Press release

Winners Announced at the 39th Golden Joystick Awards Presented by GamesRadar+



Capcom and Resident Evil: Village scoop five awards including Ultimate Game of the Year, PlayStation Game of the Year and Studio of the Year


Final Fantasy XIV wins Best Game Community and Still Playing Award
Deathloop wins the Critics’ Choice Award
Dark Souls wins Ultimate Game of All Time
The Personal Computer voted Best Gaming Hardware of All Time
Special celebrations mark ‘50 Years of Games’

 
Tuesday 23 November, London: The winners were revealed tonight in the 39th Golden Joystick Awards presented by GamesRadar. Millions of votes were cast in 20 public voted categories with the games, hardware and personalities winning unveiled at an all digital ceremony this evening on Twitch and YouTube.


This year’s awards show was hosted by Hollywood stars, Emily Rose and Nolan North, best known for working together as the lead actors on the Uncharted games series, Nathan Drake and Elena Fisher. The show also featured game reveals from open-world survival horror Wronged Us, WWII strategy sim Men of War II, and an exclusive look at sci-fi adventure The Invincible. The Golden Joystick Awards celebrated 50 Years of Games with a special musical performance, an exclusive pre-show documentary and two new awards marking 50 years since Computer Space, the world's first commercially available coin-op, launched in November 1971.


The 2021 Golden Joystick Awards winners are:

 
  • Best Storytelling: Life is Strange: True Colors
  • Best Multiplayer Game: It Takes Two
  • Best Audio: Resident Evil: Village
  • Best Visual Design: Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart
  • Best Game Expansion: Ghost of Tsushima: Iki Island
  • Mobile Game of the Year: League of Legends: Wild Rift
  • Best Gaming Hardware: PlayStation 5
  • Best Indie Game: Death's Door
  • Studio of the Year: Capcom
  • Best Performer: Maggie Robertson (Lady Dimitrescu in Resident Evil: Village)
  • Breakthrough Award: Housemarque (critically chosen)
  • Best Game Community: Final Fantasy XIV
  • Still Playing Award: Final Fantasy XIV
  • PC Game of the Year: Hitman 3
  • Nintendo Game of the Year: Metroid Dread
  • Xbox Game of the Year: Psychonauts 2
  • PlayStation Game of the Year: Resident Evil: Village
  • Most Wanted Game: Elden Ring
  • Critics’ Choice Award: Deathloop (critically chosen)
  • Ultimate Game of the Year: Resident Evil: Village
  • Best Gaming Hardware of All Time: Personal Computer (PC)
  • Ultimate Game of All Time: Dark Souls


Daniel Dawkins, Content Director, Games at GamesRadar+ said: “We’re thrilled to crown Dark Souls as the Ultimate Game of All Time after a public vote that was even more unpredictable and contentious than we expected. Ultimately, creator Hidetaka Miyazaki’s action RPG Dark Souls edged out the seminal first-person-shooter Doom by less than 50 votes.


Video games, more than any other entertainment medium, are a complex blend of attributes, with judges and voters weighing up interactivity, technical innovation, feedback loops, level design, characters, storytelling, longevity - and the elusive x-factor that all great movies, music and TV possesses - to crown their favourite. That Dark Souls - a game famed for its fiendish difficulty, immaculate design and rich lore - should claim Ultimate Game of All Time ahead of more accessible and iconic titles such as Pac Man, Space Invaders and Super Mario Kart, is testament to the deep passion that gaming inspires.


The PC claiming the title of Best Gaming Hardware of All Time - in a shortlist entirely composed of consoles - is a headline that writes itself. The Personal Computer’s ability to evolve and rewrite the boundaries of technical possibility, makes it an utterly fitting winner as the Golden Joystick Awards celebrates 50 Years of Games. A hearty congratulations to all of our winners for representing the very best that gaming has to offer, in a year when the industry has adapted to new working patterns and component shortages with admirable agility.”


You can watch the full awards show on catch up via:

Twitch - The Golden Joystick Awards

YouTube - GamesRadar

Facebook - GamesRadarPlus

The prestigious awards show is now in its 39th year and is the world’s largest public-voted gaming awards event attracting millions of votes every year. This year’s event is supported by Develop:Brighton. For more information visit Golden Joystick Awards 2021 or follow the awards on Twitter and Facebook. #GoldenJoystickAwards #50YearsOfGames






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Notes to Editors

About The Golden Joystick Awards
The Golden Joystick Awards honour the people and products that have transformed the games industry in 2021. The event features over 20 categories, the majority of which are voted for by the global gaming public. The event was first held in 1983 and since then it has grown to become the world’s largest public voted gaming awards brand. For more information visit Golden Joystick Awards 2021 or follow us on twitter.com/goldenjoysticks, facebook.com/goldenjoysticks/.

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