The Five Titles That Might Rival <em>GTA 6</em> for the 2026 Game of the Year Prize.

The previous year, we pondered if anything could realistically beat Grand Theft Auto 6 for the 2025 Game of the Year honor — "barring Rockstar's ability to finish it on time." Ultimately, it was precisely that that removed Rockstar's blockbuster game from the race, with pushbacks to May and, afterwards, November 2026 paving the way for Clair Obscur: Expedition 33's remarkable clean sweep at The 2025 Game Awards.

Consequently, peering into the future to GOTY 2026, we find ourselves with a strong sense of familiarity. For a second time, GTA 6 kicks off the year as the clear frontrunner to claim the top award. Again, Rockstar's primary adversary may prove to be its own schedule. Although another postponement at this juncture is less likely, it's undoubtedly still conceivable, and with its present Nov. 19 release date barely making into The Game Awards' typical eligibility window, it would need merely a slide of 48 hours or more to send GTA 6 into contention for the 2027 awards.

Once more, GTA 6 appears extremely difficult to overcome, but not entirely insurmountable. Rockstar's own Red Dead Redemption 2 was beaten for GOTY by Sony Santa Monica's God of War in 2018, while GTA 5 was eclipsed in numerous awards ceremonies and GOTY votes — if not the Game Awards' earlier incarnation, VGX — by The Last of Us. In fact, GTA 6's juggernaut status is a seemingly contradictory kind of liability, as journalists and awards committees will be actively searching for an attractive alternative storyline to champion in order to prevent a foregone conclusion.

So what other titles might pose a challenge? Forecasting nominees this so soon in the year is, admittedly, a bit of a fool's errand: the landscape of indie and smaller releases is largely uncertain, while AAA games frequently get delayed or don't pan out, and certain publishers (including Nintendo) have still not announce their titles for the back end of the year. However, there are even now a select few of 2026 releases that appear to be they will be strong contenders. Listed are five that possess a solid chance of being nominated together with GTA 6.

1. Control Resonant

Remedy Entertainment's surreal second installment is without a doubt the top challenger to GTA 6's hegemony. Indeed, Remedy could be the quintessential Game Awards studio: It crafts expertly engineered, visually striking, story-rich action-adventure games while working just sufficiently outside the industry center to still retain the aura of an underdog. The original Control garnered eight nominations and one win in 2019, while Alan Wake 2 pushed Baldur's Gate 3 a close second in 2023, turning three of its eight nods into wins in the prestigious Game Direction, Narrative, and Art Direction categories. After a breathtaking trailer unveiling at the 2025 Awards, Control Resonant is never to be overlooked.

2. Resident Evil: Requiem

A latest (or, similarly) remastered Resident Evil game is has a higher probability to be nominated for Game of the Year than not. This venerable series has an sterling recent track record at The Game Awards — Resident Evil 2 was nominated for the main prize in 2019, Village in 2021, and 4 in 2023 — plus a reputation for reliable quality. Granted, a win would be a far more unlikely proposition, but you can count on Capcom ending up in contention.

3. Wolverine (Marvel)

The Wolverine game from Insomniac is one of the largest commercial prospects of the year, and in terms of scale and production values, probably one of the select group that will be able to give GTA 6 a close contest. Like Resident Evil, Insomniac's high-octane Marvel games project is great at picking up lots of nominations at The Game Awards, and not as successful at turning them into wins. Will the shift from Spider-Man to an darker character and (far) more visceral action alter the dynamic in Wolverine's favour? Maybe, and it will be Sony's primary contender for the year, which pretty much guarantees it a place at the GOTY discussion.

4. Fortune's Weave (Fire Emblem)

Nintendo is infrequently absent from the list of Game of the Year nominees. Without a definitive idea of what its major 2026 game will be (a new core Pokémon and a 3D Mario game are both rumored), Fortune’s Weave makes a compelling placeholder. Fire Emblem is a niche series, it's true, but it has been expanding consistently in both fanbase and acclaim over the past few years, while its detailed anime storytelling style and tactical combat get more popular and closer to the gaming center by the day. It would not be a shock.

5. The Blood of Dawnwalker

The ever-growing European voting bloc on the jury is steadily making its presence felt, notably when it comes to nominating large-scale, ambitious Euro role-playing games like Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2. Rebel Wolves' debut is an perfect game to capture those votes and occupy this slot, particularly given the Witcher 3 lineage of its developers — and its strong resemblance to that 2015 GOTY winner.

Concerning the Indies?

The glaring omission in our list is that it omits an indie contender. While The Game Awards jury typically only nominates one indie game for Game of the Year — 2025's trio of indie picks seems like a fluke — it also hardly ever fails to nominate one. It's nearly impossible to foresee what that game might be at this point, as the biggest indie games of each year often emerge unexpectedly, but a few probable candidates would be:

• Mixtape: a rhythm-based, retro road trip of a game supported by the influential publishers at Annapurna Interactive.
• Replaced: a highly anticipated cyberpunk adventure with a beautifully detailed pixel-art aesthetic.
• Ontos: Frictional Games' secretive follow-up to the Amnesia series (assuming it's not too scary).
• Slay the Spire 2: sequel to the hugely popular roguelike deckbuilder (but it might not make it out of early access in 2026).
• Mina the Hollower: Yacht Club Games' Shovel Knight next project, an charming retro Zelda love letter (provided that the studio can finally finish it).

Other Challengers

• Gears of War: E-Day: One of two huge franchise revivals from Xbox Game Studios in 2026, E-Day will have to demonstrate that this decidedly 2000s series is still relevant.
• Fable: After