Golden Joystick’s Ultimate Game of the Year Shortlist is Here

As we slowly ease into the gaming awards season, there’s sure to be a lot of speculation and arguments about what games that released this year are the best in their respective categories. One of the first game awards shows being held is the Golden Joysticks, taking place on November 21st. There has already been a lot of voting taking place in the last few weeks but, finally, the ultimate game of the year award is open for voting.

Image by Square-Enix

This will run until November 8th and will give you the choice of 12 different games to determine which was the best release of the year. The full shortlist can be seen above and includes heavy hitters that you may expect including Astro Bot, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth and Metaphor: Refantazio. Among the 12 choices are also some indie gems like Balatro and Animal well- as well as some unexpected games like Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, which has been heralded as one of the better games in the franchise in recent years.

You can make your choice for Ultimate Game of the Year now on the Golden Joystick website. As mentioned, this vote will close on November 8th and the winner will be revealed in the ceremony taking place in London on November 21st. Although 2024 has been a lot slower for big releases compared to the massive year that was 2023, there is still a lot of healthy competition in this list.

Image by Atlus

The Golden Joysticks are just the beginning of the awards season, however. With Geoff Keighley’s Game Awards at the start of December and D.I.C.E. Awards taking place in February, its likely that we’ll see a wide range of games receiving different titles. Compared to 2023 (which saw Baldur’s Gate 3 sweep the competition), 2024 could be anyone’s year- which makes the upcoming presentations that much more exciting.