Game Awards 2026: All Game of the Year front-runners and predictions

At this point, we have a clear idea of what to expect from The Game Awards’ voting body, which is composed of a wide range of international games media (Polygon included), with a 10% contribution from fan voting. There are a number of strong indicators for what will perform well in the Game of the Year category. A high Metacritic rating (preferably over 90) is a must; role-playing games and action-adventures are strongly favored, as are games with strong narrative elements; indie and multiplayer games struggle harder for recognition than AAA single-player adventures. We used these metrics to correctly predict last year’s winner, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, and the 2024 winner, Astro Bot. In 2025, we also predicted all six GOTY nominees and correctly called 20 other categories.

Below, you’ll find our predictions for the most likely nominees, of which there are six each year, for Game of the Year 2026 — taken only from games that have already been released (or made available for review). Unlike the film industry, where most titles are known quantities well in advance, you never really know what kind of impact a video game will have, or how good it will be, until it’s out (and release date slippage is much more common, too). We’ll update these rankings throughout the year as new games are released. We’ll also list some likely upcoming contenders and some of the 2026 GOTY race’s dark horses, too.

1 Resident Evil Requiem

Why it could win: Resident Evil is a reliable contender at The Game Awards, with three GOTY nominations since 2019, and many more in other categories. Requiem combines the fan appeal of the remakes with the freshness of a new entry, and blends their gameplay successfully, too. It's slickly produced, digestible, thrilling, with both global appeal and a serious side: a perfect Game Awards GOTY contender.

Weaknesses: Requiem's critical reception was very good overall, but perhaps a tiny bit soft to be a true GOTY contender — it sits in the high 80s on Metacritic and OpenCritic. How well it fares in the long run will depend on the strength of the competition, but for now, it's in the lead.

Read Giovanni Colantonio's full review of Resident Evil Requiem.

2 Pragmata

Why it could win: Capcom has the juice, and this sci-fi action game has a winning blend of dependable quality with originality and surprise factor — nobody expected it to emerge from its protracted development feeling this fresh.

Weaknesses: Pragmata is perhaps more of a pure action game than an action-adventure, putting it just outside the TGA jury's genre sweet spot. Its story isn't its strong point. And it's boxed in between its labelmate Resident Evil Requiem on one side and similarity to Saros on the other.

Read Austin Manchester's full review of Pragmata.

3 Pokémon Pokopia

Why it could win: Pokopia is the best-reviewed new release of the year so far; there's an extraordinary warmth to its critical reception, fueled by a combination of deep nostalgia and surprise that a Pokémon spinoff turned out to be so high-quality. It just makes people feel good.

Weaknesses: No Pokémon game has ever been nominated for Game of the Year — though very widely played, there's a sense that they're not taken fully seriously by critics. The life-sim genre isn't particularly favored by the jury, and Pokopia's storytelling style is a little oblique.

Read Giovanni Colantonio's full review of Pokémon Pokopia.

4 Saros

Why it could win: Critics really respond to Housemarque's challenging design and this sci-fi shooter's roguelite structure remains trendy (although I wonder for how much longer). It's more accessible than its predecessor Returnal, and publisher Sony's house style is a huge favorite with the jury.

Weaknesses: Returnal didn't secure a GOTY nomination in 2021, and Sony also has the more mainstream Marvel's Wolverine in play. Saros might be a little niche for the jury's taste, and we don't yet know whether it will generate wider conversation.

Read Giovanni Colantonio's full review of Saros.

5 Marathon

Why it could win: Although it launched under something of a cloud, Bungie's extraction shooter Marathon has proved incredibly sticky among dedicated players — who include many critics wowed by its visual design, refinement, mysterious world-building, and unforgiving gameplay. Its low-80s Metascore doesn't really reflect how players feel about it now, and it seems to have the legs to last all year.

Weaknesses: It's tough to secure a GOTY nomination for a multiplayer game at the best of times, and Marathon poses an extremely high barrier to entry. It might just be too offputting to too many jury members.

Read Corey Plante's impressions of Marathon.

6 Crimson Desert

Why it could win: An action-RPG with huge scope, variety, and amazing technical polish, Crimson Desert is exactly the sort of game that does well at The Game Awards. It sold extremely well globally, and it has the kind of passionate "outsider AAA" following that propelled Black Myth: Wukong to a GOTY nomination in 2024 despite mediocre reviews and also served Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 well in 2025.

Weaknesses: It just didn't review well enough. There's no precedent for a game with a Metascore below 80 getting nominated for Game of the Year, and Crimson Desert sits at 77. Among its many weaknesses in the eyes of critics are story and game design, both of which the jury prizes highly.

Read Marloes Valentina Stella's full review of Crimson Desert.

GOTY 2026 dark horses

Mewgenics: Edmund McMillen's twisted cat-breeding tactics game has been a big hit on Steam and with critics — it's the best-reviewed indie game of the year so far. It stands a chance of breaking through with its upcoming console versions.

Cairn: Ahead of more exotic indies like Esoteric Ebb and Titanium Court, the straightforward appeal of this epic mountain-climbing adventure shines through.

Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection: As the best-reviewed RPG of the year so far, Capcom's third critical smash of 2026 shouldn't be counted out yet.

Nioh 3: It had a low-key release, but Koei Tecmo's dark samurai Soulslike, the third in a consistently good series, has a solid reputation with critics and players alike.

Upcoming GOTY 2026 contenders

Grand Theft Auto 6: The presumptive Game of the Year looks like a dead cert… as long as it makes its release date, which is only days before The Game Awards' eligibility deadline.

Control Resonant: Alan Wake 2 was popular with the jury in 2023, Control is a critics' fave, and Remedy has the rare combination of blockbuster chops and indie cred. A real threat.

The Blood of Dawnwalker: Ex-Witcher 3 devs looking to follow up their GOTY winner with a similarly textured, story-forward, dark fantasy RPG in the "outsider AAA" space: it's a recipe for a GOTY nomination at least.

Fable: Playground's revival of Lionhead's beloved whimsical RPG series could go either way, but if it hits, it will be pure GOTY bait.

Marvel's Wolverine: Licensed games are at a disadvantage at The Game Awards, but Insomniac's brand of assured mainstream storytelling and spectacular production can (and has) overcome that.

Also: Slay the Spire 2 (if it emerges from early access this year), Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave, Mixtape, The Duskbloods, Phantom Blade: Zero, Gears of War: E-day, and Forza Horizon 6