The Golden Joystick Awards have determined that Subnautica, the undersea survival sim that is really a horror game in disguise (and if you don't believe me, give it a try sometime and let me know how it goes), is the PC Game of the Year. CD Projekt's upcoming Cyberpunk 2077 took the title for Most Wanted Game, while Fortnite beat out not-on-PC heavyweight Red Dead Redemption 2 to claim the overall Game of the Year title.
Fortnite is a phenomenon, of course, and while I wouldn't necessarily argue that it's a better game that RDR2 taken in isolation, I don't see the Housers turning up on Ellen anytime soon, or shit-talking an entire nation just because they can.
Subnautica, meanwhile, is spectacularly good: Excellent as a survival game, but with so much more going on beneath the surface (pardon the pun). It suffered from a few niggling technical issues but was otherwise a serene, sublime experience of remarkable beauty—except when the bad things happen, and then it's a five-alarm nope back to the surface for a few minutes. (Or days.)
I am down with the winners, in other words, but feel free to debate their merits in the comments. The full list of victors is down below:
- Best Storytelling: God of War
- Studio of the Year: Sony Santa Monica
- Best New Streamer/Broadcaster: Amelia Rose Blaire and Bryan Dechart
- Mobile Game of the Year: Playerunknown's Battlegrounds
- Best Competitive Game: Fortnite
- PC Game of the Year: Subnautica
- PlayStation Game of the Year: God of War
- Best Co-op Game: Monster Hunter World
- Xbox Game of the Year: Forza Horizon 4
- Best Visual Design: God of War
- Nintendo Game of the Year: Octopath Traveler
- Best Indie Game: Dead Cells
- Breakthrough Award: Unknown Worlds (Subnautica)
- Most Wanted Game: Cyberpunk 2077
- Critics Choice Award: Red Dead Redemption 2
- Best Audio: God of War
- Still Playing Award: World of Tanks
- Best Performer: Bryan Dechart (Detroit: Become Human)
- Outstanding Contribution: Microsoft (Xbox Adaptive Controller)
- Best VR Game: Skyrim VR
- Game of the Year: Fortnite
The 2018 Lifetime Achievement Award was presented to Hidetaka Miyazaki, president of From Software and producer/director on the Dark Souls games, Bloodborne, and the upcoming Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice.
