It’s been 365 days since I last sat down and presented my formula to the Gods. 365 since the first innocent cried out for me to rethink what I was about to do. To show the Gods themselves that I could see past the veil of time and space they had woven through eternity was playing with fire. One year since I flew too close to the Sun, but unlike Icarus, I did not spread an arrogant laugh across the cosmos as I fell towards the planet’s surface.  No, my time was instead filled with strategy. Thoughtfulness. I came so close to sitting amongst them. This year, though, I will learn from my mistakes. This year, I will predict the Game Awards with accuracy so precise you will wonder if my bow was stolen from Apollo himself.

Alright, what the hell am I talking about? Assuming you’re new, you’re unaware of so much. For starters, last year I attempted to predict the game of the year category at the Game Awards, and while I was not 100%, I got pretty damn close.

My Predictions:

1. Monster Hunter Wilds
2. Hades II
3. Resident Evil 9
4. Whatever Nintendo is Cooking
5. Ghost of Yotei
6. Death Stranding 2: On The Beach

The Awards:

1. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
2. Death Stranding 2: On the Beach
3. Donkey Kong Bananza
4. Hades II
5. Hollow Knight: Silksong
6. Kingdom Come: Deliverance II

I took a risk with Resident Evil 9, and unfortunately, that’s the one that ended up getting me, but it turns out these predictive abilities I have were a lot stronger than I realized. When I saw RE 9 being nominated, I didn’t realize that I was actually seeing a glimpse of the 2026 Game Awards. Also, this might be a controversial opinion, but if Hollow Knight hadn’t essentially shadowdropped as it did, and the hype/excitement around that game had been more normal, I think Ghost of Yotei would have been nominated over it. At least in the waters I swim in, it felt like a lot of people who weren’t hardcore fans of the first Hollow Knight noticed a lot of frustrations that existed in the original game seem to exist in the long-awaited sequel as well.

So, who else will be there this year? And how exactly do I figure this stuff out? Well, as I’ve mentioned, there may be some form of predictive superpower that’s just too hard to explain, but on top of that is the scientific video game formula that I created several years ago. This formula is so precise that it will tell every gamer how great, good, or mediocre the year in gaming was based on the winner of the Game of the Year at the Game Awards. Don’t believe me?

2016.

The winner was Overwatch. The nominees were Doom, Inside, Titanfall 2, Uncharted 4…

Okay, this was a bad example because sometimes voters can get it wrong and blow up everything. Don’t get me wrong, I remember how huge Overwatch was. Every outlet with a podcast couldn’t stop telling people how much fun they were having capturing flags or whatever you do in that game. But to suggest it’s Game of the Year is a spit in the face to every great man and woman who risked their lives coming up with this formula.

What is the formula, I hear you people asking. Don’t worry, I’ll explain it, but I’m only going to explain it once, so you need to pay attention.

“Horse and/or Fishing = A Game of the Year Nominee.”

Very simply, if you’re playing a game and it has a rideable horse or the side activity of fishing, then you are playing a Game of the Year nominee. Because of the refinement of the formula, the terms of Horse and Fishing are flexible and can mean more than just Horse or Fishing. For instance, Baldur’s Gate 3 is one of the greatest games of all time, yet it has neither Horse nor Fishing. So what then? Well, not to spoil the events of the game, let’s skip Horse and look at Fishing. The spirit of Fishing in the formula is merely to present the idea that the game you’re playing has more than just the straightforward activity of “save the day.” Fishing implies that there are other things to do. If the game you’re playing has fishing, it more than likely has a multitude of other side activities. Ironically, Baldur’s Gate may not feature fishing, BUT it does offer a lot of side activities for the players to participate in. Thus, Baldur’s Gate does, in fact, have Horse or Fishing; you just have to dig into the formula a little deeper than normal.

Going back to 2016, I must admit it’s a complicated year and one that puts Horse or Fishing to the test. Something that I have thought about and come to accept throughout my years of study is that we must always make an exception for variables. Yes, sometimes the voters of the Game Awards get it wrong, but sometimes the best game may inexplicably not feature Horse or Fishing. Let’s look at the nominees for 2016.

