These 5 Titles That May Contend With <em>GTA 6</em> for the 2026's GOTY Award.

The previous year, we wondered if any release could potentially beat Grand Theft Auto 6 for the 2025's Game of the Year crown — "except for Rockstar's capability to ship it on target." In the end, it was that very factor that excluded Rockstar's much-hyped game from the equation, with postponements to May and, later, November 2026 opening the door for Clair Obscur: Expedition 33's historic sweep at The 2025 Game Awards.

Therefore, gazing forward to GOTY 2026, we are left with a distinct sense of déjà vu. Yet again, GTA 6 begins the year as the presumptive frontrunner to secure the ultimate prize. Again, Rockstar's greatest challenge might be its own schedule. Even though another delay at this point is not as probable, it's certainly still possible, and with its announced Nov. 19 release date only narrowly fitting into The Game Awards' standard eligibility window, it would only take a delay of 48 hours or more to send GTA 6 into the running for the 2027 awards.

Yet again, GTA 6 seems extremely tough to beat, but not 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 the majority of awards ceremonies and GOTY votes — if not the Game Awards' earlier incarnation, VGX — by The Last of Us. If anything, GTA 6's juggernaut status is a paradoxical kind of weakness, as critics and awards panels will be actively searching for an compelling alternative storyline to latch onto in order to keep things interesting.

So what other titles could stand a chance? Attempting to predict nominees this early in the year is, frankly, a rather a speculative endeavor: the terrain of indie and smaller releases is mostly murky, while AAA games often get delayed or don't pan out, and some publishers (like Nintendo) have not yet unveil their games for the second half of the year. Still, there are at present a small group of 2026 releases that look like they will be serious contenders. Below are five that stand a good chance of being selected alongside GTA 6.

1. Control: Resonant

Remedy Entertainment's mind-bending second installment is easily the most potent challenger to GTA 6's dominance. In fact, Remedy could be the ideal Game Awards studio: It crafts expertly engineered, visually striking, complexly plotted action-adventure games while functioning just sufficiently outside the industry establishment to still be perceived as an underdog. The original Control earned eight nominations and one win in 2019, while Alan Wake 2 ran Baldur's Gate 3 a very near second in 2023, converting three of its eight selections into wins in the prestigious Game Direction, Narrative, and Art Direction categories. After a spectacular trailer reveal at the 2025 Awards, Control Resonant is not to be dismissed.

2. Resident Evil: Requiem

A fresh (or, for that matter) reimagined Resident Evil game is more likely to be nominated for Game of the Year than not. This iconic series has an sterling recent record at The Game Awards — Resident Evil 2 was nominated for the top honor in 2019, Village in 2021, and 4 in 2023 — coupled with a well-earned reputation for dependable quality. It must be said, a win would be a considerably more improbable proposition, but you can count on Capcom being in the mix.

3. Marvel’s Wolverine

The Wolverine game from Insomniac is one of the largest commercial prospects of the year, and in terms of scale and polish, almost certainly one of the few that will be able to give GTA 6 a run for its money. Like Resident Evil, Insomniac's slick Marvel games franchise is excellent at picking up lots of nominations at The Game Awards, and less good at transforming them into wins. Will the move from Spider-Man to an more mature character and (far) more brutal action alter the dynamic in Wolverine's favor? Perhaps, and it will be Sony's primary contender for the year, which virtually ensures it a spot at the main event.

4. Fire Emblem - Fortune's Weave

Nintendo is rarely absent from the list of Game of the Year nominees. Without a clear idea of what its holiday 2026 game will be (a new mainline Pokémon and a 3D Mario game are both options), Fortune’s Weave makes a strong placeholder. Fire Emblem is a niche series, it's true, but it has been building steadily in both popularity and critical reputation over the past few years, while its detailed anime storytelling style and strategic combat get more popular and closer to the gaming center by the day. It would not be a surprise.

5. Dawnwalker's Blood

The expanding European voting bloc on the jury is increasingly making its weight felt, notably when it comes to nominating big, ambitious Euro role-playing games like Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2. Rebel Wolves' debut is an ideal game to capture those votes and fill this slot, notably given the Witcher 3 pedigree of its developers — and its striking similarity to that 2015 GOTY winner.

Concerning the Indies?

The glaring omission in our list is that it doesn't feature an indie contender. While The Game Awards jury generally only nominates one indie game for Game of the Year — 2025's three of indie picks seems like a fluke — it also seldom fails to nominate one. It's nearly impossible to foresee what that game might be at this point, as the most successful indie games of each year often come out of the blue, but a few likely candidates would be:

• Mixtape: a music-driven, nostalgic road trip of a game backed by the curators at Annapurna Interactive.
• Replaced: a highly anticipated cyberpunk adventure with a exquisitely detailed pixel-art aesthetic.
• Ontos: Frictional Games' enigmatic follow-up to the Amnesia series (assuming it's not excessively frightening).
• 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 follow-up, an whimsical retro Zelda tribute (provided that the studio can manage to finish it).

Other Challengers

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