It’s official: 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Grand Theft Auto 6 has been delayed. Though Rockstar initial𒆙ly 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-defi𓃲ning, 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 Osborn🃏e’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 to 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 ensured that there’s a shꦿoo-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 has the highest score in the history of Metacritic. On , 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, 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Blue Prince is currently , but it has a much lower🧜 user score, suggesting it may end up being too divisive to garner widespread support.

168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 and 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Monster Hunter Wilds both launched to acclaim and explosive sales, but both appeal to slightl🍌y more niche audiences than Clair Obscur, thanks to its cinematic graphics and emotional storytelling.

168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Split Fiction remains a favorite, but is hurt a bit by how weak its sto🌜ry is in comparison to other 2025 cont༒enders. Add in that many see it, rightly or wrongly, as weaker than the studio’s previous GOTY winner 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:It Takes Two, and it seems like it may st🌜ruggle to get across thꦐe 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 b꧂efore 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. 168澳洲幸运5开奖网: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, bu🦹t had detractors who criticized i🌼ts story, and its sequel will need to shore up that weak area to stand out.

168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Borderlands 4 will 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 (), it will probably follow the same path.

168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Donkey Kong Bananza isn’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 is lik♉ely being developed by the team thaꦿt got Super Mario Odyssey a GOTY nomination, so anything is possible.

Calling it now: 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Mario Kart World will be universally acclaimed and sell well, but won’t be a serious contender ꦍin 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: 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Death Stranding 2: On the Beach, 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Elden Ring Nightreign, 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Hollow Knight: Silksong, 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater, and 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Witchbrook.

I see problems that each of these game🌠s 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.