Game of the Year and in all public-polled categories in the Golden Joystick Awards - and we have the winners!
The triumphant games were revealed in our live broadcast which took place on Tuesday, November 22 at 12pm PT / 3pm ET / 8pm GMT when we crowned the Ultimate Game of the Year, Elden Ring, which saw off God of War Ragnarok in second place, and Horizon Forbidden West in third place.
You can catch up with all of the Golden Joystick Awards 2022 winners right here.
Hosted by Laura Bailey and Troy Baker, the stars of The Last of us Part II, the 40th annual GJAs revealed the winners of 21 awards including Best PlayStation Game, Most Wanted Game, Best Gaming Hardware and many more.
You can rewatch the Golden Joystick Awards 2022 above
Vote for your UGOTY and claim a free gaming ebook worth $8.99 / £8.99
Voters for Ultimate Game of the Year in the 40th annual Golden Joystick Awards were eligible to claim a free gaming ebook worth $8.99 / £8.99.
Provided you entered your email address when prompted, we will contact you in due course with a selection of gaming ebooks, as listed below:
- PC Gamer Presents: Ultimate Retro - PC Gamer Collection
- 100 Games to Play Before You Die - Nintendo Consoles Edition
- Independent and Unofficial Guide to Minecraft - Secrets and Cheats Vol.1
- The History of Video Games - from the makers of Retro Gamer
- 100 PlayStation Games to Play Before You Die
Golden Joystick Awards 2022 Voting and Categories
The world's longest running public-voted gaming awards show has asked for your help in picking the greatest games of 2022 in over 17 categories - including Best Studio, Best Storytelling and the hotly-contested Most Wanted award.
Voting in these core categories has now closed, including Best Gaming Hardware, Best PlayStation Game and Most Wanted game, with polling coming to an end on Nov 11 at 11pm GMT.
You can view the full Golden Joystick Awards 2022 shortlist right here.
Elden Ring leads the nominations, closely followed by Horizon Forbidden West, and there are over 70 games in contention for this year’s coveted trophies, including indies such as Immortality, Tunic, and Neon White; plus blockbusters games such as Final Fantasy XIV, Destiny 2, Minecraft and Fortnite vying for our Still Playing award.
Now in its 40th year, the Golden Joystick Awards 2022 will be broadcast on Tuesday, November 22 with an all-digital show across all major streaming platforms.
How does judging work?
We strive to create a broad list of categories and nominees which represent the best that gaming has to offer. Sadly, we're often unable to include some much-loved and popular titles.
We endeavour to make this judging process as transparent and inclusive as possible. Publishers and developers are invited to nominate their games, studios and people in early September. These nominations are added to a long list of titles selected by Future PLC editors, trusted freelancers and external experts.
The final shortlist is then debated in late September by the Golden Joystick Awards judging panel consisting of Future editors and our trusted network of journalists with reference to this list of nominees.
The panel attempts to shortlist as broad an array of titles as possible, balancing up critical reception, notable innovation, technical excellence and subjective preference. The key criteria for each category is explained within the voting module.
Golden Joystick Awards 2022 nominations criteria
- The game must have been released between November 23, 2021 and November 4, 2022 (when core 2022 voting closes).
- Ongoing / online games which launched before this period are eligible for the ‘Still Playing’ and ‘Best Game Expansion’ categories.
- Games set for release after November 22, 2022 will be eligible for the Most Wanted award.
- Games released between November 11, 2022 (when public voting closes) and Nov 22nd, 2021 (the day of the awards) will be considered for our critically selected categories: Critics’ Choice, Breakthrough Award and Best Performer.
- Public voting for Ultimate Game of the Year takes place in a standalone week between Nov 7 - Nov 11 to allow us to consider more of winter’s key releases.
In exceptional cases, upcoming games that are due be released during the core Golden Joystick Awards' voting window, from Friday Oct 7 to Friday November 4, will be considered by our judges for addition to the core voting shortlists after they have been released, reviewed and debated.
Games released after public voting closes on Nov 11, but before the show is broadcast on Nov 22, will be eligible for our Critics' Choice award, selected by our panel of judges.
What we can't stress enough, is that the Golden Joystick Awards are the people's gaming awards, chosen entirely by your votes. Last year, some categories were decided by less than a 1% swing of votes, and we can't emphasise enough how much your support can make a difference to your favourite games and developers.
We look forward to seeing you all on November 22 when we reveal the winners.
Stay tuned for announcements about hosts, exclusive trailers and more surprises
Follow @gamesradar or @GoldenJoysticks (opens in new tab) on Twitter for more announcements about new categories, exclusive trailers and our special guest hosts. The Golden Joystick Awards 2022 will be an all-digital show that awards the best games of the last 12 months, celebrating the next generation of consoles and supporting the next-generation of creators. We look forward to seeing you on November 22!