Golden Joystick Awards 2013: Winners Announced!

SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 25, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- The Golden Joystick Awards presented by Green Man Gaming today rewarded the best of the best in international gaming. With a record-breaking 10 million votes, the Golden Joysticks are the worlds most popular and credible games awards. 

Grand Theft Auto V was awarded the most prestigious gong of the afternoon – Game of the Year in association with Green Man Gaming. Already the fastest-selling video game of all-time, GTA V pipped one of the other big winners of the day, The Last of Us to the gong. Instead, The Last of Us walked away with a brace of awards, taking home Best Newcomer and Best Storytelling.

As the games industry prepares for the launch of the next generation of consoles in November, all eyes were focused on Most Wanted in association with Playfire to gauge what the gaming public were most looking forward to getting their hands on. In the category, which included both Sony's PS4 and Microsoft's Xbox One, it was the upcoming hack-and-slash game The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt which reigned supreme.

For the first time in its 31 year history, the Golden Joystick Awards honored an individual for their lifetime's work and BioShock Creative Director and Co-Founder of Irrational Games, Ken Levine was on hand to pick up the special Lifetime Achievement award.

Recognized as a luminary of the gaming world, Levine led the creation of the five-million-unit-selling, multiple-game-of-the-year-winning BioShock. As the highest-rated first-person-shooter of all time, the masterpiece helped spark the 'games as art' debate and Levine is a fitting recipient of the inaugural award.

Levine took a moment to contemplate the time he has spent in the industry, saying: "In most fields, people begin their careers being inspired by others. In turn, they hopefully end up inspiring others. The great thing about the still-maturing nature of video games is you get to be inspired by the work of novices and veterans alike. We're all figuring out day by day exactly what the medium is capable of."

In the only other award of the afternoon not to be voted for by the gaming public, Activision's mega-franchise Call of Duty was honored with the Hall of Fame award. As the most iconic shooter around, the Call of Duty series has sold well over 160 million copies worldwide. Elsewhere in the proceedings, Oculus Rift won Innovation of the Year in association with T3 with twenty-one-year-old Palmer Luckey, the founder of the game-changing technology, personally accepting the accolade.

Andy Robinson, Editor – Golden Joysticks and CVG, says: "This year's Golden Joystick Awards have seen a record-breaking 10 million votes, proving that even after 31 years they're still the awards that best represent the voice of gamers worldwide. With revamped categories to reflect the diversity of modern gaming and the addition of the inaugural Lifetime Achievement award, which was deservedly presented to Ken Levine, one of the most interesting creators working in games, this year's ceremony has been the most thrilling yet."

The winners of the Golden Joystick Awards presented by Green Man Gaming are:

Best Newcomer
The Last of Us

Most Wanted in association with Playfire
Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

Best Indie Game
Mark of the Ninja

Best Visual Design
BioShock Infinite

Best Multiplayer
Payday 2

Best Gaming Moment in association with Absolute Radio
Far Cry 3 - The Definition of Insanity

Studio of the Year in association with MPG Universal
Naughty Dog

Innovation of the Year in association with T3
Oculus Rift

Best Storytelling
The Last of Us

Best Online Game
World of Tanks

Best Handheld Game
Assassin's Creed III: Liberation

YouTube Gamer Award in association with YouTube
Yogscast 

Best Gaming Platform in association with Digital Spy
Steam

Best Mobile/Tablet Game of the Year
XCOM: Enemy Unknown

Game of the Year
Grand Theft Auto V

Hall of Fame
Activision: Call of Duty

Lifetime Achievement
Ken Levine

About the Golden Joystick Awards:
Established in 1982, the Golden Joystick Awards is the world's longest-running and best-known gaming awards. It's the only annual awards voted for by gamers and a highlight of the games industry calendar. In 2012 it attracted a record 4.1 million votes.

About Green Man Gaming and Playfire:
Founded in 2010, Green Man Gaming (GMG) is the leading UK-based digital retailer for PC games, selling more than 4,000 titles from 180 publishing partners in over 190 countries around the world. In July 2012, GMG extended the consumer offer further, launching online retail sales of PC-DVD, Xbox 360 and PS3 games, as well as consoles and peripherals, offering even more choice to the gaming market.

In July 2012, GMG acquired Playfire, a huge and vibrant global social network of core gamers.  This service allows consumers to automatically track their in-game achievements, trophies and gameplay, as well as follow other gamers' achievements and conversations about the games they love.  With over 950m game data points registered by the large global network of gamers and 1.5 billion achievements and trophies won, Playfire has become a vital part of GMG's focus on services for the core gaming audience. 

GMG recently launched a Trade-in and Pre-owned service for Xbox 360 and PS3 games in the UK and will be expanding this further in the next 12 months.  GMG has already operated a unique platform (patent-pending) for managing digital game trade-in and resale since 2010.
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SOURCE Golden Joystick Awards