What Can We Expect From The 2026 Golden Joystick Awards?
2026 is likely to go down as the year of GTA 6 in the world of gaming. Even when expanded to other areas of pop culture, the game is still going to be one of the most notable releases of the year. It’s already tipped to win Game of the Year on most prediction markets. It’s the frontrunner to win virtually everything, and fans are beyond hyped for it.
Is there a world where it doesn’t win a major award? Potentially. The Golden Joystick Awards, AKA the People’s Gaming Awards, is the longest-running game awards show. It’s purely voted on by the public, and according to Polymarket traders, something other than GTA 6 is the huge frontrunner for the top award this year.
GTA 6 can’t win Golden Joysticks
If you look at any prediction market for Game of the Year at The Game Awards, GTA 6 is heavily favored. On Kalshi, it’s at a whopping 79%. On Robinhood, it’s at 79 cents, while the next closest is seven cents. Polymarket has GTA 6 at 83%. On Gemini, it’s at 84%. These are overwhelming numbers; but rememberthat the game isn’t out until mid-November.
That’s The Game Awards, though, and the Golden Joysticks is different. The Polymarket prediction market for that show’s top award, the Ultimate Game of the Year, does not favor GTA 6. In fact, GTA 6 isn’t even offered as a prediction. The game is ineligible — Grand Theft Auto 6 barely makes the deadline for The Game Awards, but misses The Golden Joysticks completely.
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Resident Evil Requiem is favored
This prediction market, then, functions as a glimpse into what the world would be like without GTA 6. What games would win awards? We know the latest Rockstar game is going to snatch up a boatload of accolades, but what would stand to gain the most if it were released one day later or just didn’t exist?
Traders on Polymarket believe the answer is Resident Evil Requiem, and it’s not particularly close. Early in the year, that was initially pegged as a contender, though the prediction markets quickly picked up GTA once it became clear that it would actually launch in 2026.
Image credit: Polymarket.
On this market, Requiem has a 45% chance of winning the Ultimate Game of the Year Award. That’s by far the highest. Here is the implied probability of the rest:
- Big Walk: 8%
- 007: First Light: 16%
- Forza Horizon 6: 7%
- Saros: <1%
- Pragmata: <1%
- Gears of War: E-Day: <1%
- Crimson Desert: 3%
Other games, like Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave or LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight, have even smaller chances of winning the award. It’s Requiem’s to lose, it seems, but this could easily change ahead of the awards taking place on November 11.
☑️ My View
It is beyond safe to assume GTA 6 will win Game of the Year. But thanks to the cutoff for The Golden Joysticks, we can ponder what else might deserve awards. And in this case, Resident Evil Requiem seems like the strongest candidate. The game franchise is beloved, and Capcom has been on an absolute heater since developing the RE Engine.
Resident Evil Biohazard, Village, and Requiem are all well done and well-liked by fans and critics. They also made three remakes (of 2, 3, and 4), and two of them are beloved remakes. The third was a misfire, but that’s one misstep for Resident Evil in almost a full decade. If not for GTA 6, it is very reasonable to predict this would be the year of Resident Evil Requiem.
Cover image via Capcom
Zachary Roberts
Zachary Roberts is an avid gamer and writer that loves to merge those things. He’s been featured on VideoGamer, ComicBook, New Leaf, Esports.net, and Sportskeeda as well as the On SI network of Sports Illustrated and Sporting News.
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