It’s official:Grand Theft Auto 6has been delayed. ThoughRockstarinitially planned for its eagerly anticipated Bonnie and Clyde-inspired sequel to arrive sometime in late 2025, it has pushed the release date back to May 2026.
This isn’t all that surprising. Rockstar has a long history of delaying its open-world games. When you’re trying to make games that are not just good, not just great, but generation-defining, that famous fake Miyamoto quote about delayed games eventually being good and bad games being forever bad must taunt you like the Green Goblin mask from within Norman Osborne’s closet.
This delay changes the entire dynamic of 2025. Developers, publishers, critics, and players alike had all expected GTA 6 to not just be the biggest game of the year, but also the best — or, at least, the one that would garner the most awards recognition. Now that it’s moved to 2026, is the GOTY race wide open? Or has the rapturous response toClair Obscur: Expedition 33ensured that there’s a shoo-in waiting in the wings? Let’s take a look at the options.
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Could Be GOTY
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is obviously a strong contender. I’ve only spent a half-dozen hours with it so far, but I love what I’ve played and everyone else seems to agree. It currently hasthe highest score in thehistory of Metacritic. OnOpenCritic, 97 percent of critics recommend it, it averages 92 percent with top critics, and has a staggering 100 percent player rating. It’s undeniably a favorite of fans and critics alike.
But how strong are its chances of beating out all the other great games that have already launched this year? GTA’s planned late-2025 launch resulted in a 50-game pileup in the first two quarters of the year. Of that bumper crop,Blue Princeis currentlythe second highest-rated game by critics on Metacritic, but it has a much lower user score, suggesting it may end up being too divisive to garner widespread support.
Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2andMonster Hunter Wildsboth launched to acclaim and explosive sales, but both appeal to slightly more niche audiences than Clair Obscur, thanks to its cinematic graphics and emotional storytelling.
Split Fictionremains a favorite, but is hurt a bit byhow weak its story is in comparison to other 2025 contenders. Add in that many see it, rightly or wrongly, as weaker than the studio’s previous GOTY winnerIt Takes Two, and it seems like it may struggle to get across the finish line.
What’s Still To Come?
Of course, it’s worth remembering that it’s only May. Some of the strongest current contenders — like Clair Obscur and Blue Prince — wouldn’t have been tabbed as favorites until reviews hit, so there’s a very good chance we’ll be surprised again before the year is out. That game you maybe remember seeing in a State of Play or Xbox Showcase a year ago? Could be GOTY, you never know.
Of the games that players are already hyped for, I see some potential spoilers for Clair Obscur.Ghost of Yōtei, which has taken GTA’s spot as the fall’s big open-world game, could be in the conversation if it’s seen as a notable improvement on Tsushima. The first game was well-received, but had detractors who criticized its story, and its sequel will need to shore up that weak area to stand out.
Borderlands 4will likely be a big hit, especially since it won’t have to compete against GTA 6, but it’s hard to see it competing for the top prize. Borderlands 3 only scored two nominations, and zero wins, in 2019, and unless Borderlands 4 is a radical reinvention (and it doesn’t look like it), it will probably follow the same path.
Donkey Kong Bananzaisn’t being talked about as a potential GOTY contender because, well, you’d have to go back at least 20 years, maybe 30, to find a time when a Donkey Kong game was a GOTY contender. That said, Bananza looks like an incredible showcase for what the Switch 2 can do, with massively destructible environments, and islikely being developed by the team that got Super Mario Odyssey a GOTY nomination, so anything is possible.
Calling it now:Mario Kart Worldwill be universally acclaimed and sell well, but won’t be a serious contender in the GOTY conversation. It might get a slot at TGA, but the “it’s more Mario Kart” thinking will kill its chances.
Other potential standouts:Death Stranding 2: On the Beach,Elden Ring Nightreign,Hollow Knight: Silksong,Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater, andWitchbrook.
I see problems that each of these games may struggle to overcome. Death Stranding 2 is a sequel to a divisive game and could split the vote like its predecessor. Elden Ring Nightreign is a multiplayer game which rarely get GOTY nominations, and that’s doubly true since its predecessor already won. Hollow Knight: Silksong could definitely win, but needs to actually exist first. Metal Gear Solid Delta is a remake, and a remake without Kojima, no less. And Witchbrook, as an indie, will need to break out in a big way with fans and critics.
So, while it isn’t settled by any means, it is Clair Obscur’s prize to lose. GTA 6 moving has opened the race up, but just a crack.
