Minecraft wins its second successive Still Playing Award at the Golden Joysticks

Minecraft has won the Still Playing award at the 2020 Gold Joystick Awards. Since its launch in 2009. Microsoft's smash hit continues to bring in huge numbers of players year after year.

Minecraft has been one of the biggest games in the world for many years, but that doesn't mean that its victory was guaranteed, especially given the strength of the games it had to beat to claim the title. The battle royale genre features throughout the shortlist; Fortnite remains a cultural phenomenon, PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds is still one of the biggest PC games in the world, years after release, and Apex Legends has been going from strength to strength. Final Fantasy 14, Sea of Thieves, Pokemon Go, and GTA Online also received nominations, but it was Mojang's block-builder that claimed the prize.

Check out the full list of nominations below:

• Final Fantasy 14
• Sea of Thieves
• Fortnite
• Apex Legends
• Pokemon Go
• Grand Theft Auto Online
• PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds
• Minecraft (winner)

Minecraft's win is doubly impressive, since it also managed to claim the Still Playing category in 2019, the back-to-back wins an indicator of just how well the game continues to capture its community's imagination. This year, Mojang introduced the Nether update, taking players into a terrifying, lava-filled realm. On top of that, Bedrock Edition players have had early access to the Caves and Cliffs update, which was announced in October and will introduce beautiful underground biomes to make your trips beneath the surface a little less terrifying.

Minecraft isn't likely to be going anywhere soon, especially with that new content already scheduled for next year. All that remains to be seen is whether it can pull off a third win in a row.