It’s been an absolutely mammoth year for gaming, with top-notch releases like Red Dead Redemption 2, God of War, Marvel’s Spider-Man, and Black Ops 4 receiving critical and fan acclaim across the board. But none of these received the Golden Joystick‘s most coveted award, the Ultimate Game of the Year – Fortnite Battle Royale did.
[jwplayer sKZZk6x3]
Also referred to as the People’s Gaming Awards, the ceremony has been an institution of the gaming world since 1983, allowing folks to vote for their favourite titles of the year. With that in mind, along with the raging popularity of Fortnite already established, it’s not all that surprising it took out the top spot.
Along with an enormous 8.3 million concurrent players, Fortnite also had 78.3 million recorded players in just one month. By sheer numbers, it’s easy to see why the Epic Games release won out over the competition.
Did it deserve to win, though? Well, that depends who you ask. The 2018 results have certainly divided the gaming community, with some supporting the Battle Royale game while others questioned why it bested titles like Red Dead 2 and God of War, which both received incredibly high scores from critics.
You can even hear the audience lose their shit when RDR2 is announced as second place, which you can watch in the clip below.
Our final award is for the Ultimate Game of the Year, sponsored by @AMD. And the winner is… @FortniteGame #FortniteBattleRoyale CONGRATULATIONS! #GoldenJoysticks pic.twitter.com/ZoMfHVkUPw
— Golden Joysticks (@GoldenJoysticks) November 16, 2018
Some are even blaming the results on allowing kids to vote on the awards.
Lmfao kids must be deciding who wins these awards. #Fortnite just won ultimate game of the year at #GoldenJoysticks . Over a game that was better in every shape, way or form. Ps. Talking about #GodOfWar4. What a damn joke.
— Uzzy (@Uzzyy__) November 16, 2018
Lmao this is what happens when you let 10 year olds vote.
— Shinnox (@shinnox) November 16, 2018
https://twitter.com/MMMR1999/status/1063533980794974208
https://twitter.com/jonnyblaze708/status/1063482407729463297
Others defended the win, pointing out player numbers to back up their arguments.
Golden Joysticks is a popularity contest. Fortnite is the most played game since WoW. Do the math.
Also, to be fair, it was ported to mobile, not initially created for it.— Context Variable (@ContextVariable) November 19, 2018
deserve it? because it was insanely popular, but that is nothing, fortnite is amazing because epic games hear the community, and everything they’ve done to the game is thanks to the community, while overwatch is just a multiplayer game with loveable characters
— Nicolas Silva A. ???? (@Vasault) November 16, 2018
Keep in mind winners are chosen by popular vote, so it makes sense that the most popular game of the year is going to win, regardless of what critics think. Of course, a game like RDR2 deserves to win over something like Fortnite, but also remember that there are plenty more awards to come which are more accurately judged.