• Overwatch: No Horse or Fishing
• Doom: No Horse or Fishing
• Inside: No Horse or Fishing
• Titanfall 2: Clearly, the Titan, BT, counts as Horse.
• Uncharted 4: While often debated, you do drive a Jeep in this game, which counts as Horse.

So, as you can see, while Overwatch was voted for best game of 2016, and if I’m being honest, my personal vote would go to Inside, but the actual correct race is between Titanfall 2 and Uncharted 4. And if you feel like that doesn’t sound right, let me just say that it’s not my fault that Stardew Valley (Horse and Fishing) and Forza Horizon 3 (Horse) weren’t nominated for the award. What should have been a highly contested 4-game race was ruined by journalists who were blinded by their love of Overwatch. While I know the game was fun, I can only assume the sharp change of heart was from the previous year’s debacle when Rocket League (clearly Horse) was left off the Game of the Year list. Perhaps those journalists recognized their mistake, but without the formula, were unaware of why they couldn’t sleep at night. Without the formula, these poor men and women had to guess at why they knew deep in their hearts they were wrong to nominate Mario Maker over Rocket League. Don’t worry, journalists of the past. All is forgiven.

10 Years Later

10 years later, I find myself at a loss. I feel like much of the list already lays itself out. With everything we’ve seen, it would be one of the most surprising things in years if Resident Evil Requiem doesn’t turn out to be one of the most impressive games of the year. And as long as GTA 6 isn’t delayed, it’s a lock for the award show. After that, we know Nintendo has Fire Emblem coming out, but surprisingly, there’s actually a lot we don’t know about when it comes to Nintendo’s 2026 plans. This is why I think its a safe bet to just leave one of the 4 remaining spots to something Nintendo related, whether that be the upcoming Fire Emblem or something completely new.

With 3 spots down, I think it’s time to look at PlayStation and Xbox. Originally, I had hoped to have this article out before the Xbox Direct that showed off Forza and Fable, so for the purposes of my predictions, I’m going to ignore what was shown and stick with my original thoughts on Xbox and most of the games that we’re going to see coming out this year. Historically, Forza Horizon is a series that gets high review scores, and I think it would be shocking if the next installment didn’t follow that trajectory. So I’m going to put Forza Horizon as my next lock for Game of the Year nominee. As for Fable (which admittedly looked like everything I want from the next Fable game), maybe this is just me trying to protect myself. Maybe I’m just a delicate flower who doesn’t want to get hurt again, but I think beyond the heavy hitters of the year (GTA, RE9, Forza), a lot of the games we’re going to get this year will follow in that famous formula of “just wait for the sequel.” I think a game like Fable or even Crimson Desert has a lot of potential, but with a studio trying something so ambitious for the first time, I could see those games being some people’s personal favorites for the year, but when it comes to award season, just falling short.

I mentioned PlayStation, and with 4 slots filled, I think it’s safe to say that this spot will go to either Wolverine or Saros. I’ve gone back and forth on this one, and while I’d like to say Wolverine, I actually think Wolverine, similar to Insomniac’s other series, Spider-Man, may end up being players’ favorite game of the year while still being snubbed at the award shows. Saros also fits into my previously mentioned “wait for the sequel” formula as it’s a spiritual successor to the studio’s last game, Returnal. And with 5 of the slots filled, what could possibly be the final pick?

I mentioned that I thought this year would be filled with a lot of games that end up in that 8.5-9 range because I think whatever gets nominated in that 6th spot at the Game Awards will be something surprising. Maybe I’m wrong, and we see the highly anticipated indie game Replaced blow everyone away, or 1348 EX Voto catches everyone by surprise and becomes this year’s sleeper hit. As much as I’d love to see it, though, I just don’t expect it to happen. Maybe you’ll think my 6th and final pick is a cop out, but I’m going to leave it as “something unnanounced.” Maybe this is an indie game we’ve seen a million times, and it finally gets a release date, or maybe it’s a big AAA game that gets announced and released for 2026, but either way, I think this gaming year has a big surprise for us all that we just aren’t going to see coming.

So… after a lot of hard work, here are my Game of the Year 2026 nominees.

• GTA 6
• Resident Evil Requiem
• Something Nintendo Related
• Forza Horizon 6
• Saros
• Something unannounced for 2026