10 Golden Joysticks (12 With Studio Honors): 11 Years Later, The Witcher 3 Extends Its Record Lead Over Baldur's Gate 3 and Clair Obscur
Eleven years after first setting foot on the Continent, Geralt of Rivia still refuses to give up his crown. During the 44th Golden Joystick Awards 2026 ceremony held in London on Wednesday, November 11, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Remastered captured the trophy for Best Remake / Remaster. Already holding the all-time record for the most awards won at the long-running publicly voted British show, CD Projekt RED's landmark RPG now extends its tally to 10 individual statuettes, and 12 trophies overall when including the two Studio of the Year honors counted by the Guinness World Records.
Beating Five Major Rivals in a Double Victory With The Witcher 4
Rolled out as a free upgrade in September, the technical overhaul of The Witcher 3 sparked an immediate second wind for the adventure, peaking at 140,000 concurrent players on Steam more than a decade after its original launch. In London, the competition in the Best Remake / Remaster lineup was fierce: the Polish RPG beat out Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced, Gothic 1 Remake, Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol. 2, Star Fox, and Trails in the Sky 2nd Chapter.
As confirmed in CD Projekt RED's official announcement, the London gala turned into a two-for-two sweep for the franchise. While Jakub Kutrzuba (VP, Executive Producer of External Projects) took the stage to accept the Best Remake / Remaster statuette, Małgorzata Mitręga, Production Director on The Witcher 4, collected the Most Wanted Game award for the upcoming dark fantasy saga starring Ciri, before also presenting the night's award for Best Game Expansion.
From 2013 to 2026: All 12 Golden Joysticks Compared to Baldur's Gate 3 and Clair Obscur
This latest victory puts even more breathing room between Warsaw's masterpiece and its two closest modern RPG peers. Back in 2023, Baldur's Gate 3 (Larian Studios) made history by sweeping 7 Golden Joysticks in a single night (including Studio of the Year), a single-ceremony record matched last year by French turn-based RPG powerhouse Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 (Sandfall Interactive). Across its multi-year run, however, the White Wolf's journey stands alone atop the lifetime leaderboard.
| Year / Release | Golden Joystick Award Categories Won | Cumulative Total |
|---|---|---|
| 2013 & 2014 (Pre-release) | Most Wanted Game (two consecutive years) | 2 trophies |
| 2015 (The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt) | Ultimate Game of the Year, Best Storytelling, Best Visual Design, Best Gaming Moment (Bloody Baron quest) + Studio of the Year (CD Projekt RED) | 6 trophies (7 with studio) |
| 2016 (Blood and Wine Expansion) | Best Storytelling, Best Visual Design, Best Gaming Performance (Doug Cockle as Geralt) + Studio of the Year (CD Projekt RED) | 9 trophies (11 with studio) |
| 2026 (The Witcher 3 Remastered) | Best Remake / Remaster | 10 trophies (12 with studio) |
| Modern RPG Rivals | Baldur's Gate 3 (2023) and Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 (2025) | 7 trophies each (single-night record) |
Why the Trophy Count Could Climb Again in 2027 With Songs of the Past
Remarkably, The Witcher 3 might not even be finished adding hardware to its trophy cabinet. Ten years after Blood and Wine dominated the 2016 ceremony, CD Projekt RED is preparing the new narrative expansion The Witcher 3: Songs of the Past, slated to launch in 2027 to bridge the story toward the new saga. With the studio also celebrating the return of Bloody Baron quest writer Karolina Stachyra, whose work earned the 2015 Best Gaming Moment trophy, Geralt could very well be back in contention at next year's ceremony.
My Field Notes
Looking through the Golden Joystick archives tonight, what stands out to me most is how player-friendly post-launch support pays off over a decade. If The Witcher 3 can still defeat full-price remakes eleven years after its May 2015 debut, it is largely because CD Projekt RED delivered this remastered edition as a free upgrade to everyone who already owned the game. Seeing it reach 10 direct trophies (and 12 including studio honors) on the exact same night The Witcher 4 takes home Most Wanted Game feels like the ultimate baton pass between Geralt and Ciri, even before Songs of the Past arrives in 2027.
The Witcher 3 Remastered
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Originally from Lyon, France, gaming journalist Bastien "Orion" relocated nearly a decade ago to Quebec City's Saint-Roch district, right in the heart of eastern Canada's development studio hub. Before crossing the Atlantic, he honed his versatile reporting style across classic French gaming web portals and specialist television outlets in the 2000s and 2010s, notably with JeuxVideo.fr and JeuxNews. Equally passionate about AAA blockbusters, North American studio culture, retro preservation, and community modding projects, he anchors Pro-Gamer's transatlantic desk and real-time coverage of US and Japanese industry announcements.
