The 41st edition of the Golden Joystick Awards was held at the Royal Lancaster Hotel in London on November 10 and saw some prominent nominees and winners. It was the most successful event in the series among the five that are on record, also ending as one of GamesRadar's most viewers broadcasts ever.
This multiple decades-long awards show handed out 23 awards, the most ever. Baldur’s Gate 3 and The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom had the most nominations at five each, and there were some big-name personalities from the video game world present to present the various winners with their trophies, including Final Fantasy 16’s Ben Starr and Marvel’s Spider-Man 2’s Yuri Lowenthal.
Baldur's Gate 3 emerged as the star of the night, bagging seven awards, including the headline Ultimate Game of the Year gong. Larian Studios made hay with the nearly five million public votes that were cast, also taking home the Best Game Community, Best Storytelling, Best Visual Design, PC Game of the Year, and Studio of the Year trophies. Moreover, Neil Newbon clinched Best Supporting Performer for his portrayal of Astarion.
List of winners at Golden Joystick Awards 2023
- Best Storytelling - Baldur's Gate 3
- Still Playing Award - No Man's Sky
- Best Visual Design - Baldur's Gate 3
- Studio of the Year - Larian Studios
- Best Game Expansion - Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty
- Best Indie Game - Sea of Stars
- Best VR Game - Horizon Call of the Mountain
- Best Multiplayer Game - Mortal Kombat 1
- Best Audio - Final Fantasy XVI
- Best Game Trailer - Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty
- Best Streaming Game - Valorant
- Best Game Community - Baldur's Gate 3
- Best Gaming Hardware - PSVR 2
- Breakthrough Award - Cocoon / Geometric Interactive
- Critics' Choice Award - Alan Wake II
- Best Lead Performer - Ben Starr, Final Fantasy XVI
- Best Supporting Performer - Neil Newborn, Astarion, Baldur's Gate 3
- Nintendo Game of the Year - The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
- PC Game of the Year - Baldur's Gate 3
- Xbox Game of the Year - Starfield
- PlayStation Game of the Year - Resident Evil 4
- Most Wanted Game - Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth
- UGOTY - Baldur's Gate 3
Viewership stats from the Golden Joystick Awards 2023
This annual industry extravaganza — hosted by game acting legend Troy Baker — recorded 46K Hours Watched, 19K Peak Viewers, and 14K Average Viewers over an airtime of three hours. It seemingly peaked when Alan Wake II was revealed as the Critics' Choice Award winner, with this achievement being all the remarkable considering this highly-anticipated game was released not even three weeks before.
For those not in the know, the Golden Joystick Awards 2023 saw more than 115 games, studios, hardware, and actors represented across 20 award categories. A public vote was used to decide each winner, with two gongs — Critic’s Choice and Breakthrough Award — voted on by critics. The cut-off date of September 29 meant many popular and successful games missed out, but Alan Wake II was just able to make it and take home perhaps the most coveted and prestigious recognition.
Russian and English were the dominant languages when it came to viewers, with the former ahead by around 5%. This was mostly thanks to iXBT games, a Russian video games news and media outlet that was the most watched and popular channel overall at this event. It hosts podcasts, writes reviews, streams, and conducts interviews about games.
Thanks to this YouTube handle's great run, the red platform was the overwhelming favorite among audiences to catch the action live Golden Joystick Awards 2023 (also the first to be held in person since 2019). Moreover, the only official broadcast being available here (GamesRadar) played a major part in this success.
When looking at the viewership statistics of all the editions of the Golden Joystick Awards, it is clear that 2023 was the most successful one in terms of watch time and popularity. The previous best was the Golden Joystick Awards 2020, the only other event to hit double figures for both these crucial metrics.
Moreover, it ended as the official GamesRadar YouTube channel's second-most watched and third-most popular stream ever. The leader for both these tables is the Future Games Show at Gamescom 2021 live broadcast from August 26, 2021, and also the only live video to hit double figures for peak and average concurrent viewerships.
Kudos! @StarfieldGame has won @Xbox Game of the Year! #GoldenJoystickAwards pic.twitter.com/vtPeFA5SGX
— Golden Joysticks (@GoldenJoysticks) November 10, 2023
The first ten months of 2023 have been great for the video games industry, with the release of some of the best and most anticipated games ever. And it has a chance to end on the highest of highs if Rockstar Games' promise of a never-before-experienced Grand Theft Auto game in the form of its legendarily hyped sixth installment is anything to go by (the trailer for the game comes out in December 2023). Readers and fans can keep up to date with the viewership stats and more of that game post-release with our PRO subscription.