What you need to know
- The Golden Joystick Awards is a public-voted games awards show.
- The 39th annual Golden Joystick Awards coincides with the 50th anniversary of commercial video games.
- Voting for the various categories begins on October 19, 2021.
With over 3 million votes in 2020, GamesRadar's Golden Joystick Awards remains the longest-running public-voted games awards shows. Their 39th anniversary coincides with the 50th anniversary of commercially available video games. The world of commercial video games started with the sale of Computer Space, the first coin-operated arcade machine released in 1979. Today, the video games have ballooned to an over 150 billion dollar industry.
Fans around the world are encouraged to vote for their favorite games, with categories such as "Best Storytelling" and "Ultimate Game of the Year". In celebration of half a century of video games, fans can also vote for two unique awards — "Ultimate Game of All Time" and "Best Gaming Hardware of All Time". Fans can celebrate games and their history by voting at the official Golden Joysticks website.
Here is the voting timeline:
- Tuesday 19 October — Main categories open for voting
- Friday 5 November — Main categories close for voting
- Monday 8 November — "Ultimate Game of All Time" and "Best Gaming Hardware of All Time" categories open for voting at 10 a.m. EST
- Friday 12 November — "Ultimate Game of All Time" and "Best Gaming Hardware of All Time" categories close for voting at 7 p.m. EST
- Tuesday 23 November — Winners are announced across major streaming platforms
Daniel Dawkins, Content Director, states that, "For 2021, we're streamlining the viewing experience by trimming the number of categories and nominees in each shortlist, allowing us to focus on key awards and the brilliant people who drive the games industry forward."
The public can vote for these categories starting today:
- Best Storytelling
- Best Multiplayer Game
- Best Visual Design
- Best Game Expansion
- Best Audio
- Best Performer
- Best Indie Game
- Still Playing
- Studio of the Year
- Best Gaming Community
- PC Game of the Year
- Best Gaming Hardware
- Mobile Game of the Year
- PlayStation Game of the Year
- Xbox Game of the Year
- Nintendo Game of the Year
- Ultimate Game of the Year
- Most Wanted Game
- Ultimate Game of All Time
- Best Gaming Hardware of All Time
With critically acclaimed titles like Monster Hunter Rise and Metroid Dread, the Nintendo Switch certainly has a lot of contenders for multiple categories at the awards. Be sure to get your votes in before the polls close!
A new and improved Nintendo Switch
The newest member of the Nintendo Switch family is the OLED model, which incorporates new and improved features to the system including a larger OLED display, a more stable kickstand for tabletop play, a LAN port, and an upgraded 64GB of internal storage. It's the classic Nintendo Switch, but better.
