# Golden Joystick Award for Game of the Year

The Golden Joystick Award for Game of the Year is an award presented annually at the Golden Joystick Awards ceremony, which has its winners voted in by the British general public. The award is given in honor to the best video game released in a particular year. The first Golden Joystick Awards were held in 1983, with the Ultimate Play the Game–developed shooter Jetpac winning Game of the Year.
The award was initially given to 8-bit computer games, as 8-bit microcomputers were the most popular home video game platforms in the UK market for much of the 1980s. Following the rise of 16-bit home computers and 8-bit game consoles in the late 1980s, they began awarding separate Game of the Year awards for 8-bit computers, 16-bit computers and game consoles from 1989. From 1991, they began awarding a single Game of the Year award for all platforms.
The award was originally given under the Game of the Year name and held this name from the original 1983 ceremony to the 2002 ceremony, with the exception of the 1991/1992 ceremonies, and later again in 2013 and 2014. From 1988 to 1990, the Golden Joystick Awards handed out several Game of the Year awards, for an 8-bit computer game, 16-bit computer game, and console game. During the 1991 ceremony, the award was presented as the Overall Game of the Year (including all systems), in order to distinguish it from another category (16-bit Game of the Year, specifically for 16-bit computers), before switching back for the 1992/93 ceremony. In 1996/97, the top award was once again given under the Game of the Year name. However, the Golden Joystick Awards were put on hiatus until 2002. Returning for one year under its original name, the award was then presented as the Ultimate Game of the Year for the 2003 ceremony, a moniker it held until 2012, and then again from 2015 onwards.

