Amid the aftershock of Rockstar delaying GTA 6 to May 2026, some folks find themselves in the unique position of celebrating the waylaid release date, as it means they may now have a better chance of taking home a Game of the Year award this year.
It’s been something of a foregone conclusion that, if GTA 6 was to release in 2025, it would be poised to sweep all of the big awards shows this year, perhaps including our own Golden Joysticks. Even in a year already jam-packed with acclaimed releases like Split Fiction, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, Monster Hunter Wilds, and more, GTA 6 was all but destined to be a frontrunner.
But not anymore! With GTA 6 out of the way, the best games of 2025 can all compete with each other for the top spot on a more even-looking playing field, and one Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 star, Hans Capon actor Luke Dale, is feeling optimistic.
“WE’RE IN WITH A SHOT! GOTY!,” he wrote on Twitter with a KCD2 hashtag, later doubling down with his fingers crossed for “Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 GOTY 2025.”
WE’RE IN WITH A SHOT! GOTY! #KCD2 https://t.co/qKqk9plX9OMay 2, 2025
Although I’ve yet to see any widespread sentiment spreading across game dev world, I’d be surprised if this wasn’t the third or fourth thing a lot of devs thought after hearing the news of GTA 6’s delay. Dale is just saying the quiet part out loud.
I mean, it’s not like it’s some great tragedy that a game got delayed, but considering so many people are probably reeling with disappointment right now, it might not be a terribly popular opinion to share on main today, even as other developers and publishers hungrily eye the vacuum created in the second half of 2025.
