Grand Theft Auto 6 was the presumptive Recreation of the 12 months for 2025… till it bought delayed to Could 2026. Since then, it’s been the presumptive 2026 Recreation of the 12 months as a substitute. Following its newest delay, it’s nonetheless the sport to beat at subsequent yr’s Recreation Awards — in principle. However in follow, its new launch date makes issues reasonably sophisticated.
GTA 6 is now set to be launched on Nov. 19, 2026: a Thursday. The Recreation Awards, which takes place in early December yearly, has a cutoff date for eligibility in late November. Sometimes, this date is ready because the Friday of the third week in November, making certain that the jury may have had a chance to play eligible video games by the point the nomination and voting course of takes place. Final yr, as an example, the cutoff date for eligibility was Friday, Nov. 22.
You may see the place I’m going with this. The doubtless cutoff date for eligibility in 2026, if The Recreation Awards follows its normal sample, shall be Friday, Nov. 20. Someday after GTA 6 is launched.
So, Grand Theft Auto 6 shall be eligible for the 2026 awards, however it’s chopping issues very high-quality. And this might create a serious headache for the present’s organizers and its voting jury.
Nominations for the Recreation Awards are introduced in mid-November — this yr, the nominees shall be revealed on Monday, Nov. 17. It follows that the nomination course of takes place within the early a part of the month, and voting on the winners occurs after the nominations are introduced, across the similar time because the eligibility cutoff date.
All that is designed to make sure all the pieces is prepared for the awards present in early December. It’s additionally scheduled on the presumption that jury members may have entry to early evaluate copies of video games launched throughout these first three weeks of November by the point they submit their nominations ballots early within the month.
That is normally the case. Sometimes, by mid-November, the annual recreation launch calendar is winding down; most main titles that you’d anticipate to compete for Recreation of the 12 months are out by the primary week of November. Barring December outliers like Indiana Jones and the Nice Circle in 2024 and Metroid Prime 4: Past this yr, the final large launch of the yr is normally Name of Obligation, in early-to-mid November — a recognized amount that’s hardly ever in severe competitors exterior the multiplayer and motion classes.
Grand Theft Auto 6 is one thing else solely. It is going to be categorically the largest launch of the yr, definitely in stature, and presumably in precise recreation measurement too. And with a late November launch date and Rockstar’s improvement course of typically taking place to the wire, it’s not a given in any respect that early copies shall be accessible by the point the jury members are casting their nomination ballots early within the month. If jury members haven’t performed the sport exterior the managed setting of preview occasions — which Rockstar hardly ever holds, anyway — they are going to be rightly reluctant to incorporate it of their ballots.
This presents The Recreation Awards organizers with a conundrum. For the largest recreation of the yr (or certainly decade) to not compete for Recreation of the 12 months or be represented on the awards in any respect, regardless of being eligible, would look absurd. But it surely’s an actual risk. The organizers shall be hoping in opposition to hope that Rockstar will get evaluate copies out in good time. For its half, Rockstar might be too large to care about Recreation of the 12 months — sufficient to regulate its timelines round it, anyway.
The choice for The Recreation Awards could be to shift its personal ordinary timeline again by every week or two to ensure the jury has time to contemplate GTA 6 correctly. If the Recreation Awards 2026 is introduced for a later-than-usual date in December (this yr’s awards happen on Dec. 11), we’ll know why.
Or maybe the Recreation Awards will get fortunate, and GTA 6 shall be delayed into 2027… you by no means know.
