The nominations for the 2017 Golden Joystick Awards have been announced. Heading up the nominations is the futuristic action RPG Horizon Zero Dawn with eight nominations, including two for lead actress Ashly Burch. Games also scoring multiple nominations include Uncharted: The Lost Legacy, Persona 5, Prye, What Remains of Edith Finch and Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice.
For the awards 35th year, the Golden Joysticks have partnered for Omen by HP for the ceremony, which will be hosted by Danny Wallace in the Bloomsbury Big Top in London on November 17. Voting for the awards is open to the public for all categories until early November on the Golden Joystick website.
Read the full list of nominees below.
Best Storytelling
- Horizon Zero Dawn
- NieR: Automata
- Night in the Woods
- Persona 5
- Prey
- Pyre
- Tacoma
- Torment: Tides of Numenera
- Uncharted: The Lost Legacy
- What Remains of Edith Finch
Best Visual Design
- Cuphead
- Dishonored 2
- Final Fantasy XV
- GNOG
- Horizon: Zero Dawn
- Little Nightmares
- Monument Valley 2
- Night in the Woods
- Persona 5
- Pyre
- The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Best Audio
- Destiny 2
- Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice
- Horizon Zero Dawn
- Life is Strange: Before the Storm
- Little Nightmares
- Persona 5
- Project Cars 2
- Pyre
- RiME
- Sniper Elite 4
- Tacoma
- The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Best Gaming Performance
- Ashly Burch – Aloy (Horizon Zero Dawn)
- Brian Bloom – B.J. Blazkowicz (Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus)
- Claudia Black – Chloe Frazer (Uncharted: The Lost Legacy)
- Fryda Wolff – Ryder (Mass Effect: Andromeda)
- Jack Brand – Jack Baker (Resident Evil 7)
- Kylie Brown – Rachel Amber (Life is Strange: Before the Storm)
- Melina Juergens – Senua (Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice)
- Nathan Fillion – Cayde-6 (Destiny 2)
Best Indie Game
- Dream Daddy
- Everything
- Friday the 13th: The Game
- Night in the Woods
- Pyre
- Slime Rancher
- Stories Untold
- Tacoma
- Thimbleweed Park
- What Remains of Edith Finch
Best Multiplayer Game
- Absolver
- Battlefield 1
- Destiny 2
- FIFA 18
- Friday the 13th: The Game
- Injustice 2
- LawBreakers
- Nidhogg 2
- PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds
- Pro Evolution Soccer 2018
- Splatoon 2
Studio of the Year
- Arkane Studios
- Bluehole Studio Inc.
- Boss Key Production
- Creative Assembly
- Guerilla Games
- Machine Games
- NetherRealm
- Ninja Theory
- Nintendo EPD
- Platinum
- Rebellion
Best VR Game
- Dead Effect 2 VR
- Farpoint
- GNOG
- Resident Evil 7
- Rez Infinite
- Robo Recall
- Superhot VR
- Star Trek: Bridge Crew
- Statik
- Thumper
- Wilson’s Heart
eSports Play of the Year
- Agilities’ five-man Dragonblade at Overwatch Contenders (Overwatch)
- Autimatic and Skadoodle win 2 vs. 4 with pistols (Counter Strike: Global Offensive)
- PraY’s Ashe skillshot at Worlds 2016 (League of Legends)
- TeamLiquid win the first ever 3-0 grand final victory at the International (Dota 2)
- Tokido’s incredible parry at Evo 2017 (Street Fighter V)
eSports Team of the Year
- Astralis – Counter Strike: Global Offensive
- Lunatic-Hai – Overwatch
- Northern Gaming – Rocket League
- Optic Gaming – Call of Duty
- SK Telecom T1 – League of Legends
- Team Liquid – Dota 2
- Team SoloMid – League of Legends
eSports Game of the Year
- Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare
- Counter Strike: Global Offensive
- Dota 2
- FIFA 17
- League of Legends
- Overwatch
- Rainbow Six: Siege
- Rocket League
- Smite
- Starcraft II
Best Streamer/Broadcaster
- Hannah Rutherford
- Jacksepticeye
- Jupiter Hadley
- Markiplier
- Maximilian Dood
- Polygon
- Waypoint
- What’s Good Games
Handheld/Mobile Game of the Year
- Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King
- Ever Oasis
- Fire Emblem Heroes
- Framed 2
- Hidden Folks
- Milkmaid of the Milky Way
- Monument Valley 2
- Old Man’s Journey
- Pokemon Sun and Moon
- Super Mario Run
Nintendo Game of the Year
- ARMS
- Bulb Boy
- Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle
- Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
- Metroid: Samus Returns
- Pokemon Sun and Moon
- Snipperclips
- Splatoon 2
- Super Mario Odyssey
- The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
PlayStation Game of the Year
- Everybody’s Golf
- Horizon Zero Dawn
- Nex Machina
- NieR: Automata
- Nioh
- Persona 5
- Statik
- The Last Guardian
- Uncharted: The Lost Legacy
- Yakuza 0
Xbox Game of the Year
- Cuphead
- Dead Rising 4
- Forza Motorsport 7
- Gears of War 4
- Gigantic
- Halo Wars 2
- Pit People
- Slime Rancher
- Tacoma
PC Game of the Year
- Dream Daddy
- Endless Space 2
- OneShot
- Planet Coaster
- PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds
- Rising Storm 2: Vietnam
- Stories Untold
- Total War: Warhammer II
- Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War III
- West of Loathing
Breakthrough Award
- Ashly Burch
- Brendan Greene
- Cavalier Game Studios
- Game Grumps
- Giant Sparrow
- Infinite Fall
- Melina Jeurgens
- Nick Popovich
- Nina Freeman
- SMAC Games
Most Wanted Game
- Beyond Good and Evil 2
- Call of Duty: WWII
- Death Stranding
- Far Cry 5
- God of War
- Metro Exodus
- Metroid Prime 4
- Ooblets
- Red Dead Redemption 2
- Sea of Thieves
- Spider-Man
- Star Wars Battlefront II
- The Last of Us Part II
Still Playing
- Diablo III
- EVE Online
- FIFA 17
- Final Fantasy XIV
- Hearthstone
- Minecraft
- Overwatch
- Pokemon Go
- Pro Evolution Soccer 2017
- Rocket League
- The Elder Scrolls Online
- World of Tanks
Ultimate Game of the Year
- Assassin’s Creed Origins
- Destiny 2
- Dishonored 2
- Horizon: Zero Dawn
- Monument Valley 2
- Persona 5
- PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds
- Resident Evil 7
- Super Mario Odyssey
- The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
- What Remains of Edith Finch
Words by Megan Roxburgh