We’re halfway through 2026: Here are our contenders for Game of the Year so far

It’s almost the end of June, and we’re soon to bid farewell to the first half of this rollercoaster of a year. We’ve had some massive hits come out already, and compared to 2025, most of them actually weren’t indie endeavors.

Nature is healing in that respect, and we’re finally seeing established and relatively big studios putting out blockbusters that leave lasting marks on the industry, but there were quite a few independent productions as well.

So, with that in mind, we think we already have a good list of GOTY contenders ahead of The Game Awards in December, and I believe you can predict just about all of them.

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• The best games of 2026—so far
  • Crimson Desert
  • Resident Evil Requiem
  • Pragmata
  • 007 First Light
  • Mina the Hollower
  • Mewgenics
  • Forza Horizon 6
  • Meccha Chameleon

Image via Pearl Abyss

• Our review

I want to open up the discussion by mentioning what is 100 percent going to be a nominee for Game of the Year at the Game Awards. This massive title by Pearl Abyss got an 8.5 from yours truly and is a title that sold over six million copies and received incredible worldwide attention, at first negative and then largely positive as people slowly began getting to the game’s meaty bits.

It’s an amazing game in many ways, and its sheer size and scope alone have doubtless earned it a spot among the greats and especially among the list of GOTY nominees.

Image via Capcom

• Our review

Resident Evil Requiem is by far Capcom’s best game to date, and it received the appropriate 9.5 from our Scott Duwe, who praised just about everything the game has to offer. I played it on launch and was blown away by how they approached the market demand for more action-oriented horror through Leon’s scenes while still dipping their toes into brutal survival horror of yore via Grace and her sequences.

The graphics, the mind-numbing story, the tie-ins with previous titles—all of that comes together by the end and leaves you amazed at how a company can churn out so many games per year and still manage to release a title of this quality. It’s a GOTY nominee if there ever was one, and the likeliest to win out of all the games released thus far.

Screenshot by Destructoid

• Our review

While on the topic of Capcom, I have to mention Pragmata, the less-known, less-successful, but by no means worse companion game to Resident Evil Requiem. It was released shortly after Capcom’s heaviest hitter and blew me away with its emotional story and experimental and unique combat, earning a strong 9 out of 10 from, well, me.

It also had its fair share of controversies surrounding its child character, Diana, since we live in a world where things simply cannot be simple and enjoyed for what they are. That level of attention is certainly going to impact the jury’s decision to nominate the game for at least some category, but it remains to be seen if Capcom can get two full games as GOTY contenders at the same time.

Screenshot by Destructoid

• No review – but I did write an op-ed on it!

007 First Light surprised me since, prior to the weeks leading up to release, I genuinely forgot the game even existed. I’ve come to expect little from Western games and studios these days, particularly when it comes to the story, and I wholeheartedly believed this tale of a young Bond would be immature, uneventful, boring millennial drivel. And it was completely the opposite.

IOI understood who Bond is and what his character is made of and looked to combine the swagger of the older Bonds with the emotional depth of Daniel Craig’s stellar rendition, and the end result is a near-perfect experience that respects both the player and its own IP, which easily makes 007 First Light a GOTY contender in my eyes.

Image by Yacht Club Games

• No review ????

Now for some independent fun. We’ve had several indie hits come out in the last half year, and one of them is Mina the Hollower, made by the devs of the incredible Shovel Knight. It’s a pixel art game that takes heavy inspiration from retro gaming but modernizes it just enough to make it fun for a modern audience without sacrificing the authenticity of the elder days.

While I haven’t tried it out personally, the praise this game is getting makes it seem like it’s easily going to enter the Independent GOTY category by the end of this year.

Image via Edmund McMillen

• Our review

Shovel Knight‘s creators weren’t the only ones making a new name for themselves this year, as The Binding of Isaac devs also went out and published their own fresh title, Mewgenics. It caused quite a stir near the start of 2026 and so far has nearly 50,000 reviews on Steam, an overwhelming majority of them being positive.

Our Bhernardo Viana scored the game a 9, praising its diverse gameplay and seemingly endless layers of skill and content while also criticizing how chaotic it can get. To him, it was a hallmark of excellence in more ways than one, and I have a strong feeling TGA’s jury will share his sentiments.

Image via Microsoft

• Our review

Before I conclude the article with yet another indie hit, I wanted to pay homage to the amazing Forza Horizon 6, arguably one of the best racing games I’ve played in recent memory. It’s a photorealistic, strong, and satisfying experience all throughout, and I can’t remember the last time I laughed so much during a racing game.

Customization has always been a strong part of Forza, true, but this one’s designs were by far the most hilarious, at least that I can remember, and the Japanese setting and, thus, the ridiculous small Japanese cars provided me with more fun than most serious racing games out there, and by that alone should net Forza a Simulation GOTY slot.

It’s also the best-reviewed game of 2026, which might be more important than what I just wrote.

Screenshot by Destructoid

• No review – yet!

And last but not least is also the most recent release on this list and one that’s managed to sell over 10 million copies in just two weeks on the market. For seven bucks, you get to play an elevated prop hunt title, where instead of hiding by literally turning yourself into a piece of the environment, you have to take your character and, well, blend into your surroundings by meticulously painting them.

I’ve seen some amazing ideas crop up in video games over the last two decades, but this small change to the usual prop hunt makes Meccha Chameleon one of the most fun experiences available at the moment, and I already have like 12 hours where I find it interesting just to host matches and see what players come up with.

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