Capcom brought home the hardware, but a tiny indie team made sure the evening wasn’t a one-studio procession. The Golden Joystick Awards 2026 were held in London on 11 November, with Resident Evil Requiem winning Ultimate Game of the Year and Console Game of the Year.
The survival horror hit also earned Best Game Trailer, while Angela Sant’Albano won Best Lead Performer for her portrayal of Grace Ashcroft. Capcom itself took Studio of the Year, with further wins connected to Onimusha: Way of the Sword and Pragmata. It is fair to say the company had a good evening.
The night’s headline winners
- Ultimate Game of the Year: Resident Evil Requiem
- Console Game of the Year: Resident Evil Requiem
- PC Game of the Year: Crimson Desert
- Studio of the Year: Capcom
- Most Wanted Game: The Witcher 4
- Critics’ Choice: Big Walk
- Best Storytelling and Best Soundtrack: Dispatch
- Best Indie Game: Valheim
- Best Early Access Game: Subnautica 2
- Best Gaming Hardware: Steam Controller
Four awards for a two-person team’s game
For us, one of the most interesting names on the winners list is Meccha Chameleon. The colourful hide-and-seek indie game collected four awards: Best Multiplayer Game, Best Indie Game (Self-Published), Streamers’ Choice and Developers’ Choice. That ties Requiem for the number of individual category wins.
There is something rather satisfying about a small game sharing the spotlight with one of the industry’s biggest horror series. Awards do not settle arguments about taste, of course. That is half the fun of them. But they can send thousands of curious players toward a game they might otherwise have scrolled past.
Dispatch also deserves recognition for picking up both storytelling and soundtrack honours. Combined with Big Walk taking Critics’ Choice, the results offered considerably more variety than the biggest headline suggests.
Our take
We would be disappointed if the conversation stopped at which giant franchise collected the top trophy. Capcom deserves its congratulations, but the Golden Joysticks also remind us why independent games should never be treated as the warm-up act. We would like to see the same curiosity around those names once the trophies have been put away.
Sources: Official Golden Joystick Awards winners announcement and Capcom’s award announcement. Image © Capcom.