Grand Theft Auto VI is destined to be a masterpiece that stuns the industry, a point few would dispute. Rockstar Games consistently delivers benchmark titles that blend creativity with technical prowess, with their works often regarded among the greatest games of all time. Many expect it to sweep major award ceremonies this year, but whether it qualifies to compete for this year's highest honor, Game of the Year, remains uncertain.
The issue lies in the game's release date. While it has been confirmed for a November 19 launch, it is worth noting that games released in late November often miss The Game Awards (TGA) voting cutoff, especially for the Game of the Year category. Dispatch previously missed eligibility due to this timing, and Cyberpunk 2077 suffered the same fate.
Alanna Pearce, former IGN journalist and writer for the God of War series, noted that last year's TGA Game of the Year jury nomination voting deadline was November 12, with nominations announced on November 24—less than two weeks after voting closed. If this schedule applies this year, GTA VI would not be eligible to compete for the Game of the Year award.
Moreover, this year's voting cannot be postponed. The current TGA ceremony is scheduled for December 10, only three weeks after the release of GTA VI. Given the massive scale of GTA VI, jurors must invest considerable time completing and experiencing the game to make fair voting judgments.
Following this logic, the jury voting deadline would fall around November 26, with nominations announced just one week before the ceremony. This is nearly unrealistic for the awards production team, as even finalizing nominations weeks in advance requires significant effort to ensure the award segment runs smoothly.
As Alanna Pearce stated, if GTA VI were truly nominated for TGA Game of the Year, it would only mean that "the jury voted for a game they never actually played." At that point, TGA might as well tarnish its own reputation and admit it is an awards show driven purely by hype. It is highly likely that GTA VI will miss out on this year's top prize, and frankly, if Geoff Keighley wants TGA to maintain its credibility, this is how it should be handled.