Balatro is the first indie title to win the Ultimate Game of the Year award without the backing of a major publisher in the history of the Golden Joystick Awards. Created by a solo developer known as LocalThunk, the card game Balatro - named after the Latin word for jester or buffoon - is one of the year's biggest success stories.

It's unclear which game will win the title of GOTY at The Game Awards, but a recent Golden Joystick winner could be foreshadowing.

Rebirth’ claimed four gongs–and the incredible indie hit ‘Balatro’ picked up two–but the public favored ‘Black Myth: Wukong’ for GOTY.

Black Myth: Wukong, the debut game from Chinese developer Game Science, has swept past the likes of Astro Bot, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, and Helldivers 2 to claim the title of Ultimate Game of the Year at the U.K.’s Golden Joystick Awards.

Wukong developers Game Science have just teased “surprises” on the way for their breakout title. The developers over at Game Science have had a busy 2024 with the release of the smash hit Black Myth: Wukong,

Wukong has teased “some surprises” for later this year. Accepting the Game of the Year award via video message at the Golden Joysticks, Game Science co-founder Feng Ji encouraged people who have yet to buy the smash hit action game to now do so.