Push Square: GTA 6 is absent from the 2026 Golden Joysticks nominees as the show falls before launch

GTA 6 is not on the Golden Joysticks nominee list, Push Square reported on September 25, 2026, because the awards show takes place eight days before the game comes out on November 19.

Push Square said the Golden Joysticks revealed its nominees that day and that GTA 6 was absent from the Console Game of the Year category. The outlet gave two reasons: reviewers would still be playing the game when the show happens, and nominations had to be submitted by August 28 anyway. Rockstar has not commented in anything we read, and this was not a Rockstar announcement.

Push Square listed ten Console Game of the Year nominees, among them 007 First Light, Forza Horizon 6, Resident Evil Requiem, Pragmata and Saros. It said 007 First Light and Big Walk led the field with five nominations each, and that readers could vote on the winners.

The wider point is about what Push Square called the big five Game of the Year awards: The Game Awards, the BAFTAs, the DICE and GDC awards, and the Golden Joysticks themselves. It said only Baldur's Gate 3 and Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 have won all five in their release year, so missing the Golden Joysticks rules out GTA 6 matching them in 2026.

Push Square said GTA 6 can still win the other four, and that its late November release makes it eligible for the 2027 Golden Joysticks. Whether it wins anything depends on reviews and voters, and none of that was known in September.