The Golden Joystick Awards 2026 have drawn to an end, but one of this year's biggest games was entirely absent: GTA 6.

If you were watching the ceremony wondering where Rockstar might have been, the short answer is that GTA 6 was not eligible for entry at this year's show. To be nominated in one of the main categories, a title had to release between November 1, 2025 and September 25, 2026. For the main prize of Ultimate Game of the Year, that window was extended to October 25, and for jury-voted prizes, games are eligible up until the show itself, November 11.

That means that games like Dispatch, which launched late last year, or Phantom Blade Zero, which only just released, were eligible to be included in the 2026 show. But GTA 6, which is set to release next week, arrives eight days after the eligibility window closed. It was technically eligible for the title of Most Wanted game, but given that Rockstar won that particular award in 2024 and 2025, and that the wait is so nearly over, GTA 6 wasn't nominated in that category.

Adding to the potential confusion is the fact that GTA 6 is eligible for The Game Awards. Those take place on December 10, several weeks after launch, and the fact that they're jury-voted rather than public-voted means that any jurors with review access might have had copies of the game for some time before that show. The rest of the major awards shows - namely the DICE, GDC, and BAFTA ceremonies - take place at the start of 2027, so GTA 6 will likely be a major contender there.

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