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Resident Evil Requiem won ultimate game of the year at the Golden Joystick Awards on Wednesday, taking the top public-vote prize and finishing the night with four awards. It also picked up console game of the year, best game trailer and best lead performer, giving Capcom the ceremony's biggest sweep.
That is why people are searching who won gamer of the year 2026 now: the answer is tied to a result that was decided by players around the world, and Resident Evil Requiem secured 17% of that vote. The game beat Phantom Blade Zero, Crimson Desert, Control Resonant and The Blood of Dawnwalker for the headline prize, while Angela Sant'Albano won best lead performer for playing Grace Ashcroft.
The Golden Joystick Awards handed out 25 categories in all, with 22 decided by public vote and three judged by critics. That split matters because it shows the night's two kinds of recognition were not always aligned. Meccha Chameleon took streamers' choice and developers' choice, and also won best multiplayer game and best indie game self-published, while Big Walk won critics' choice.
That critics' prize carried a sharper edge this week, after the studio behind Big Walk was criticised over reports it used generative AI in the final stretch of development. Elsewhere, Onimusha: Way of the Sword won best audio design, Doom: The Dark Ages - Revelations won best game expansion and Minecraft won still playing - consoles & PC, but the headline belonged to Resident Evil Requiem.
Released in February, Resident Evil Requiem is the latest instalment in the Resident Evil series, a franchise that has stretched from games into books, films and TV programmes over 30 years. For now, the result says something clear about where the audience landed this year: the public pushed one game to the front, and the awards panel could only follow that lead.
