GTA 6 May Be Ineligible For 2026's Game Of The Year

Grand Theft Auto 6 Isn't Actually Locked In As 2026's Game Of The Year Rockstar Published Sep 30, 2026, 10:42 AM EDT Joshua Robertson is an editor for TheGamer, having working in news, guides, features, and reviews since 2022. They have written thousands of news stories, ranging from industry-breaking events, to smaller, more personal community pieces, and have covered several high-profile showcases such as The Game Awards and Nintendo Directs. Joshua is considered an expert in soulslikes, horror, JRPGs and everything Final Fantasy, having written extensive coverage for massively popular online titles like Final Fantasy 14. Sign in to your TheGamer account Grand Theft Auto 6 will be an amazing video game, of that there's no real doubt. Rockstar routinely smashes it out of the park to deliver true feats of creative and engineering genius, and its games are often discussed as being some of the best ever made. Many expect it to sweep awards shows this year, but there is now some doubt over whether it'll actually be eligible for this year's top prize. That's because of the game's release date. We know that November 19 is locked in at this point, but it's worth remembering that titles that actually release around late November sometimes miss the cutoff point for voting at The Game Awards, specifically in the GOTY category. Dispatch was one such victim of this, as was Cyberpunk 2077. GTA 6 May Be Ineligible For GOTY At The Game Awards According to former IGN journalist and God of War writer Alanah Pearce, the cutoff point for the jury voting on which games should be put up for GOTY at The Game Awards was November 12 last year. The nominees were then announced on November 24, just under two weeks after voting for the jury had closed. If we take that same structure and apply it to this year, GTA 6 would be nowhere near eligible for the big GOTY award category. You can't even delay the voting this year either. The Game Awards is set to take place on December 10 this year, which is three weeks after the release of GTA 6. For the game's eligibility to make sense, those voting on it would have to play it for a considerable amount of time, given it's a long game. By then, you're looking at the jury vote closing around November 26, which means the nominees would be announced a week before the show. That would be pretty much unfeasible for the show's production teams, which probably have to work hard to make sure the category runs smoothly even with a few weeks' notice. As Alanah Pearce points out, if GTA 6 does make it into the GOTY category at The Game Awards it will be "indicative of a jury who voted for a game they didn't play." At that point, The Game Awards may as well just hand in its reputation and declare itself an awards show run solely off the back of hype alone. It's a strong possibility that GTA 6 misses out on the grand prize this year, and honestly, if Geoff Keighley wants The Game Awards to hold any kind of credibility going forward, it probably should. Systems Released November 19, 2026 ESRB Rating Pending - Likely Mature 17+ Developer(s) Rockstar Games Publisher(s) Rockstar Games Engine Rockstar Advanced Game Engine (RAGE) Genre(s) Action, Adventure