Resident Evil Requiem has been named the 2026 Ultimate Game of the Year by the 44th Annual Golden Joystick Awards, giving Capcom’s latest survival horror release one of the year’s major awards.
The Golden Joystick Awards announced the result Thursday, Nov. 12. The award comes while the 2026 release calendar still includes games scheduled to launch later in the year. The ceremony’s voting cutoff helped determine the field eligible for this year’s result.
A new award for Capcom’s series
Resident Evil Requiem is the latest entry in Capcom’s long-running Resident Evil franchise. The game follows two protagonists, Grace Ashcroft and Leon S. Kennedy, and combines survival horror sections with action-focused sequences.
Golden Joystick organizers’ selection follows positive responses from both critics and players, according to the award coverage. The game was recognized for its visual presentation, horror-focused sections, action sequences and the way it uses its two lead characters.
- Award: Ultimate Game of the Year
- Event: 44th Annual Golden Joystick Awards
- Winner: Capcom’s Resident Evil Requiem
- Year recognized: 2026
How the category developed
The Golden Joystick Awards have honored video game development across dozens of categories for decades. The ceremony originally divided its top game honors by platform, with separate awards for systems such as PlayStation 2 and GameCube.
The broader Ultimate Game of the Year category was introduced in 2006. The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion received the first award in that category, which has since become a single overall honor for a game selected from the year’s releases.
Resident Evil Requiem now joins that list after the 2026 ceremony. The result gives the game a major award before the year’s remaining scheduled releases have arrived, including the upcoming Grand Theft Auto 6.
