Pokémon Officially Wins GOTY During Its 30th Anniversary

Published Sep 15, 2026, 12:09 PM EDT Weird Ditto just can't be stopped Image: Game Freak, Koei Tecmo/The Pokémon Company, Nintendo Sign in to your Polygon.com account With so many big games still on the horizon, like Grand Theft Auto 6 and The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, it feels a little early to be awarding 2026 games. However, one Game of the Year award has already been handed out, and it's quite the present for Pokémon's 30-year-anniversary celebrations. The Japan Game Awards were held on Sept. 15, and Pokémon took home the top honors. Pokémon Pokopia won Game of the Year. It also took home an Award for Excellence, and Pokémon as a franchise won the Minister of Economy, Trade, and Industry Award. Pokémon Pokopia winning a GOTY (especially in Japan) shouldn't be too much of a surprise — it's currently number four in Polygon's GOTY front-runners rankings. Games released in Japan from June 1, 2025 to May 31, 2026 were eligible for awards. The first half of 2026 has seen a bounty of well-received games get released, meaning Pokopia had to fend off stiff competition from Resident Evil Requiem and Pragmata, and that's not even mentioning the 2025 releases vying for the award, like Ghost of Yōtei, Death Stranding 2: On the Beach, and Kirby Air Riders. In a way, Pokémon Pokopia either won the last GOTY for 2025 or kicked off the 2026 award race with a GOTY win, depending on how you want to look at it. Pokémon Pokopia is already a major success Pokémon Pokopia has been a roaring success for developers Game Freak and Omega Force. It has sold over 5 million copies since its March release, making it the Nintendo Switch 2's second-best-selling game behind Mario Kart World (which was sold in a bundle with the console at launch). The water-themed first expansion for Pokopia added the Bubbly Basin region and new Pokémon to befriend. Its second expansion will be released sometime this year, and will include new Pokémon and a ton of accessories.