Borderlands 4, Mario Kart World, and Assassin's Creed Shadows were excluded from the Golden Joystick Awards.

by

The Golden Joystick Awards have revealed their list of nominees for the ultimate Game of the Year award, and there's plenty to choose from. Not as limited as The Game Awards, The Golden Joysticks offers a dozen games to choose from, with some fierce competition among the frontrunners.

But that doesn't mean there aren't any snubs. Some notable games missed out on a chance to win big, many of which are franchise entries we easily expected to get at least a GOTY nod.

The Golden Joystick Awards have revealed their GOTY nominees.

Gustave looking at Sophie in Clair Obscur Expedition 33.

Here are the nominees for Best Game of the Year at the Golden Joystick Awards 2025:

  • Indiana Jones and the Great Circle

  • blue prince

  • Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2

  • Silent Hill F

  • Ghost of Yotei

  • vertex

  • hades 2

  • Claire Obsker: Expedition 33

  • split novel

  • Donkey Kong Bananza

  • Hollow Knight: Silksong

  • Death Stranding 2: On the Beach

So many of the games we expected are included here. Clair Obscur: You might expect it to be a competition between Expedition 33 (which has already won one GOTY award), Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, and Hollow Knight: Silksong, but you might be surprised, especially considering the widespread acclaim for Silent Hill f and the word of mouth from Peak.

However, there are some celebrities that many expected to be on the list but weren't. First of all, there is no Mario Kart World, despite every entry in the Mario Kart series being one of the most important games released in the Nintendo console life cycle. There's obviously Bananza representing Nintendo, but it would be surprising to see Mario Kart World shut down for good.

Then there are other critically acclaimed sequels that are already out of contention. Borderlands 4 has been heralded as a much-needed return to the series, and is still comfortably attracting players. There's also Assassin's Creed Shadows, which is considered one of the more modern Assassin's Creed games.

There are plenty of other games we could argue deserve a spot. My favorite games of the year are Sonic Racing: Crossworlds and The Outer Worlds 2, but neither is here. Our senior news editor, George, has been praising Ninja Gaiden 4, but he too has been ignored.

Still, it's nice to see so many non-Triple-A games getting some attention, especially in a competitive year. If you'd like to participate, voting is open now. You can vote for up to three games and rank them according to your preference.

Leave a Comment