This year's nominees for the 40th annual Golden Joystick Awards have been announced, with worldwide voting now open through Friday, November 4, 2022 (opens in new tab). The event is run by Future, the parent company of PC Gamer, and is the longest-running publicly-voted gaming awards event, with millions of votes cast each year.

Winners will be announced at an all-digital awards ceremony broadcast on all major streaming platforms on Tuesday, November 22, 2022; with over 70 games in 18 categories, you're sure to find one worth your precious vote.

Of particular note is "The Elden Ring," which has been nominated in a whopping four categories, including "Best Multiplayer Game," "Best Visual Design," and "PlayStation Game of the Year," while developer FromSoftware, Inc. From Software Inc. was nominated for "Studio of the Year". Other multiple nominees include "Horizon Forbidden West," "Splatoon 3," "Final Fantasy XIV," and "Teardown. [There is also a nomination for "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge" for a spot.

"With a few glaring exceptions, many of the anticipated blockbusters released in 2022 have shifted to 2023 (......) This makes it one of the most diverse, unpredictable, and spell-check-friendly Golden Joystick Awards shortlists in recent memory," writes Daniel Dawkins, Director of Content for Games and Film. Indies, AAs, and even solo developers diversified the field, with titles such as "Immortality," "Cult of the Lamb," "Tunic," "Vampire Survivors," "I Was a Teenage Exocolonist," "Neon White (just to name a few) have always caused controversy among the jury members of the shortlisted films. [Of course, some of the biggest games of 2022 are the biggest games of 2021. Or even the biggest games of 2013. This shift toward always-on "service" games is reflected in the "Still Playing" awards, where franchise titans vie for the Golden Joystick trophy. Similarly, the importance of early access titles is recognized in a new award, "Best Early Access Launch," as some of the best games of 2022 will not be officially released until 2023.

Nominations are as follows:

Although not included above, Ultimate Game of the Year will open for voting on Monday, November 7. There are also three categories determined by a panel of journalists from various Future game titles, including GamesRadar, PC Gamer, Edge, Retro Gamer, and Play magazines. The winners of the "Best Performer", "Breakthrough", and "Critics' Choice" awards will all be announced that night.

Voting can be done here (opens in a new tab), but be sure to vote by November 4.