gta 6 misses golden joystick eligibility this year, no goty sweep for 2026

Saw a GamesRadar piece earlier saying GTA 6 won't be eligible for this year's Golden Joystick Awards. That means no chance at the big GOTY sweep that Baldur's Gate 3 and Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 pulled off with five wins each. The game comes out November 19, so it's way past whatever cutoff they use for the 2026 season.

I'm not surprised. Rockstar always drops these games late in the year, and awards shows have weird eligibility windows. RDR2 came out late October 2018 and still got nominated for The Game Awards that year, but it lost GOTY to God of War. GTA 6 is even later, so it'll probably miss most 2026 shows entirely.

That's actually fine with me. I'd rather have GTA 6 be the undisputed GOTY of 2027 than a contender in a crowded 2026 field. It'll get a full year of awards all to itself. The game will dominate next year's cycle, no question. Rockstar doesn't need to rush into a partial awards season.

People making a big deal out of this are missing the point. The game isn't out yet. Once it drops, it'll clean up everywhere. I'm not worried about a Golden Joystick snub when the thing hasn't even shipped.

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Source: GamesRadar+ · Curated content.