GTA 6 can win Game of the Year at The Game Awards 2026, with a day to spare
The Game Awards' 2026 cutoff is 9 p.m. PT on Nov. 20, a day after GTA 6 comes out. Nominees arrive in mid-November and the show is Dec. 10. How the jury votes.
Grand Theft Auto VI will be eligible for The Game Awards 2026, with a day to spare. The show's rules say a game must be on sale to customers by 9 p.m. PT on Friday, Nov. 20, 2026, and GTA 6 comes out the day before, on Thursday, Nov. 19.
By the US stores' clock, the margin is wider. PlayStation Store and Microsoft Store listings unlock the game at midnight Eastern on Nov. 19, which is 9 p.m. PT on Nov. 18, exactly 48 hours before the cutoff. Rockstar hasn't announced a launch hour; our release time guide has the store times country by country.
The dates
| When | What happens |
|---|---|
| Mid-November | The Game Awards names its 2026 nominees |
| Nov. 19 | GTA 6 comes out |
| Nov. 20, 9 p.m. PT | Eligibility cutoff for most categories |
| Nov. 30 | Cutoff for the Players' Voice fan award |
| Dec. 9, 6 p.m. PT | Fan voting closes |
| Dec. 10, 7:30 p.m. ET | The Game Awards, live from the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles |
The nominees may come first
The Game Awards' website says the 2026 nominees are coming in mid-November. If they're named before Nov. 19, as that suggests, the jury will have voted before GTA 6 is in stores.
That jury is more than 100 media and influencer outlets. Each one lists its top five games in each category, and the five games on the most ballots become the nominees. To meet those deadlines, the show's rules let publishers give voting outlets advance or pre-release access to a game. Rockstar hasn't said whether it will, or when reviews of GTA 6 will be published.
Winners are a blend: the jury's votes count for 90% and fans' for 10%, and fan voting on the show's website closes Dec. 9. Geoff Keighley, who produces the show, doesn't vote. Being eligible doesn't guarantee a nomination; that's up to the jury.
Rockstar's record
Rockstar's last two new games both won big. Grand Theft Auto V was named Game of the Year at Spike's VGX in December 2013, the year before Keighley started The Game Awards. Red Dead Redemption 2 led The Game Awards 2018 with eight nominations, tied with God of War, and won four: Best Narrative, Best Score/Music, Best Audio Design and Best Performance, for Roger Clark as Arthur Morgan. God of War took Game of the Year.
GTA 6 launches Nov. 19 on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S. Every other date around launch, from the Nov. 12 pre-load to the Dec. 10 show, is in our launch calendar, and our countdown runs to the start of Nov. 19 where you are.
Questions readers ask
- Is GTA 6 eligible for The Game Awards 2026?
- Yes. The Game Awards' cutoff is 9 p.m. PT on Friday, Nov. 20, 2026, and GTA 6 comes out Nov. 19. Eligibility doesn't guarantee a nomination: a jury of more than 100 outlets picks the nominees.
- When are The Game Awards 2026?
- Thursday, Dec. 10, 2026, live from the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles, starting at 7:30 p.m. ET (4:30 p.m. PT). The show streams free.
- When are The Game Awards 2026 nominees announced?
- In mid-November, according to The Game Awards' website. It hasn't given an exact date.
- How are The Game Awards winners chosen?
- A jury of more than 100 media and influencer outlets picks the nominees. Winners are decided 90% by that jury and 10% by fans voting on thegameawards.com, which closes Dec. 9 at 6 p.m. PT.
- Has a GTA game won Game of the Year?
- Grand Theft Auto V won Game of the Year at Spike's VGX in 2013, the year before The Game Awards began. Rockstar's Red Dead Redemption 2 won four awards at The Game Awards 2018 but lost Game of the Year to God of War.
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