The nominees for the 42nd Golden Joystick Awards have been unveiled today.

Astro Bot and Final Fantasy VII Rebirth have the most nominations with five, including a battle for Console Game of the Year. Other game nominated include Helldivers 2 with four nominations and Balatro with three nominations.

For this year’s awards, the Best Audio award has been split into two new categories: Best Soundtrack and Best Audio Design. This isn’t the only category to find itself split into two new awards; the Still Playing award has been split into PC/Console and Mobile categories, and Best Indie Game - Self Published has been added to coexist with the Best Indie Game category.

Daniel Dawkins, Content Director - Games, Video and Digital Events said this about this year’s nominees:

“2023 was one of video-gaming’s best year’s ever, with Baldur’s Gate 3 and Larian Studios claiming a record seven trophies at last year’s Golden Joystick Awards. 2024 has been a challenging year for the games industry in so many ways, but the variety and diversity of releases over the last 12 months has made this one of the most difficult - and exciting - Golden Joystick Awards nominees list we’ve ever compiled.

We’ve introduced some new categories to reflect the changing ways we play, including Still Playing - PC & Console, and Still Playing - Mobile. We’ve wrestled with the definition of an indie game - we’ll save you the unedited debate! - before introducing a new Best Indie Game - Self Published category to (hopefully) better reflect how games reach the market.

Above all, this could be a year of BIG surprises - who saw Palworld, Helldivers 2 or Balatro coming? We can’t wait to see who you vote for as your games, studios and personalities of 2024!”

Gamers can vote for their favorite games right now here; fan voting will conclude on Friday, November 1 at 4pm PST / 7pm EST. Gamers will be able to vote for the Ultimate Game of the Year award, which unveils its nominees on Monday, November 4. Voting in that category will go live that same day.

The 42nd Golden Joystick Awards will take place in London on Thursday, November 21. Fans worldwide will be able to stream it online via Twitch and YouTube.

42nd Golden Joystick Awards nominees

Best Storytelling

• 1000xResist

• Emio - The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club

• Final Fantasy VII Rebirth

• Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth

• Lorelei and the Laser Eyes

• Tactical Breach Wizards
  
   

Best Multiplayer Game

• Abiotic Factor

• EA Sports College Football 25

• Helldivers 2

• Sons Of The Forest

• Tekken 8

• The Finals
  
   

Best Visual Design

• Astro Bot

• Black Myth: Wukong

• Harold Halibut

• Metaphor: ReFantazio

• Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II

• Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2
  
   

Best Indie Game

• Animal Well

• Arco

• Balatro

• Beyond Galaxyland

• Conscript

• Indika

• Lorelei and the Laser Eyes

• Thank Goodness You’re Here!

• The Plucky Squire

• Ultros
  
   

Best Indie Game - Self Published

• Arctic Eggs

• Another Crab’s Treasure

• Crow Country

• Duck Detective: The Secret Salami

• I Am Your Beast

• Little Kitty, Big City

• Riven

• Tactical Breach Wizards

• Tiny Glade

• UFO 50
  
   

Still Playing Award - PC and Console

• Apex Legends

• Counter-Strike 2

• EA Sports FC

• Dota 2

• Fortnite

• GTA Online

• Minecraft

• Naraka: Bladepoint

• Roblox

• Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege

• Valorant

• Warframe

Still Playing Award - Mobile

• Call of Duty: Warzone Mobile

• Free Fire

• Honkai: Star Rail

• Roblox

• Marvel Snap

• Monopoly Go!

• Mini Motorways

• PUBG: Battlegrounds

• Squad Busters

• Star Wars: Hunters

• Subway Surfers

• The Sims Mobile

Studio of the Year

• 11 Bit Studios

• Arrowhead Game Studios

• Capcom

• Digital Eclipse

• Team ASOBI

• Visual Concepts

Best Game Expansion

• Alan Wake 2 Expansion Pass

• Destiny 2: The Final Shape

• Diablo IV: Vessel of Hatred

• Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree

• God of War Ragnarök: Valhalla

• World of Warcraft: The War Within

Best Audio Design

• Astro Bot

• Balatro

• Robobeat

• Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II

• Star Wars Outlaws

• Still Wakes the Deep

Best Soundtrack

• A Highland Song

• Astro Bot

• Final Fantasy VII Rebirth

• Hauntii

• Silent Hill 2

• Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance

Best Lead Performer

• Cody Christian as Cloud Strife in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth

• Kaiji Tang as Ichiban Kasuga in Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth

• Humberly Gonzalez as Kay Vess in Star Wars Outlaws

• Luke Roberts as James Sunderland in Silent Hill 2

• Melina Juergens as Senua in Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II

• Sonequa Martin-Green as Alvilda in Asgard’s Wrath 2

Best Supporting Performer

• Abbi Greenland & Helen Goalen as The Furies in Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II

• Briana White as Aerith Gainsborough in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth

• Dawn M. Bennett as Aigis in Persona 3 Reload

• Debra Wilson as Amanda Waller in Suicide Squad

• Matt Berry as Herbert in Thank Goodness You’re Here!

• Neve McIntosh as Suze in Still Wakes the Deep

PC Game of the Year

• Animal Well

• Balatro

• Frostpunk 2

• Satisfactory

• Tactical Breach Wizards

• UFO 50

Console Game of the Year

• Astro Bot

• Dragon’s Dogma 2

• Final Fantasy VII Rebirth

• Helldivers 2

• Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown

• The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom

Best Early Access Game

• Enshrouded

• Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor

• Hades II

• Manor Lords

• Lethal Company

• Palworld

Best Gaming Hardware

• Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 (2024)

• Backbone One (2nd Gen)

• LG UltraGear 32GS95UE

• Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 Super

• Turtle Beach Stealth Ultra

• Steam Deck OLED

Best Game Trailer

• Caravan Sandwitch - Launch trailer

• Death Stranding 2 On The Beach - State of Play Announce Trailer

• Helldivers 2 - “The Fight for Freedom Begins” Launch Trailer

• Kingmakers - Official Announcement Trailer

• Sid Meier’s Civilization VII - Narrator Reveal Trailer

• The Plucky Squire - Launch Trailer

Most Wanted Game

• Atomfall

• Assassin’s Creed Shadows

• Sid Meier’s Civilization VII

• Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

• Deadlock

• Death Stranding 2: On The Beach

• Doom: The Dark Ages

• Exodus

• Fable

• Ghost of Yotei

• Grand Theft Auto VI

• Hollow Knight: Silksong

• Indiana Jones and the Great Circle

• Kingdom Come: Deliverance II

• Light No Fire

• Mafia: The Old Country

• Monster Hunter Wilds

• Skate.

• Slay the Spire 2

• South of Midnight

Additional category winners will be selected by a panel of journalists from brands including gamesradar.com, pcgamer.com, FGS, Edge magazine and Retro Gamer, plus Future’s trusted network of freelance writers. These winners will be revealed on the night.

Streamers’ Choice Award

Breakthrough Award

Best Game Adaptation

Critics’ Choice Award