## Winners

| Year | Game | Developer | Publisher | Genre | Platform(s) |
| 1983 (1st) | Jetpac | Ultimate Play the Game | Ultimate Play the Game | Shooter | VIC-20 ZX Spectrum |
| 1984 (2nd) | Knight Lore | Ultimate Play the Game | Ultimate Play the Game | Action-adventure | ZX Spectrum |
| 1985 (3rd) | The Way of the Exploding Fist | Beam Software | Melbourne House | Fighting | Commodore 64 |
| 1986 (4th) | Gauntlet | Atari Games | U.S. Gold | Hack and slash | Amstrad CPC Commodore 64 MSX ZX Spectrum |
| 1987 (5th) | Out Run | Sega AM2 | U.S. Gold | Arcade racing | Amstrad CPC Commodore 64 MSX ZX Spectrum |
| 1988 (6th) | Operation Wolf (8-bit computers) | Taito | Ocean Software | Light gun shooter | Amstrad CPC Commodore 64 MSX ZX Spectrum |
| 1988 (6th) | Speedball (16-bit computers) | The Bitmap Brothers | Image Works | Sports | Amiga Atari ST |
| 1988 (6th) | Thunder Blade (game consoles) | Sega | Sega | Combat flight simulator | Master System |
| 1989 (7th) | The Untouchables (8-bit computers) | Ocean Software | Ocean Software | Side-scroller | Amstrad CPC Commodore 64 MSX ZX Spectrum |
| 1989 (7th) | Kick Off (16-bit computers) | Dino Dini | Anco Software | Sports | Atari ST |
| 1990 (8th) | Rick Dangerous 2 (8-bit computers) | Core Design | Micro Style | Platform | Amstrad CPC Commodore 64 ZX Spectrum |
| 1990 (8th) | Kick Off 2 (16-bit computers) | Dino Dini | Anco Software | Sports | Atari ST |
| 1990 (8th) | Mega Man (8-bit consoles) | Capcom | Nintendo | Action-platformer | NES |
| 1990 (8th) | John Madden Football (16-bit consoles) | Park Place Productions | Electronic Arts | Sports (American football) | Sega Mega Drive |
| 1991 (9th) | Sonic the Hedgehog | Sonic Team | Sega | Platform | Sega Mega Drive |
| 1992 (10th) | Street Fighter II | Capcom | Capcom | Fighting | Super NES |
| 1994 (12th) | Super Mario All-Stars (consoles) | Nintendo EAD | Nintendo | Platformer | Super NES |
| 1994 (12th) | The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening (handheld) | Nintendo EAD | Nintendo | Platformer | Game Boy |
| 1996 / 1997 (14th) | Super Mario 64 | Nintendo EAD | Nintendo | Platformer | Nintendo 64 |
| 2002 (20th) | Grand Theft Auto III | DMA Design | Rockstar Games | Action-adventure Third-person shooter | PlayStation 2 Windows Xbox |
| 2003 (21st) | Grand Theft Auto: Vice City | Rockstar North | Rockstar Games | Action-adventure Third-person shooter | PlayStation 2 Windows Xbox |
| 2004 (22nd) | Doom 3 | id Software | Activision | First-person shooter | Windows |
| 2005 (23rd) | Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas | Rockstar North | Rockstar Games | Action-adventure Third-person shooter | PlayStation 2 Windows Xbox |
| 2006 (24th) | The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion | Bethesda Game Studios | Bethesda Softworks 2K Games | Action role-playing | Windows Xbox 360 PlayStation 3 |
| 2007 (25th) | Gears of War | Epic Games | Microsoft Game Studios | Third-person shooter | Windows Xbox 360 |
| 2008 (26th) | Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare | Infinity Ward | Activision | First-person shooter | Windows Xbox 360 PlayStation 3 |
| 2009 (27th) | Fallout 3 | Bethesda Game Studios | Bethesda Softworks | Action role-playing | Windows Xbox 360 PlayStation 3 |
| 2010 (28th) | Mass Effect 2 | BioWare | Electronic Arts | Action role-playing | Windows Xbox 360 PlayStation 3 |
| 2011 (29th) | Portal 2 | Valve | Valve Electronic Arts | Puzzle platformer | Windows OS X Linux Xbox 360 PlayStation 3 |
| 2012 (30th) | The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim | Bethesda Game Studios | Bethesda Softworks | Action role-playing | Windows Xbox 360 PlayStation 3 |
| 2013 (31st) | Grand Theft Auto V | Rockstar North | Rockstar Games | Action-adventure | PlayStation 3 Windows Xbox 360 |
| 2014 (32nd) | Dark Souls II | FromSoftware | Bandai Namco Entertainment | Action role-playing | PlayStation 3 Windows Xbox 360 |
| 2015 (33rd) | The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | CD Projekt Red | CD Projekt | Action-adventure | PlayStation 4 Windows Xbox One |
| 2016 (34th) | Dark Souls III | FromSoftware | Bandai Namco Entertainment | Action role-playing | PlayStation 4 Windows Xbox One |
| 2017 (35th) | The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild | Nintendo EPD | Nintendo | Action-adventure | Nintendo Switch Wii U |
| 2018 (36th) | Fortnite Battle Royale | Epic Games | Epic Games | Battle royale | Various |
| 2019 (37th) | Resident Evil 2 | Capcom R&D Division 1 | Capcom | Survival horror | PlayStation 4 Windows Xbox One |
| 2020 (38th) | The Last of Us Part II | Naughty Dog | Sony Interactive Entertainment | Action-adventure | PlayStation 4 |
| 2021 (39th) | Resident Evil Village | Capcom R&D Division 1 | Capcom | Survival horror | PlayStation 5 Windows Xbox Series X/S |
| 2022 (40th) | Elden Ring | FromSoftware | Bandai Namco Entertainment | Action role-playing | PlayStation 5 Windows Xbox Series X/S |
| 2023 (41st) | Baldur's Gate 3 | Larian Studios | Larian Studios | Role-playing | PlayStation 5 Windows Xbox Series X/S |
| 2024 (42nd) | Black Myth: Wukong | Game Science | Game Science | Action role-playing | PlayStation 5 Windows Xbox Series X/S |