It's already September, and the TGA "Game of the Year" nomination list looks frighteningly empty. The only candidate is Resident Evil: Requiem, which has topped the charts since the beginning of the year, but not because it's exceptionally excellent, but because other titles have been truly lackluster. This is the conclusion reached by a Polygon journalist when summarizing the mid-year state of the gaming industry.
Since January, the biggest hit of the year has been GTA 6, and this hasn't changed. The problem is that Rockstar continues to keep things under wraps, preventing even journalists from well-known media outlets from trying out the game, so its "coronation" has been postponed to the last moment, or left entirely up in the air. However, the strangeness of 2026 lies not in GTA, but in the complete lack of worthy competitors. The site's reporters pointed out that almost all potential hits of the year have either run into a genre curse or faced indifference or even hostility from critics.
Blood of Dawnwalkers
Last week, the industry's greatest hope was the open-world RPG Blood of Dawnwalkers, a vampire-themed RPG created by former CDPR members who made The Witcher 3. Polygon considered this game worth watching, but mainstream media was not enthusiastic about it, giving it only an 83 on Metacritic, a score that might not even be enough for a nomination. Following closely behind were Onimusha: Way of the Sword and the indie co-op game Orbital Twins (which has vibes similar to Game of the Year winner It Takes Two). Although both games received decent reviews, they each had their shortcomings and lacked breakthroughs.
Orbital Twins
In 2026, very few titles managed to reach the Metacritic 90-point threshold, and even these had weaknesses in the eyes of TGA judges. Big Walk, an indie game with multiplayer elements, is a type of project that has historically been unpopular; Forza Horizon 6, an excellent racing game, but its predecessor failed to secure a nomination even in a weak year; Miner Mina, too niche; Red Desert, despite its abundant content, lacked polish, with many critics tearing it apart.
Even Pokémon: Pokopia and 007 First Light couldn't escape their fate: the former was hindered by its genre (life sims and Pokémon-like games are unpopular), while the latter stumbled due to its status as a licensed title. In the end, critics concluded that only Resident Evil: Requiem remained—a solid but unremarkable project that looked like a nominee simply because there was truly no one else to choose.
Now, the pressure shifts to September through November, the months when major titles usually launch, yet this period remains shrouded in uncertainty. In the coming weeks, we will see Marvel's Wolverine, Gears of War: E-Day, Fire Emblem: Threads of Fate, Phantom Blade Zero, and Control: Resonance. However, in the author's view, none of these projects currently look like future blockbusters capable of achieving a 90+ score. The only game guaranteed to receive widespread acclaim is the remake of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. But whether it will release before the TGA awards ceremony remains unknown, and its status as a remake automatically lowers its chances in the eyes of the judges.
The author reached a disheartening conclusion: the entire industry, gaming media, and player community seem frozen in anticipation of GTA 6's release. This feeling has paralyzed the whole year. Of course, Rockstar can be defeated. In 2013 and 2018, two games respectively beat it head-on: one was called The Last of Us, the other God of War. Therefore, the author expressed a strong hope to see at least one game dare to take a step forward and try. However, so far, such a game does not exist, Polygon summarized, and the November awards ceremony is likely to be one of the least suspenseful in recent years.