Resident Evil Requiem has been crowned Ultimate Game of the Year at the Golden Joystick Awards 2026. Capcom's survival horror sequel topped the public vote at the 44th annual ceremony in London, kicking off this year's game of the year season with a four-award night for the series.
The full list of winners was revealed by GamesRadar+, which presents the awards. Alongside the night's top prize, Resident Evil Requiem also won Console Game of the Year, Best Game Trailer for its Evil Has Always Had a Name promo, and Best Lead Performer for Angela Sant'Albano's turn as Grace Ashcroft, while Capcom itself was named Studio of the Year.
The race for the top prize was the closest in recent memory. Resident Evil Requiem took 17% of the public vote, edging out Phantom Blade Zero on 16% and Crimson Desert on 15%, and it beat a field of 11 other nominees that included 007: First Light, Control Resonant and Dispatch. GTA 6 was not part of the race, as the awards honor games already released and Rockstar's open-world epic does not launch until next week.
A Two-Person Indie Ties Capcom's Blockbuster
The night's other big winner could hardly have been more different. Meccha Chameleon, a viral hide-and-seek game in which players paint themselves into their surroundings and hide in plain sight, matched Resident Evil Requiem with four awards of its own: Best Multiplayer Game, Best Indie Game – Self-Published, the Streamers' Choice Award and the Developers' Choice Award.
The game was made by a team of just two people in a couple of months, and its tie with the latest entry in one of gaming's biggest franchises was the story of the night. Big Walk took Best Indie Game, and the Critics' Choice award went to Clair Obscur: Expedition 33.
The Witcher Rules the Rest of the Night
CD Projekt Red also left with two major prizes. The Witcher 4 was voted Most Wanted Game, succeeding GTA 6, which had won the award in both 2024 and 2025, and production director Małgorzata Mitręga accepted the trophy on stage just before Resident Evil Requiem was announced as the night's big winner.
"This is a huge, huge honor for us, but it's also a great responsibility. We all know it," she said. "We are working hard, giving heart and soul there, all the skills we have, passion we have, and moments like that are such a fucking boost for us, for the stamina, to [keep] it going, to deliver [for] you when the time is right."
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Remastered won Best Remake / Remaster, lifting The Witcher 3's total to 12 Golden Joystick awards, the most of any game in the ceremony's history. Elsewhere, SAROS won Best Audio Design and Best Visual Design, Dispatch won Best Storytelling, 007: First Light won Best Soundtrack, Valheim was named PC Game of the Year, and skate. won Best Early Access Game. Exit 8 won Best Game Adaptation, World of Warcraft: Midnight won Best Game Expansion, the Razer Viper V4 Pro won Best Gaming Hardware, Pokémon GO and Minecraft took the Still Playing awards for mobile and PC and console, Meteor Games received the Breakthrough Award, and John Carmack was honored with the Lifetime Achievement award.
The Golden Joysticks are the longest-running games awards in the world and the only major show decided by the players, with 22 of the 25 categories settled by public vote. Whether Resident Evil Requiem can repeat the feat at the bigger ceremonies still to come is another question, with GTA 6 about to enter every race it missed this time.
