Here are the nominees for the 2026 Canadian Game Awards

The full list of nominees for the 2026 Canadian Game Awards has been revealed.

The sixth show from producer Carl-Edwin Michel will take place on May 21 at Toronto’s John W.H. Bassett Theatre at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, coinciding with the XP Game Summit conference in the city. The 2026 CGAs were previously announced to be returning to the TIFF Lightbox following a successful show there last year.

The ceremony will take place at 8 p.m. ET on May 21, with doors opening at 4 p.m. for the Eh! Game Showcase, an event that will feature all kinds of playable demos from Canadian developers.

In the meantime, read on for all of the Canadian games that are up for awards this year:

Game of the Year

• Assassin’s Creed Shadows (Ubisoft Quebec — Quebec City, Que.)
• Hell is Us (Rogue Factor — Montreal, Que.)
• Lost Records: Bloom & Rage (Don’t Nod Montreal — Montreal, Que.)
• South of Midnight (Compulsion Games — Montreal, Que.)
• Wanderstop (Ivy Road — Vancouver, B.C.)

Studio of the Year

• Compulsion Games (Montreal, Que.)
• Digital Extremes (London, Ont.)
• Rogue Factor (Montreal, Que.)
• Tribute Games (Montreal, Que.)
• Yellow Brick Games (Quebec City, Que.)

Best Indie Game

• Ambrosia Sky: Act One (Soft Rains — Toronto, Ont.)
• Ctrl Alt Deal (Only By Midnight — Edmonton, Alta.)
• Fresh Tracks (Buffalo Buffalo — Vancouver, B.C.)
• Marvel Cosmic Invasion (Tribute Games — Montreal, Que.)
• Wanderstop (Ivy Road — Vancouver, B.C.)

Best Game Design

• Assassin’s Creed Shadows (Ubisoft Quebec — Quebec City, Que.)
• Battlefield 6 (Battlefield Studios — a coalition of four global studios that includes Montreal’s Motive)
• Hell is Us (Rogue Factor — Montreal, Que.)
• Eternal Strands (Yellow Brick Games — Quebec City, Que.)
• South of Midnight (Compulsion Games — Montreal, Que.)

Best Narrative

• Assassin’s Creed Shadows (Ubisoft Quebec — Quebec City, Que.)
• Hell is Us (Rogue Factor — Montreal, Que.)
• Lost Records: Bloom & Rage (Don’t Nod Montreal — Montreal, Que.)
• South of Midnight (Compulsion Games — Montreal, Que.)
• Wanderstop (Ivy Road — Vancouver, B.C.)

Best Art Direction

• Eternal Strands (Yellow Brick Games — Quebec City, Que.)
• Lost Records: Bloom & Rage (Don’t Nod Montreal — Montreal, Que.)
• Marvel Cosmic Invasion (Tribute Games — Montreal, Que.)
• 33 Immortals (Thunder Lotus Games — Montreal, Que.)
• South of Midnight (Compulsion Games — Montreal, Que.)

Best Audio Design

• Assassin’s Creed Shadows (Ubisoft Quebec — Quebec City, Que.)
• Battlefield 6 (Battlefield Studios — a coalition of four global studios that includes Montreal’s Motive)
• Eternal Strands (Yellow Brick Games — Quebec City, Que.)
• Hell is Us (Rogue Factor — Montreal, Que.)
• South of Midnight (Compulsion Games — Montreal, Que.)

Best Score/Soundtrack

• Assassin’s Creed Shadows (The Flight and Montreal’s Teke: Teke)
• Eternal Strands (Austin Wintory)
• Lost Records: Bloom & Rage (Montreal’s Milk & Bone and Ruth Radelet)
• Marvel Cosmic Invasion (Tee Lopes)
• South of Midnight (Olivier Derivière)

Best Performance

• Erica Luttrell as Melissa Mills in Battlefield 6 (Toronto, Ont.)
• Olivia Lepore as Swann Holloway in Lost Records: Bloom & Rage (Montreal, Que.)
• Momona Tamada as Oni-yuri in Assassin’s Creed Shadows (Vancouver, B.C.)
• Peter Shinkoda as Fujibayashi Nagato in Assassin’s Creed Shadows (Montreal, Que.)
• Elias Toufexis as Rémi in Hell is Us (Montreal, Que.)

Best Console Game

• Assassin’s Creed Shadows (Ubisoft Quebec — Quebec City, Que.)
• Battlefield 6 (Battlefield Studios — a coalition of four global studios that includes Montreal’s Motive)
• Hell is Us (Rogue Factor — Montreal, Que.)
• Marvel Cosmic Invasion (Tribute Games — Montreal, Que.)
• South of Midnight (Compulsion Games — Montreal, Que.)

