The nominees for Golden Joystick's 'Ultimate Game of the Year' are unveiled

windowscentral.com Oct 26, 2026

The nominees for Golden Joystick’s ‘Ultimate Game of the Year’ are unveiled

Curated by Shubham · TechCapsules · Oct 26, 2026

AI-summarised brief · reviewed before publication

The Golden Joystick Awards 2026 announced nominees for its Ultimate Game of the Year category after voting closed on October 23. The shortlist includes AAA titles such as 007: First Light, Forza Horizon 6, and Pokémon Pokopia, alongside indie hits like Big Walk and Pragmata. Fans can vote until October 30 via GamesRadar, and the winner will be revealed at the November 11 ceremony in London, streamed on YouTube, Twitch, X, Future Games Show, GamesRadar, and PC Gamer. The event features host Alix Wilton Regan and guest presenters.

💡 Why It Matters

· The award spotlights the year’s most influential games, shaping industry trends and consumer attention.
· It also drives engagement across multiple streaming platforms, expanding the awards’ reach.

Capsules Gaming

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Dell’s new monitor price cuts offer sweet spots between productivity and gaming

Dell has reduced prices on three monitors to appeal to both gamers and professionals. The 32‑inch Dell 32 Plus 4K (S3225QS) now sells for $329.99, offering a 4K VA panel at 120 Hz. The Alienware 27 240 Hz QD‑OLED (AW2726DM) is discounted to $319.99, while the 32‑inch Alienware 32 (AW3225DM) drops to $249.99. All models feature variable refresh rates, with the 27‑inch model excelling in low input lag and the 32‑inch model providing a curved, immersive display.

💡 The cuts give budget‑conscious gamers and office users access to high‑end features—4K resolution, 240 Hz refresh, and OLED clarity—without the premium price tag. This democratizes advanced display technology, potentially reshaping expectations for mid‑tier monitor performance.

eurogamer.net · Oct 26

Despite initial player concerns, Capcom feels good about Onimusha: Way of the…

Capcom’s new action title Onimusha: Way of the Sword sold over a million copies despite early controversy over its difficulty. The pre‑launch demo split players; some praised its challenge while others called it too easy. Director Satoru Nihei told PC Gamer that the final game was deliberately balanced to let players die occasionally but still progress, avoiding the punishing standards of Sekiro or Nioh. He said internal telemetry shows most users are meeting the intended difficulty curve. Critics have lauded the game as a successor to Sekiro and a benchmark for parry‑based combat, noting its streamlined design and reduced reliance on traditional Soulslike tropes. The passive enemy placements criticized in the demo are now less prominent in the shipped product.

💡 By proving a middle‑ground difficulty works, Capcom shows data‑driven design can satisfy both hardcore and casual audiences, reshaping expectations for future action titles.

techcrunch.com · Oct 26

Matiks raises $10M to expand its math and puzzle gaming platform

Matiks, an India‑based math and puzzle gaming platform, secured $10 million in pre‑Series A funding led by General Catalyst, with participation from Ronnie Screwvala, InfoEdge Ventures, Tanglin Venture Partners, and Untitled Ventures. The round brings the company’s total capital to over $13.5 million. Daily active users rose from 22,000 earlier this year to more than 300,000 by September, with 2.2 million monthly active users reported in September. The founders—Sudhanshu Bhatia, Mohan Kumar, and Sushant Timmapur—plan to use the funds to expand internationally and enhance the app’s AI‑enabled creation tools.

💡 The investment signals confidence in a niche that counters AI‑driven content fatigue, positioning Matiks as a viable alternative for engaging, cognitively stimulating mobile gaming.

gamesradar.com · Oct 26

Phantom Blade Zero dev tells players to “reserve at least 300GB of…

S‑Game announced that the PC version of Phantom Blade Zero requires roughly 145 GB of storage, but the developer advises users to set aside at least 300 GB of free disk space for the pre‑load and installation process. The recommendation was posted on Twitter alongside standard specifications: 16 GB RAM, an Intel i5‑10600K or AMD Ryzen 5 5600X, and an Nvidia RTX 3060 or equivalent for 1440p gameplay. The company also urged players to update GPU drivers and install the game on an SSD. Reviewers have praised the title as a “GOTY contender,” noting its strong combat, high Metacritic score, and solid PC port. Despite modest hardware demands, the unusually large storage requirement has drawn attention as a potential barrier for many gamers.

💡 Requiring 300 GB of free space forces players to allocate a significant portion of modern SSDs, potentially limiting adoption among those with smaller drives. It also sets a new benchmark for pre‑installation footprints in high‑profile releases.

eurogamer.net · Oct 26

After a year of testing, one of Steam’s best features is finally…

Valve has taken its Steam Personal Calendar out of beta after nearly a year of testing, making the feature universally available. Launched as a Steam Labs experiment in October, the tool highlights upcoming and recent releases that match each user’s play history, arranging them in a month‑by‑month view on the store’s homepage and a dedicated recommendation page. The algorithm draws on three metrics: the games a player spends the most time on, the playtime profiles of similar users, and the titles those peers have purchased or wish‑listed. Recommendations refresh daily but change only gradually as new releases lock in dates within an eight‑week horizon. Valve acknowledges the risk of creating a recommendation “bubble,” but says the calendar pulls from a broad genre pool to keep options varied.

💡 By surfacing personalized launch windows, the calendar turns Steam’s vast catalog into a timed, user‑specific roadmap, helping shoppers cut through release fatigue and focus on titles they’re most likely to enjoy.

windowscentral.com · Oct 26

Xbox announces T-Mix with T-Mobile

Xbox has announced that Game Pass will be available to eligible U.S. T‑Mobile customers through the new “T‑Mix” plan starting in November. Subscribers can choose Xbox Game Pass Ultimate or Premium as a bundled benefit, usable on consoles, PC, Smart TVs, and cloud devices. T‑Mix replaces fixed bundles with a modular “Picks” system across Standard, More, and Loaded tiers, requiring 2 or 3 Picks for Premium or Ultimate. The service allows four yearly swaps of partner perks, giving users flexibility. This marks the first U.S. carrier to integrate Game Pass directly into a mobile plan.

💡 By embedding Game Pass into a telecom plan, Microsoft reduces subscription friction and taps a new distribution channel, potentially boosting user adoption and consolidating monthly expenses for gamers.