Game of the Year 2026
No Game of the Year award for 2026 is on record here yet. The season opens with the Japan Game Awards (September, at Tokyo Game Show) and closes with the Famitsu Dengeki Game Awards (Spring); The Game Awards, the one most people mean, is held early-to-mid December. Every award will be counted here as it lands, each with its source.
When is Game of the Year 2026 decided?
Not on one night. Hundreds of outlets publish their own pick between September and the spring, and ten ceremonies set the shape of the season. In the order they arrive: Japan Game Awards (September, at Tokyo Game Show), Golden Joystick Awards (November), Titanium Awards (November, at Fun & Serious Game Festival), The Game Awards (Early-to-mid December), The Steam Awards (Voting during the Steam Autumn Sale, winners at the start of January), New York Game Awards (January), D.I.C.E. Awards (February), Game Developers Choice Awards (March, during GDC), BAFTA Games Awards (March or April) and Famitsu Dengeki Game Awards (Spring).
The winner on this site is the game named Game of the Year by the most outlets once the season is counted, so it need not be the ceremony winner: the field and The Game Awards disagreed in 2 of the 12 seasons The Game Awards has judged.
Quick answers
When is Game of the Year 2026 decided?
There is no single date. The 2026 season runs from the Japan Game Awards (September, at Tokyo Game Show) to the Famitsu Dengeki Game Awards (Spring). The Game Awards, the ceremony most people mean, is held early-to-mid December.
Who has won Game of the Year 2026?
No Game of the Year award for 2026 is on record here yet. Each one is added with its source as it is published, and the season goes to the game named by the most outlets.
What won Game of the Year 2025?
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 was the most-awarded game of 2025 with 540 awards; The Game Awards named Clair Obscur: Expedition 33.
The 2026 GOTY calendar
The ten awards that decide how a year is remembered, in the order they arrive — with what each of them picked for 2025.
| Order | Award | When | 2025 winner |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Japan Game Awards | September, at Tokyo Game Show | — |
| 2 | Golden Joystick Awards | November | Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 |
| 3 | Titanium Awards | November, at Fun & Serious Game Festival | — |
| 4 | The Game Awards | Early-to-mid December | Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 |
| 5 | The Steam Awards | Voting during the Steam Autumn Sale, winners at the start of January | — |
| 6 | New York Game Awards | January | — |
| 7 | D.I.C.E. Awards | February | Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 |
| 8 | Game Developers Choice Awards | March, during GDC | Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 |
| 9 | BAFTA Games Awards | March or April | Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 |
| 10 | Famitsu Dengeki Game Awards | Spring | — |
While you wait
The last fully documented year → · All-time records → · Where the big awards disagree →
Updated 2 October 2026 · Source: the Meta Awards database, where every award row cites where it was published.