Key Notes
- Resident Evil Requiem won Ultimate Game of the Year and three other prizes, while Capcom separately took Studio of the Year.
- Meccha Chameleon also collected four awards, combining public recognition with the Streamers’ Choice and Developers’ Choice prizes.
- Crimson Desert won PC Game of the Year, Balatro took the mobile Still Playing award and Steam Controller won Best Gaming Hardware.
Resident Evil Requiem has won Ultimate Game of the Year at the Golden Joystick Awards 2026, giving Capcom’s horror series the evening’s biggest prize. It was a close finish: according to Insider Gaming, Requiem received 17% of the public vote, just ahead of Phantom Blade Zero’s 16%.
The November 11 ceremony in London produced two four-award winners with very different backgrounds. Requiem collected prizes for its trailer, lead performance and console release alongside the overall award. The multiplayer hide-and-seek game Meccha Chameleon matched that total, winning recognition from players, streamers and developers.
Requiem and Meccha Chameleon Share the Spotlight
Event organizer GamesRadar+ confirmed Requiem’s four wins, including Best Lead Performer for Angela Sant’Albano as Grace Ashcroft. Capcom also took Studio of the Year, a separate award that recognizes the developer rather than adding a fifth trophy to Requiem’s tally.
Meccha Chameleon won Best Multiplayer Game and Best Indie Game — Self-Published, then added the Streamers’ Choice and Developers’ Choice awards. Its showing made a smaller multiplayer release one of the night’s central stories, alongside a franchise celebrating its 30th anniversary.
There was no single-game sweep across the rest of the ceremony. Dispatch won Best Storytelling and Best Soundtrack, Control Resonant took Best Visual Design, and Onimusha: Way of the Sword won Best Audio Design. Those results spread recognition across narrative adventures, action games and horror.
Capcom’s Horror Hit Has Staying Power
The award arrives after another commercial milestone for Requiem. We reported that Capcom’s latest Platinum Titles update put it at 8.5 million units through September 30. That figure covers a specific reporting cutoff; it is not a live November sales total.
Requiem pairs FBI analyst Grace Ashcroft with returning protagonist Leon S. Kennedy. Capcom’s Steam listing describes the two protagonists’ interconnected journeys through horror and action, with combat, investigations, puzzles and resource management. Players can switch between first-person and third-person views.
The top award was decided by public voting. We covered the separate Ultimate Game of the Year ballot when it opened in October, with 12 games competing. Requiem’s win closes that race; the jury-selected Critics’ Choice award went to Big Walk.
The Other Big Winners
The organizer’s results also gave Crimson Desert the PC award and Balatro the mobile Still Playing prize. Here are selected winners from the 25 categories:
| Award | Winner |
|---|---|
| Ultimate Game of the Year | Resident Evil Requiem |
| PC Game of the Year | Crimson Desert |
| Console Game of the Year | Resident Evil Requiem |
| Still Playing — Mobile | Balatro |
| Still Playing — PC & Console | Minecraft |
| Best Indie Game | Valheim |
| Best Early Access Game | Subnautica 2 |
| Best Remake/Remaster | The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Remastered |
| Most Wanted Game | The Witcher 4 |
| Best Gaming Hardware | Steam Controller |
The two Witcher awards recognized opposite ends of a series’ life: the updated version of an established game and a sequel players are still waiting to play. Balatro and Minecraft, meanwhile, won categories specifically intended to recognize games that keep an audience beyond their original launch.
