The 2022 Golden Joystick Awards have crowned their “Ultimate Game of the Year” and this year it’s none other than FromSoftware’s latest triumph: Elden Ring. The game was up against tough contenders that released throughout the year, including Bayonetta 3, Return to Monkey Island, Teardown, Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope, and more! Not only that, but Elden Ring took home three other awards throughout the course of the show which ended with their Ultimate Game of the Year title.
For those who don’t know, Elden Ring is the latest Action RPG made by FromSoftware who are otherwise known for their brutally difficult Dark Souls series. Their latest game combines the storytelling of Game of Thrones author George R.R. Martin and sends players to “The Lands Between” instead of the more familiar world of Dark Souls. Players take on the role of a seeming nobody, “a Tarnished of no renown”. The Tarnished are those who have once been severed from the grace of the Erdtree and have been called back after the shattering of the Elden Ring. Players are set upon an epic quest to retrieve the great runes from the demigods that squabble among themselves in The Lands Between and become the Elden Lord.
These are the titles Elden Ring beat out for the Ultimate Game of the Year:
- Bayonetta 3
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
- God of War: Ragnarok
- Gran Turismo 7
- Horizon Forbidden West
- Immortality
- Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope
- Neon White
- Return to Monkey Island
- Teardown
- Xenoblade Chronicles 3
Elden Ring also took home the awards for “Best Visual Design”, “Best Multiplayer Game”, “Critics’ Choice Award”, and while this isn’t a reward directly for the game, FromSoftware was given the award for “Studio of the Year”.
The title of “Ultimate Game of the Year” is a well-deserved one, across all platforms Elden Ring has sold over 17.5 million units between its launch and the end of the financial quarter in September. Fittingly, the game also took home the “Game of the Year” award from the 2022 Japan Game Show. Even with a successful year under their belt, FromSoftware isn’t done with Elden Ring yet and fans are eagerly awaiting any news of an upcoming expansion or DLC.
Other winners from this year’s Golden Joystick Awards include Pokemon Legends Arceus, Vampire Survivors, Cult of the Lamb, Cuphead: The Delicious Last Course, and more! A full list of winners in each of their respective categories can be found here.