download.jpg

Despite a polarizing launch earlier this year, The Last of Us Part II has won Game of the Year at the 2020 Golden Joystick Awards, chosen by players. The Naughty Dog game also walked away with several other awards by the end of the night, so it's clear that the people have spoken.

After several development delays, Naughty Dog's The Last of Us Part II released back in June, and immediately polarized players. While the game has received critical acclaim from many, it was also panned by many others for a variety of reasons, and even was the target of a large review bombing. In spite of this mixed reception, The Last of Us Part II won five of the six awards it was nominated for at this year's Golden Joystick award show.

The 38th Golden Joystick Awards, presented by GamesRadar, saw The Last of Us Part II nominated for six awards (seven when including Naughty Dog's Studio of the Year nomination). By the end of the night, the title walked away with five of those awards, sweeping the Best Storytelling, Best Visual Design, Best Audio, PlayStation Game of the Year, and Ultimate Game of the Year categories. Naughty Dog also won the Studio of the Year award for its work, meaning The Last of Us Part II big night marked a record-breaking show for the Golden Joysticks.

download (1).jpg

The lone nomination that The Last of Us Part II did not win was Most Wanted Game, which went to God of War: Ragnarok, another PlayStation exclusive (or, maybe not). The Last of Us Part II is also nominated for ten more awards at the upcoming 2020 Game Awards, the most of any game.

As predicted, the replies to the announcement were still mixed, with fans praising the game's record setting night, and critics posting screencaps of various negative reviews. It looks that no amount of awards will shift the discourse around the game, as everyone doubles down on their respective opinions from the summer. That being said, if The Last of Us Part II has another night like tonight at The Game Awards, then the team at Naughty Dog surely would not be too hurt.

The Last of Us Part II can be played on PS5 and PS4.