Best PC Game

• Aloft (Astrolabe Interactive — Montreal, Que.)
• Ambrosia Sky: Act One (Soft Rains — Toronto, Ont.)
• Battlefield 6 (Battlefield Studios — a coalition of four global studios that includes Montreal’s Motive)
• Eternal Strands (Yellow Brick Games — Quebec City, Que.)
• Foundation (Polymorph Games — Quebec City, Que.)

Best Mobile Game

• EA Sports FC 26 Mobile (EA Canada — Vancouver, B.C.)
• Elsewhere Electric (Games by Stitch — Toronto, Ont.)
• LHEA and the Word Spirit (Soul Fuel Games — Centre-du-Quebec, Que.)
• Rainbow Six Mobile (Ubisoft Montreal — Montreal, Que.)

Best VR/AR Game

• Chronostrike (Pentachromatic Games — Montreal, Que.)
• Elsewhere Electric (Games by Stitch — Toronto, Ont.)
• Fruit Golf (Coal Car Studio — Vancouver, B.C.)
• Prison Boss Prohibition (Trebuchet — Montreal, Que.)
• Verse VR (Lofty Sky Entertainment — Toronto, Ont.)

Best Esports Event

• Battle of BC 7 (Vancouver, B.C.)
• Call of Duty Champs (Kitchener, Ont.)
• Electric Clash 2025 (Toronto, Ont.)
• Raptors GC Tournament (Toronto, Ont.)
• Valorant Masters Toronto 2025 (Toronto, Ont.)

Best Esports Player

• Adam “mada” Pampuch (Canada)
• Brandon “Dashy” Otell (Canada)
• Keith “NAF” Markovic (Canada)
• Russel “Twistzz” Van Dulken (Kelowna, B.C.)
• Troy “Canadian” Jaroslawski (Canada)

Best Esports Coach

• Antonin “AEC” Tran (Montreal, Que.)
• Kurtis “Aui_2000” Ling (Vancouver, B.C.)
• Loic “Effys” Sauvageau (Quebec)
• Mervin-Angelo “Dayos” Lachica (Ontario)
• Shaun Byrne (Windsor, Ont.)

Best Esports and Gaming Organization

• Raptors GC (Toronto, Ont.)
• Shopify Rebellion (Toronto, Ont.)
• Toronto Ultra/KOI/OverActive Media (Toronto, Ont.)
• Vancouver Surge (Vancouver, B.C.)

Best Content Creator

• Alex “Vansilli” Nguyen (Montreal, Que.)
• Ashley Roboto (Southern Ontario)
• Nicholas “NickEh30” Amyoony (Halifax, N.S.)
• Stef Sanjati (Toronto, Ont.)
• Victor Lucas/Electric Playground (Vancouver, B.C.)

Innovation in Accessibility

• Assassin’s Creed Shadows (Ubisoft Quebec — Quebec City, Que.)
• EA Sports FC26 (EA Vancouver — Vancouver, B.C.)
• South of Midnight (Compulsion Games — Montreal, Que.)
• Squeakross: Home Squeak Home (Alblune — Montreal, Que.)
• Wanderstop (Ivy Road — Vancouver, B.C.)

There will also be an inaugural ESAC Fan Choice Award in partnership with the Entertainment Software Association of Canada, the Canadian gaming industry’s lobbying group. You can vote for your favourite 2026 Canadian game via ESAC’s website. On May 4, the top 10 finalists will be revealed for you to vote one more time ahead of the May 21 show.

Also being introduced this year is the Game Changer Award to recognize a Canadian who’s had a major impact on the gaming industry both locally and internationally. Victor Lucas, the Vancouver-based creator of Electric Playground, is this year’s recipient.

It should also be noted that Wanderstop maker Ivy Road sadly announced last Friday that it’s closing after failing to secure funding for its next game. It’s an unfortunate reminder of how harsh the gaming industry can be, especially since Wanderstop was, by all accounts, a very good game. Definitely recommend checking out the game if a narrative-driven cozy game about making tea and dealing with burnout appeals to you.

More information on the Canadian Game Awards, including details on purchasing public tickets, is available on the show’s official website. In the meantime, check out which games won at last year’s Canadian Game Awards.

Disclaimer: MobileSyrup is on the judging committee for the Canadian Game Awards but is otherwise uninvolved with the production of the show itself.

Image credit: Xbox/Dotemu/Ubisoft