Crimson Desert won PC Game of the Year at 2026 Golden Joystick Awards

This is a new development in a story we reported earlier: Golden Joystick Awards reveals 2026 shortlist voting open until Oct 23.

The 2026 Golden Joystick Awards named Crimson Desert its PC Game of the Year, decided by public vote at the 44th annual ceremony, which took place on Nov. 11, 2026, at Troxy in London.

The PC Game of the Year field included Big Walk, Escape from Tarkov, Esoteric Ebb, Meccha Chameleon, Mewgenics, Order of the Sinking Star, Star Wars Zero Company, The Blood of Dawnwalker and Valheim. Polygon publishes the full PC slate, naming Crimson Desert the winner.

Resident Evil Requiem finished first in the vote for Ultimate Game of the Year at 17%, ahead of Phantom Blade Zero at 16% and Crimson Desert at 15%. Push Square called the race close and the show 2026’s first major games award show.

GamingTrend counts four trophies for Resident Evil Requiem, making it the night’s biggest winner. It also won Console Game of the Year, plus Best Lead Performer, with Angela Sant’Albano playing Grace Ashcroft. Bleeding Cool also calls Resident Evil Requiem the night’s biggest winner.

Meccha Chameleon won four awards: Best Multiplayer Game, Best Indie Game – Self-published, Streamers’ Choice and Developers’ Choice. GamingTrend calls Developers’ Choice a new award. The three critically chosen awards were Streamers’ Choice, Critics’ Choice and Developers’ Choice. Meccha Chameleon won Streamers’ Choice and Developers’ Choice, while Big Walk won Critics’ Choice.

Dispatch won Best Storytelling and Best Soundtrack. Crimson Desert received a Best Soundtrack nomination but lost to Dispatch.

Capcom took Studio of the Year and earned seven awards across all categories, including Best Audio Design for Onimusha: Way of the Sword and Best Supporting Performer for Grace Saif as Diana in Pragmata. Polygon also names Capcom as Studio of the Year.

The Witcher 4 won Most Wanted Game. GamingTrend lists Most Wanted Game as a public-vote award. Push Square confirms The Witcher 4 as the winner.

Big Walk won Critics’ Choice. House House revealed that the studio used AI large language models, a type of artificial intelligence that generates text, in the final phase of development, and said under 0.1% of the game’s code involved generative AI tools. Voting ended on Nov. 5, before voters learned of the Big Walk AI issue. Polygon calls Big Walk a critical darling caught up in an AI controversy and says the controversy could leave a bad taste and mean fewer accolades for Big Walk later.

The awards cover 25 categories, with 22 decided by public vote and three chosen by critics. Editors from GamesRadar and PC Gamer join Edge, Retro Gamer and industry experts on the panel that picks the shortlists, and players pick the winners. The rules allow exceptions for early releases the judges played extensively.

Voting in 21 categories, including PC Game of the Year, ended on Oct. 23. Ultimate Game of the Year voting ran until 11:59 PM GMT on Oct. 30, after the 12-nominee shortlist including Crimson Desert was announced on Oct. 26 on X. Games released from Nov. 8, 2025, to Oct. 25, 2026 qualified.

The Golden Joystick Awards began in 1983 and calls itself the world’s longest-running publicly-voted gaming awards. Fans cast more than 21 million votes in the previous year, and Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 won seven awards, including Ultimate Game of the Year. Polygon says no single game dominated the 2026 race, unlike 2025, when Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 entered as the clear favorite. The outlet also says the awards might show which games earn recognition later, particularly at The Game Awards in December.

Grand Theft Auto 6 missed eligibility since it remained unreleased. Rockstar Games’ blockbuster is scheduled for Nov. 19.

Alix Wilton Regan hosted alongside guest presenters including Chloe Kwok, Rex Crowle, Mateo Covic, Alices Pixels, Nick Apostolides, Richard Summers-Calvert, Malgorzata Mitrega, Richard Jacques, Frankie Kevich and Liam McIntyre. The ceremony streams again on YouTube, while Instagram, X and Facebook carry highlights.