The Five Games That Could Challenge <em>GTA 6</em> for the 2026's Game of the Year Title.

The previous year, we pondered if anything could possibly outshine Grand Theft Auto 6 for the 2025's Game of the Year award — "barring Rockstar's capacity to complete it on time." In the end, it was that very factor that excluded Rockstar's much-hyped game from the running, with pushbacks to May and, afterwards, November 2026 clearing the path for Clair Obscur: Expedition 33's historic sweep at The 2025 Game Awards.

As a result, gazing forward to GOTY 2026, we are left with a powerful sense of déjà vu. For a second time, GTA 6 starts the year as the obvious favorite to secure the highest honor. Again, Rockstar's primary adversary might be its own schedule. Even though another setback at this juncture is less likely, it's certainly still possible, and with its present Nov. 19 release date only narrowly fitting into The Game Awards' standard eligibility window, it would need merely a slip of a couple of days or more to relegate GTA 6 into competition for the 2027 awards.

Yet again, GTA 6 looks incredibly tough to defeat, but not entirely unbeatable. Rockstar's own Red Dead Redemption 2 was surpassed for GOTY by Sony Santa Monica's God of War in 2018, while GTA 5 was overshadowed in most awards ceremonies and GOTY votes — although not the Game Awards' predecessor, VGX — by The Last of Us. If anything, GTA 6's behemoth status is a seemingly contradictory kind of vulnerability, as critics and awards panels will be actively seeking out an appealing alternative narrative to latch onto in order to prevent a foregone conclusion.

So what different releases could pose a challenge? Forecasting nominees this so soon in the year is, to be honest, a rather a risky business: the terrain of indie and smaller releases is mostly unclear, while larger games often get delayed or don't pan out, and certain publishers (such as Nintendo) have still not announce their titles for the latter part of the year. However, there are at present a select few of 2026 releases that appear to be they will be strong contenders. Here are five that have a strong chance of being shortlisted alongside GTA 6.

1. Control: Resonant

Remedy Entertainment's psychologically thrilling second installment is easily the strongest challenger to GTA 6's supremacy. Truly, Remedy could be the quintessential Game Awards studio: It creates technically accomplished, visually striking, narratively sophisticated action-adventure games while functioning just far enough outside the industry center to still be perceived as an outsider. The original Control earned eight nominations and one win in 2019, while Alan Wake 2 pushed Baldur's Gate 3 a very near second in 2023, converting three of its eight nods into wins in the highly sought-after 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 fresh (or even a) remade Resident Evil game is more likely to be nominated for Game of the Year than to be absent. This venerable series has an outstanding 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 standing for dependable quality. Granted, a win would be a considerably more unlikely proposition, but you can bet on Capcom being in contention.

3. Marvel's Wolverine

The Wolverine game from Insomniac is one of the biggest commercial prospects of the year, and in terms of scale and production values, likely one of the handful that will be able to give GTA 6 a run for its money. Similar to Resident Evil, Insomniac's high-octane Marvel games franchise is great at garnering lots of nominations at The Game Awards, and not as successful at transforming them into wins. Will the shift from Spider-Man to an darker character and (far) more brutal action shift the odds in Wolverine's favor? Perhaps, and it will be Sony's flagship contender for the year, which pretty much guarantees it a seat at the table.

4. Fire Emblem - Fortune's Weave

Nintendo is seldom absent from the list of Game of the Year nominees. Without a obvious idea of what its major 2026 game will be (a new mainline Pokémon and a 3D Mario game are both possibilities), Fortune’s Weave makes a viable placeholder. Fire Emblem is a niche series, it's true, but it has been expanding steadily in both fanbase and regard over the past few years, while its involved anime storytelling style and turn-based combat get more popular and closer to the gaming mainstream by the day. It wouldn't be a shock.

5. Blood of the Dawnwalker

The ever-growing European voting contingent on the jury is steadily making its weight felt, especially when it comes to nominating big, ambitious Euro role-playing games like Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2. Rebel Wolves' inaugural title is an perfect game to draw those votes and occupy this slot, particularly given the Witcher 3 pedigree of its developers — and its noticeable parallels to that 2015 GOTY winner.

Concerning the Indies?

The flaw in our list is that it omits an indie contender. While The Game Awards jury usually only nominates one indie game for Game of the Year — 2025's group of indie picks appears to be a anomaly — it also seldom fails to nominate one. It's virtually impossible to predict 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 probable candidates would be:

• Mixtape: a rhythm-based, sentimental road trip of a game supported by the tastemakers at Annapurna Interactive.
• Replaced: a much-anticipated cyberpunk adventure with a exquisitely detailed pixel-art aesthetic.
• Ontos: Frictional Games' enigmatic follow-up to the Amnesia series (if it's not too scary).
• Slay the Spire 2: sequel to the hugely popular roguelike deckbuilder (but it may not make it out of early access in 2026).
• Mina the Hollower: Yacht Club Games' Shovel Knight successor, an charming retro Zelda tribute (if the studio can succeed in finish it).

Further Challengers

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