The British general public has voted and the 33rd Golden Joystick Awards, also known as the People's Gaming award, has been concluded. After all the dust settled; The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt sat on top of the biggest pile of video-game-award loot.
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt was honored with the "Ultimate Game of the Year" award. It was also awarded a golden joystick for "best gaming moment", "Best Visual Design" and "Best storytelling." "CD Projekt RED", the game developer that brought the The Witcher game franchise to life, was recognized as the "Studio of the Year."
Coming second to The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt's five awards, is GTA V with four golden joysticks under its belt. The Rockstar Games title was awarded "Innovation of the Year" due to its incorporation of a first-person shooter mode. GTA V also took home "Best PC game," "Playfire Most Played Award," and the "Best Multiplayer Game" for its multiplayer mode, Grand Theft Auto Online.
Tied at two awards each are Bloodborne, Ori and the Blind Forest and Splatoon. Bloodborne was recognized as the "PlayStation Game of the Year" and "Best Original Game" while Ori and the Blind Forest was awarded two golden joysticks - one for "Xbox Game of the Year" and the other for "Best Audio." Splatoon on the other hand, took home the "Family Game" award along with "Nintendo Game of the Year."
Squad's Kerbal Space Program won as the "Best Indie Game" while Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain bagged the "Critic's Choice." Fallout 4 and Fallout Shelter received the "Most Wanted Game" and the "Best Handheld or Mobile Game" awards, respectively. Steam was again awarded a golden joystick as the "Gaming Platform of the Year."
Aside from games, several key figures within the gaming industry were also recognized. Anders Blume, a prominent game caster for Counter-Strike: Global Offensive was named as this year's "eSports Icon." Ashly Burch was honored with the "Performance of the Year" award for her voice acting in Life is Strange as Chloe Price. PewDiePie's 40 million subs secured him the "best gaming personality award" for two consecutive years now.
The lifetime achievement award for this year was given to former Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata who passed away earlier this year. Iwata's professional works as a Nintendo programmer and as an executive were highlighted during the ceremony.
