Voting is open for the Golden Joystick awards 2021

The Golden Joystick Awards 2021
(Image credit: Future)

While 2021 has been a sleepier year for games, that doesn't mean we haven't seen some absolute bangers grace our monitors this year. We've seen a strong library of releases over the last 12 months, and now you get to decide which ones were the best of the best. The 39th Golden Joystick awards are upon us, so get your voting caps on.

There's a bunch of categories for you to have your say on like best game expansion, best performer, and that one game you can't quite put down even after all these years. There's a great mix of both big-budget blockbusters and fantastic indie hits to choose from. The PC Game of the Year category featuring some of our favourite Top 100 games—including Wildermyth, Hitman 3 and Old World.

It's also the 50th anniversary of videogames, which somehow feels both far too long and too short for games to have existed. Computer Space, the first coin-operated arcade machine launched in November 1971, marking the birth of commercial gaming. To celebrate our weird and wonderful hobby, there are two special categories this year—the Ultimate Game of All Time and Best Gaming Hardware of All Time. Voting doesn't open for these until November 8, so you've got plenty of time to think about your all-time fave.

Voting for all other categories is open right now on the Golden Joystick Awards website, running until 4pm PDT/7pm EDT/11pm GMT on November 5. The winners will be announced on November 23.

Mollie Taylor
Features Producer

Mollie spent her early childhood deeply invested in games like Killer Instinct, Toontown and Audition Online, which continue to form the pillars of her personality today. She joined PC Gamer in 2020 as a news writer and now lends her expertise to write a wealth of features, guides and reviews with a dash of chaos. She can often be found causing mischief in Final Fantasy 14, using those experiences to write neat things about her favourite MMO. When she's not staring at her bunny girl she can be found sweating out rhythm games, pretending to be good at fighting games or spending far too much money at her local arcade.