Every November the same searches spike: GOTY 2026 predictions, Game of the Year 2026 contenders, The Game Awards 2026 odds. So let's be clear up front. As of November 10, 2026, The Game Awards has not announced its 2026 nominees.
The official site only says they are coming in mid November, which means every contender and winner on this page is a prediction. We based it on three things and we show all of them. First, eligibility: per the official FAQ, a game must be commercially available by 9 p.m.
PT on Friday, November 20, 2026 to compete in most categories. Second, aggregate review scores: we compared Metacritic (MC) and OpenCritic (OC) as of November 10, knowing both can drift a point or two as more reviews land. Third, history: what the last six Game of the Year winners had in common.
If you want the show date, start times and fan voting deadline, those live in our Game Awards 2026 date and nominees guide. This page sticks to who gets nominated and who wins, and we will revise it against the official list once it is out.
How we picked: eligibility, review scores and past winners
Winners are decided by a jury of more than 100 global media outlets and creators, weighted at 90 percent, plus a public fan vote at 10 percent. With the jury carrying that much weight, critic consensus is the best single signal.
Look at recent winners: The Last of Us Part II in 2020, It Takes Two in 2021, Elden Ring in 2022, Baldur's Gate 3 in 2023, Astro Bot in 2024 and Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 in 2025. Every one except It Takes Two scored 90 or higher on Metacritic, and five of the six were mainly single player games.
Last year Clair Obscur arrived with a record number of nominations and took nine awards, including Game of the Year, the most any game has won in one night. This year has no runaway like that.
Leave out remasters and ports and the top of Metacritic is bunched between 89 and 91, and the standout above that group, Ocarina of Time, is a remake of a 1998 classic.
The FAQ says remakes and remasters can compete in every category if the jury judges the new work worthy, and Resident Evil 4 did land a Game of the Year nomination in 2023, but no remake has won the top prize.
Stack those three filters and Resident Evil Requiem fits best: a February 27 launch, 89 on both aggregators, and a big budget single player release from a studio with awards history.
Big Walk (MC 91) and Forza Horizon 6 (MC 90) score higher, but a co-op game has won the top award only once, with It Takes Two, and a racer never has, so we see them collecting category wins instead. For a wider look at the year on PC, see our best PC games of 2026.
GOTY 2026 contenders (our predictions as of November 10, 2026)
| Game | Release · genre · review scores | Why it is on the list |
|---|---|---|
| Resident Evil Requiem | Feb 27 · survival horror · MC 89 / OC 89 | Our winner pick. Big single player release, strong for Best Game Direction |
| Forza Horizon 6 | May 19 · open world racing · MC 90 / OC 91 | Likely nominee. The clear favorite for Best Sports/Racing |
| Big Walk | Aug 4 · co-op adventure · MC 91 / OC 89 | Near the top of Metacritic among new games, favorite for Multiplayer |
| Mina the Hollower | May 29 · action adventure · MC 90 / OC 91 | The leading indie, strong for Art Direction |
| The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time | Nov 5 · action adventure (Switch 2 remake) · MC 96 / OC 95 | Top score of the year. As a remake, a jury call |
| GTA 6 | Nov 19 (scheduled) · open world action · no reviews yet | Launches a day before the cutoff. Strong reviews would change the race |
| Pokémon Pokopia | Mar 5 · life sim · MC 89 / OC 89 | On the bubble. Favorite for Best Family |
| Trails in the Sky 2nd Chapter | Sep 17 · RPG (remake) · MC 90 / OC 92 | On the bubble. Strong for Best RPG |
Category predictions (before the official nominees)
- Game of the Year and Best Game Direction: Resident Evil Requiem. The threats are GTA 6 (depends on reviews) and Ocarina of Time (depends on how the jury treats a remake).
- Best Narrative: 007 First Light (May 27, MC 87). IO Interactive's origin story for a young James Bond is among the best reviewed story led games of the year.
- Best Art Direction and Best Independent Game: Mina the Hollower, whose handheld era pixel art drew wide praise and whose score sits at the top of this year's indies.
- Best Action: SAROS (April 30, MC 87) from Housemarque, which won this category in 2021 with Returnal. Phantom Blade Zero is the main rival.
- Best RPG: Trails in the Sky 2nd Chapter, the highest rated RPG on OpenCritic at 92, with Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave (MC 89) close behind.
- Best Sports/Racing: Forza Horizon 6 (Forza Horizon 5 won it in 2021). Best Multiplayer: Big Walk. Best Family: Pokémon Pokopia. We left out the esports categories, which a specialist jury picks without review aggregates.
What to do before and after the nominees are announced
- 1Watch for the nominee revealThe 2026 nominees section on the official site still read 'coming mid November' on November 10. Last year's list landed on November 17. When it drops, put it next to the table above and see which calls held up. We will update this page against the official list.
- 2Treat scores as a snapshotMetacritic and OpenCritic averages move as reviews come in. Ocarina of Time (out November 5) and Phantom Blade Zero (out October 29, MC 88) are still collecting reviews, so a one or two point gap should not be read as a ranking.
- 3Check which contenders you can play on PCSteam US list prices as of November 10, 2026: Resident Evil Requiem $69.99, Forza Horizon 6 $69.99, 007 First Light $69.99, Phantom Blade Zero $59.99, Trails in the Sky 2nd Chapter $59.99, Big Walk $19.99 and Mina the Hollower $19.99. Sales change these, so confirm on the store before you buy. Ocarina of Time and Pokémon Pokopia are Switch 2 exclusives, and GTA 6 launches on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S first. Planning to play Phantom Blade Zero on PC? Start with the Phantom Blade Zero system requirements.
- 4Get set to record your first runIf you are trying a contender for the first time before the show, it is a good moment to capture that first session. Our guide on how to record Steam games covers the options.
- 5Share the moments worth showingWhen a run gives you something worth showing off, like a sunset drive through Forza Horizon 6's Japan, trim it short and send it. Length and sharing tips are in how to share Forza Horizon 6 gameplay.
Capture your own contender moments
Trailers at the show tend to send people straight to their library. DOR is a free Windows game recorder. When you launch a supported game, it detects it automatically and records the whole session from launch to exit, and every recording lands in My Clips inside the app.
For games outside the supported list, or when you only want one moment, use screen recording (F7 by default) to start and stop. Game audio and your mic are captured on one track, so your reaction to that first boss kill stays with the footage.
Trim the best parts in the app at 16:9, 9:16 or 1:1, then open DOR Studio (dor.gg/studio) to join several clips, add text, BGM and effect templates like shake zoom, and export an mp4 or share a dor.gg link. Our game highlight editing workflow shows how to pick scenes, and how to merge game clips shows how to stitch them into one video.
On supported NVIDIA graphics cards such as the RTX series, DOR records with NVENC hardware encoding. The free plan covers up to 1080p at 60fps, and 1440p, 4K, 120fps and 144fps come with DOR Pro.
