Silksong and Hades 2 lead the Golden Joysticks’ Game Of The Year – but who will win?

The first Game Of The Year nominations have been released for Golden Joysticks, with Blue Prince going up against Silent Hill f.

With less than two months left in 2025, we are starting to approach the season of celebration and seasonal excitement from Game Of The Year nominees.

While we’ll have to wait until December for The Game Awards, and the end of the year for GameCentral’s overall winner, the Golden Joystick Awards has released its shortlist for Ultimate Game Of The Year – which you can vote for here.

There are 12 games on the list, and besides the expected names like Hollow Knight: Silksong and Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, there are also some surprises.

In addition to Death Stranding 2: On The Beach, the list features co-op climbing games PEAK, Split Fiction, Ghost Of Yōtei, and Indiana Jones And The Great Circle. The latter is technically released in 2024, but because it was released in December, it qualifies for this year’s list.

Other contenders include Donkey Kong Bananza, puzzle adventure Blue Prince, Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, Silent Hill f, and Hades 2.

There are some notable omissions – we’d happily choose Citizen Sleeper 2 or Shinobi: Art Of Vengeance over Death Stranding 2 – but otherwise this is a pretty solid list.

Unlike most other awards, the Golden Joystick Awards are voted on by the public, with voting for this particular category open from now until Friday, November 7. Voting for other categories closes on October 31, 2025.

The event itself will take place on November 20 2025 in London, England, and will be hosted by Maggie Robertson, aka the voice of Lady Dimitrescu in Resident Evil Village.

While public voting usually makes the Golden Joystick something of an outlier on the gaming awards season calendar, it will be the first indicator of how other awards will be handed out, such as The Game Awards or next year’s BAFTAs.

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