Golden Joystick Awards 2026 winners, Digi Mart USA News: The first major award show of the year is an early indicator for the Game of the Year race, but GTA 6’s imminent release casts a big shadow.
This year’s gaming awards season kicks off in earnest with the 44th annual Golden Joystick Awards. The event is especially interesting given how open 2026’s Game of the Year race has been.
Unlike 2025, which had a clear frontrunner in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, this year’s slate has been full of quality titles, but none has singularly captured public interest in a way that assures it will take home awards.
The Golden Joysticks could be an early indicator of which games will rise to awards recognition, especially at Geoff Keighley’s The Game Awards in December.
There are two elephants in the room. The first is Grand Theft Auto 6.
Rockstar Games’ much-anticipated blockbuster won’t be released until November 19, meaning it isn’t in competition at this show. GTA 6 will undoubtedly upend the awards landscape, so later shows could look completely different from what we see today.
The second is the Big Walk issue. Developer House House revealed this week that it used AI, specifically large language models (LLMs), in the final phase of development.
The studio says that under 0.1% of the game’s code had anything to do with generative AI tools, but this will likely be a hardline for many that puts the critical darling out of contention. The Golden Joystick Awards closed voting on November 5, and voters were not aware of this controversy.
Big Walk winning awards may still leave a bad taste for some people, which could be reflected in fewer accolades later this year.
The complete list of winners from The Golden Joystick Awards 2026 will be updated as the show goes on. Attention now turns to predictions for gaming’s top prize.
