Golden Joystick Awards announces ultimate Game of the Year shortlist

A Game of the Year award is a huge accolade for any game that receives it and, in 2018, the competition is more fierce than ever. Now, as part of the Golden Joystick Awards you can award that title to your favourite game of the year – provided it’s in the shortlist that’s already been drawn up.

Voting for the 2018 awards cycle has been open for a little while now, but the nominations for “Ultimate Game of the Year” have just been announced. Games nominated include massive blockbuster games like God of War, indie darlings such as Into The Breach and massively popular powerhouse Fortnite.

The shortlist for Ultimate Game of the Year is as follows:

• Assassin’s Creed Odyssey
• Call of Duty: Black Ops 4
• Celeste
• Dead Cells
• Dragon Quest 11: Echoes of an Elusive Age
• Fortnite Battle Royale
• Forza Horizon 4
• God of War
• Into The Breach
• Marvel’s Spider-Man
• Monster Hunter: World
• Red Dead Redemption 2
• Subnautica

Whichever game wins will join the ranks of games like Breath of the Wild, Dark Souls III and The Witcher III, which have won the award in the last three years.

Other categories are open for voting too, including “Best Studio”, “Best Co-operative Experience” and an award for the best games for each platform. Not all categories in the awards can be voted on — unsurprisingly the “Critics’ Choice Award” isn’t open to public votes, and nor is the “Hall of Fame” or “Life Achievement” awards.

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You can cast your own vote at the Golden Joysticks’ website. Voting is open for one week, with the awards ceremony itself to be held on 16 November. Comedian Danny Wallace is set to host.

Many critics have touted the recently-released Red Dead Redemption 2 as a Game of the Year winner but due to the scale of the game, and the fact voting closes in only a week, it remains to be seen if audiences will be able to spend enough time with it to before the ceremony.