Rockstar is among the most widely celebrated developers in the entire industry, and it is easy to see why. Virtually every one of their games has been among the best of that year, and with the release of Grand Theft Auto 6, they are looking to continue that streak. However, as great as their games are, they have never been guaranteed games of the year, and it seems as though the road to the top will be anything but easy.
For one, 2026 has been an insanely stacked year with countless high scorers that could all be frontrunners this awards season. But beyond that, games like Grand Theft Auto 6 have fallen short of gold to other releases that nail the story, gameplay, or the whole package just a bit more than Rockstar could. That doesn’t mean GTA6 can’t win GOTY; it’s just that anyone calling it a done deal now may end up kicking themselves when that final award gets revealed.
Grand Theft Auto 6 Isn’t Automatically Game Of The Year
Out of all the award shows, events, and publications, it is safe to say that The Game Awards has become the more prestigious. There are obviously other events like the Golden Joysticks and web-based awards, but when it comes to the definitive Game of the Year, most people look to that single night in December. For Grand Theft Auto 6, because the game is launching before the event, it will be eligible for all the awards, but the number it wins may be much lower than expected.
Guess the games from the emojis.
If we look back at the most recent mainline Rockstar game, Red Dead Redemption 2, which released back in 2018 and is widely considered to be among the best games ever made, while it did win its fair share of categories, it still didn’t take GOTY at the Game Awards. It won categories like best score, audio design, and narrative, but lost out in game direction, action/adventure game, and the big one at the end to God of War.
Games like Grand Theft Auto 6 have fallen short of gold to other releases that nail the story, gameplay, or the whole package just a bit more than Rockstar could.
Looking further back to 2013, as well as Grand Theft Auto 5 did during the awards season, it will still be beaten by The Last of Us, which won nearly 100 more awards across all publications and events. Again, that doesn’t mean that GTA5 was a bad game, and for many it was actually the best of that generation; it just shows that Rockstar isn’t this unstoppable force that doesn’t lose and that smaller-scope narrative games, or even indie releases, can swoop in and steal the awards that, on paper, should have been done-deals.
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Image via Rockstar Games -
Rockstar Games -
Image via Rockstar Games
The reason this is important is because of how long we have been waiting for GTA6 and how high the expectations are. Despite seeing little more than 30 minutes or so of gameplay, we still have no idea how the game will play and whether the wait was worth it, though Rockstar is yet to let people down, so I imagine the hype will match the actual end product. However, given how many other unbelievable games there have been this year, if I were to place my bets now, I would say the chances of GTA6 winning GOTY or even half of its nominated categories are much slimmer than people may think.
The Game Awards Is The Most Stacked It’s Ever Been
Looking back at the last decade or so of the Game Awards, it has been pretty easy to predict which game would win, with a few exceptions. Maybe Red Dead Redemption 2 deserved it more than God of War, and a lot of people would have put Black Myth: Wukong over Astro Bot, but in most cases, there are normally only a few games that are really far ahead of the pack. In 2026 though, the number of genuine contenders is actually quite frightening, and that is without even considering GTA6 and where it might land on the spectrum.
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Image via Rockstar Games -
Image via Rockstar Games -
Image by Rockstar Games
Early in the year, we had Resident Evil Requiem, Pragmata, and Mewgenics, then Pokopia and Saros entered the mix, and in the past few months alone, you could easily build a stacked Game of the Year list. Obviously, in the end, there will be only one actual winner, and whether it will be deserving or not doesn’t really matter. The key takeaway is that when the final envelope gets opened, and the name gets read, if history is to repeat itself, I don’t think it will be Grand Theft Auto 6.
My expectations for the game are still very high, and I do believe that the last decade of development and polishing will result in one of the most amazing video game experiences of all time, without even factoring in the multiplayer component which will be added on later. Yet I can’t help but feel that the GTA formula just isn’t the one that defines the Game of the Year. To me, the best game of the year represents the peak of its genre and a willingness to go further than anyone else, and while GTA6 will certainly do that, I don’t foresee anyone walking away feeling changed as a person or feeling the unmatched delight that comes from playing something truly special.
Grand Theft Auto 6
- Released
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November 19, 2026
- ESRB
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Rating Pending – Likely Mature 17+
- Engine
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Rockstar Advanced Game Engine (RAGE)
