gta 6 is out of the golden joysticks goty race this year

Golden Joysticks put out their nominee list today and GTA 6 is missing from Console Game of the Year. Some people are already acting like Rockstar got robbed, but it's way simpler than that.

The ceremony is eight days before the game launches. November 19 is the release date, so the show happens while reviewers are still buried in Leonida. No way anyone could have finished it in time to vote, let alone nominate it properly.

The cutoff for submissions was August 28. GTA 6 wasn't out, obviously, and Rockstar wasn't about to send out review copies that early just to chase a Golden Joystick. So it was never on the table.

I keep seeing people say this means the game won't sweep 2026 awards season, which is true for this one show. Other outlets have their own deadlines, so it might still show up somewhere after launch. Golden Joysticks just got unlucky with the calendar.

Still, it's a little wild to think the biggest release of the year won't even be eligible for one of the major GOTY trophies. Next year it'll probably clean up everywhere, but 2026 is going to have a GTA 6 shaped hole in at least one list.

Which award show do you think will be the first to actually hand GTA 6 a Game of the Year nod?

Source: Push Square · Curated content.

Timing makes sense. Nobody's hitting 100% completion in eight days anyway, so the voters wouldn't have seen half of Leonida.