Talking Point: Will Any Of Xbox's 2026 Releases Become GOTY Contenders Next Year?

Hmm. I think Fable could be in the running if it can deliver a strong story and a rich gameplay experience. It seems uncertain how reactive the world will be to your character and their actions. I think they need to at least retain what the series has been known for, hopefully expanding from there.

GOTY? Nah.

E Day may take some awards. And Forza may in racing category.

No chance on the others though.

Game of the Year? I doubt it, though that is mostly because I think Fable will not release until 2027.

I think there is a possibility of some of the games receiving other rewards, but in all honesty, for Xbox to have a genuine chance of a Game of the Year nomination (let alone an actual award!), they have to stop putting out games that are reviewing at 8s and below on anywhere other than an Xbox centric site.

All too often there is a good game hidden beneath bugs, or not fully realised gameplay. Games that require months of patches to get into that 9 and above territory should never be considered for Game of the Year, and that is often the standard of games that Xbox puts out.

I want Xbox to do well so we can have some pride in what they do, but Microsoft need to have some pride in Xbox first, and right now I would suggest that is severely lacking...

@Fiendish-Beaver
I think it might be possible with one of those four games as a contender for GOTY.
But I do agree with what you say, they need a 90 plus game to do it and current track record for me and is 80s and pretty good games.

Also there seems to a lot releasing next year for them to compete against.

So overall I would not bet any money on Xbox getting a GOTY.

I’d wager not, unless there’s some secret project close to release that we aren’t aware of yet. Fable has the most potential, but also the highest likelihood of failing to meet expectations. Forza will be awesome as always, but it’s ‘just a racing game’ and historically won’t be in contention for GotY. Clockwork Revolution looks so bad I’m plugging it for the golden raspberry, and Gears will probably be great but sadly the series hasn’t been relevant for quite some time. The changes they’re making to the Halo remake are far too incendiary and controversial for it to be in the running as well.

Nope. Forza Horizon 6 could be the best cars game ever made and will still be ignored and taken for granted, Gears of War will be good but it has never been an awards-seeking franchise, Halo Remake we just HOPE it can be good and isn’t plagued with a million issues at launch. I don’t see Fable or Clockwork releasing in 2026 at all but those are the best shots at getting a nomination.

In my opinion Doom The Dark Ages deserved much more praise and awards this year but most gaming journalists chose to outright ignore it.

I think it will depend on what releases. Fable and Clockwork are the ones with the best chances IMO. I would absolutely love Clockwork to release next year (easily my most anticipated game) but doubt it will.

BUT they’re saying there’s way too many games for them to put in the Developer’s Direct that are releasing next year so who knows what else is up their sleeves. Overall I’m excited for a lot of the already announced Xbox games and that’s a good place to be.

I don't think so. Resident Evil Requiem, Control Resonant and Wolverine seem like pretty much guaranteed nominees, GTA6 is a guaranteed nominee if it doesn't get delayed again, usually an indie game gets nominated, maybe Fire Emblem for the 6th nominee?

Actually by the time FH6 arrives in the past I think would have had 2.5 FH worth of releases.
So hopefully with the extra time FH6 should be top AAA.

@IOI
Yep FH games do get ignored and definitely do not deserve to.

@Balaam_ Clockwork looks bad? Did we see the same game? That was the only thing at Xbox's E3 summer event that got my attention. Honestly, it looked incredible.

Being a contender it's the easy part, compared to the herculanean task of actually winning it 😁.

Clockwork Revolution and Fable could be serious contenders if released next year, but who knows.
Then there's this small indie release (GTA VI) to factor in, plus Wolverine and Saros. I'll be a tough year, but great for gamersnin general.

Fable and Forza Horizon 6 but they won’t win anything thanks to Saros, Wolverine and, of course, GTA VI.

If the GOTY awards are based on votes from the press, there won't be any Xbox games, as most media outlets are businesses sustained by promotions and advertising, and Microsoft has already made it clear that it has no intention of spending money on marketing, at least not in the traditional sense.

However, this shouldn't matter to us gamers.

I'm definitely waiting on Fable & Clockwork Revolution. Hopefully they turn out great. I'll check out Forza, but I've grown tired of them & I've never cared for Gears.

At this point we (including Xbox) don’t have any idea what games will be put in 2026 or get pushed into 2027. Fable and Clockwork would be have to be contenders though…

Forza could win sports/racing, fable rpg, gow eday action, mixtape indy. All could be goty nominees but win? I dont think so. Not with all the other games lined up for release this year.

LMAO!
GTA6 is winning everything next year.

I don't think they will because of GTA, that's probably the safe bet for 2026

Clockwork Revolution has perhaps the highest probability of winning but I think we could see a number of games being nominated and/or winning in some of the many other categories - like best Racing Game - FH6 for example... Of course I there are many of actual Awards as well as numerous big Publications etc nominating and awarding Games so if they don't win Geoff Keighleys or IGN's Game of the Year, they may win BAFTA's GotY instead...

Hitman: World of Microsoft - featuring Sarah Bond, Phil Spencer, and Todd Howard.