Over 12 million public votes were cast to pick the winners in 21 different categories. Three more categories - Critics’ Choice, Breakthrough Award and Streamers’ Choice - were critically chosen.

Black Myth: Wukong won the biggest award of the night - Ultimate Game of the Year, as well as the award for Best Visual Design. Final Fantasy VII Rebirth won four awards for Best Storytelling, Best Soundtrack, Best Supporting Performer (Briana White) and Best Lead Performer (Cody Christian), meanwhile Helldivers 2 also picked up four awards for Best Multiplayer Game, Best Game Trailer, Console Game of the Year and the coveted Critics’ Choice Award.

Other winners were Astro Bot, which won Best Audio Design with the game’s developers, Team ASOBI, also taking home Studio of the Year. Elsewhere, fan favourite Satisfactory picked up PC Game of the Year, while roguelike deck builder Balatro won Best Indie Game and the critically chosen Breakthrough Award.

The awards were hosted by Ben Starr, alongside special guests from the world of gaming, including actors Alex McKenna, Alix Wilton Regan, Derek Siow, Neil Newbon, Patricia Summersett and Samantha Béart, as well as content creator GeeNelly; music composer Alex Moukala; Monika Janowska from CD PROJEKT RED; Gareth Damian Martin from Jump Over the Age; previous winners Philip Barclay and Thierry Boulanger from Sabotage Studio and actor, game developer and producer Abubakar Salim.

The 42nd Golden Joystick Awards winners are:

• Best Storytelling - Final Fantasy VII Rebirth (public vote)
• Best Visual Design - Black Myth: Wukong (public vote)
• Best Multiplayer Game - Helldivers 2 (public vote)
• Best Audio Design - Astro Bot (public vote)
• Best Game Expansion - Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree (public vote)
• Best Indie Game Self Published - Another Crab’s Treasure (public vote)
• Best Indie Game - Balatro (public vote)
• Studio of the Year - Team ASOBI (public vote)
• Best Soundtrack - Final Fantasy VII Rebirth (public vote)
• Best Game Trailer - Helldivers 2 (public vote)
• Best Early Access Game - Lethal Company (public vote)
• Still Playing - Mobile - Honkai: Star Rail (public vote)
• Still Playing - Consoles & PC - Minecraft (public vote)
• Streamers’ Choice Award - Chained Together (critically chosen)
• Breakthrough Award - Balatro (critically chosen)
• Best Gaming Hardware - Steam Deck OLED (public vote)
• Best Game Adaptation - Fallout (public vote)
• Best Supporting Performer - Briana White (public vote)
• Best Lead Performer - Cody Christian (public vote)
• PC Game of the Year - Satisfactory (public vote)
• Console Game of the Year - Helldivers 2 (public vote)
• Critics’ Choice Award - Helldivers 2 (critically chosen)
• Most Wanted Game - Grand Theft Auto VI (public vote)
• Ultimate Game of the Year - Black Myth: Wukong (public vote)

Over 125 games, studios, hardware and TV shows are represented in 21 categories voted for by the public including Ultimate Game of the Year, Most Wanted, Best Gaming Hardware presented by EE Game Store and Studio of the Year.