2026 now has its first true contender for Game of the Year, and it’s a title that many would have surely expected to be in the running. Up until this point in 2026, we’ve already had a variety of great games release. Titles like Nioh 3, Reanimal, Cairn, and MIO: Memories in Orbit have all been well-received, but none of them garnered the usual level of acclaim that is associated with eventual GOTY winners. Now, a new game that’s set to release in mere days has finally bucked this trend and will surely end up being in the awards season mix by the end of the year.
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As of today, reviews for Resident Evil Requiem have gone live and they’re quite high, to say the least. Over on Metacritic, Requiem is currently sitting at an average score of 88/100 after over 100 reviews on PS5. Scores for the Xbox, Switch 2, and PC versions of the game are even higher, and range between 90 and 92. This immediately puts Resident Evil Requiem as the top-rated game of 2026 so far, which is a title that it could hold for the foreseeable future.
Can This Game Win GOTY?
Whether or not Resident Evil Requiem can ultimately win Game of the Year is something that’s hard to predict at the moment. We’re still only two months into 2026, which means there are still a ton of phenomenal games on the horizon. Some of the biggest include Grand Theft Auto VI, Marvel’s Wolverine, Crimson Desert, Forza Horizon 6, Fable, and many, many others. There’s no doubt that some of these games will garner high review scores of their own, which could then unseat Resident Evil Requiem in its top slot on Metacritic.
Even if this does happen, though, I fully anticipate Resident Evil Requiem to get a lot of nominations for GOTY. As someone who has already played and reviewed the game, Requiem is unquestionably one of the best entries in the entire Resident Evil saga. It absolutely deserves to be in the running as one of the top games of 2026 and will surely end up getting that recognition from many outlets and awards shows. Whether it ultimately ends up taking home any hardware, though, is something we’ll have to wait to see at the end of the year.
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