GTA 6, for all intents and purposes, is shaping up to be the most impressive game the industry has ever seen.
Rockstar Games’ practically unlimited budget and resources have allowed the team to push open-world simulation, gameplay, and narrative to their limits, warranting at least a fair shot at the biggest awards in the industry.
Indeed, many expected GTA 6 to win all sorts of accolades and awards in 2026 and throughout 2027. However, GTA 6 seems to have already lost the race for Game of the Year in 2026, at least at The Game Awards.
GTA 6 Might Not Qualify For The Game Awards
The Game Awards 2026 go live on December 10, and while GTA 6 will arrive on November 19, the short gap between the two dates means that the game’s situation will be quite complicated.
As pointed out by the popular games industry personality Alanah Pearce on YouTube, last year, The Game Awards’ jury was allowed to vote for Game of the Year nominations until November 11, and these nominations were then made official on November 24, just over two weeks before the show on December 11.
In GTA 6’s case, the game arrives on November 19, so the jury would not be able to vote on it since votes are typically locked a few weeks before the event goes live. Even if The Game Awards management attempted to make an exception for Rockstar Games, a delay would push the jury’s vote to at least the end of November, thereby leading to a delayed official announcement for the nominations.
However, because The Game Awards are already confirmed to go live on December 10 this year, it’s easy to see why this would be a bad idea for an event as large as The Game Awards. Alanah Pearce also points out that even if the jury were to nominate GTA 6 for Game of the Year a week after launch, it would be indicative of bias since a few days wouldn't be nearly enough to experience even half of what the game is set to offer.
All in all, it seems GTA 6 will not be able to enter the race for Game of the Year at this year’s Game Awards due to its release window.
GTA 6 Won’t Be Able To Sweep The Big 5 GOTY Awards
The Game Awards aside, GTA 6 is also out of the race for another big Game of the Year title already: the Golden Joystick Awards.
This is because only games released between 8th November 2025 and 25th October 2026 will be considered for the Ultimate Game of the Year nominations at the Golden Joystick Awards this year.
GTA 6, launching a full month outside of this window, means that it will not be able to make the cut. As such, the game will be unable to compete for Game of the Year across two of the big five award shows.
The remaining three, including the GDC Awards, the DICE Awards, and the BAFTAs, will take place a few months into 2027, giving GTA 6 a fair shot at the big prize. If GTA 6 lives up to expectations, the game should be able to secure wins across most of the categories at these shows.
As for The Game Awards and the Golden Joystick Awards, however, Rockstar Games is out of luck. Of course, the team likely won’t think much of this simply because of how big GTA 6 will be as a commercial release in 2026.
The game should easily break all industry records and establish itself as the biggest release the industry has ever seen. Before this happens, be sure to visit the GTA 6 section on GTABase to learn more about the game.
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