Submissions for the 2026 Korea Game Awards, slated for November 18, kicked off on October 28. To qualify for the main prize categories this year, games must have been developed and released in South Korea between October 3, 2025, and October 12, 2026. Awards will be handed out across 13 categories, including the main prize and the Popular Game Award.

Naturally, all eyes are on the grand prize, with heavyweights like Crimson Desert and AION2 tipped as frontrunners. Still, considering the fierce competition put up by standout new releases across various platforms, we thought it would be a bit of a laugh to predict who might actually walk away with the crown.

Pearl Abyss' Crimson Desert landed on March 20 as an open-world action-adventure game. Powered by the studio's proprietary BlackSpace Engine, the game follows Cliff, the leader of the Greymane Mercenary Corps, on his adventures across the continent of Pywel. Pywel is a sprawling fantasy world torn apart by massive wars and power struggles where various factions clash for dominance. The core appeal lies in its intricate open-world interactions and diverse combat systems, featuring brutal boss encounters, building climbing, puzzles, and wrestling-inspired brawling mechanics.

Crimson Desert racked up two million copies sold globally within just a day of release, blowing past six million copies by June 11. It has also been turning heads at international game awards, bagging the Best International Game award at the China Game Innovation Awards (CGIA) and the Technical Innovation prize at the UK's Develop:Star Awards, while also scoring nominations for PC Game of the Year and Best Soundtrack at the Golden Joystick Awards 2026. With stellar numbers and critical acclaim under its belt, the game is easily a top-tier contender for the game awards.

Going toe-to-toe with Crimson Desert is AION2, rolled out by NC on November 19, 2025. This is NC's long-awaited MMORPG sequel, arriving a staggering 17 years later. Built using Unreal Engine 5, the game expands upon the classic lore of the conflict between the Elyos and Asmodians, setting its story 200 years after the collapse of the Tower of Aion and the final war, reigniting the eternal feud among the Elyos, Asmodians, and the Draconans.

The developers have expanded the series' hallmark multi-dimensional aerial combat and flight mechanics into a seamless open world, letting players roam across the entire field. Players can unfurl their wings to ride windstreams and glide across every corner of the world. The series' signature large-scale RvR content is fully realized here, and players can choose from nine distinct classes, including the newly added Warlord, alongside Gladiator, Templar, Assassin, Ranger, Sorcerer, Spiritmaster, Cleric, and Chanter.

Another strong contender is Eclipse: The Awakening, serviced by Smilegate and developed by N픽셀, which officially launched on September 10. Pitching itself as an 'MMO Lite' designed to cut down on screen time and competitive fatigue, the game hands out summon tickets and growth resources over time through sanctuaries, while keeping characters leveling up via an AI mode even when players are offline.

Eclipse is set in 'Ederion', a world that prospered under divine blessing, and its shadowy mirror world, 'Orthea'. The narrative revolves around human free will and awakening under the strict order of a religious creed, following the priestess Seraha as she begins to doubt the peace behind the facade and journeys toward the sanctuary, eventually reaching Orthea. There are four classes—Fighter, Ranger, Sorcerer, and Assassin—each capable of wielding two different weapon types, shifting combat roles depending on the player's choice.

Netmarble's The Seven Deadly Sins: Origin, launched last March, is also catching eyes. Having already bagged the blockbuster category prize at the Korea Creative Content Agency's 'Korea Game Awards'—wait, let's stick strictly to the text: the Korea Creative Content Agency's 'Best Game of the Year' blockbuster category—it has automatically secured a spot as a main prize nominee. It is an open-world action RPG based on The Seven Deadly Sins IP, flaunting anime-esque graphics. Set in a warped spacetime version of the continent of Britannia, the parallel-universe narrative tangles the original protagonist Meliodas with a brand new lead, Tristan.

Fan-favourite characters from the original series like Meliodas, Tristan, Diane, and King appear alongside brand new original faces. Players can explore iconic locations from the source material such as Liones Castle, the Fairy Forest, Baste Dungeon, and the Capital of the Dead, while soaking up gathering, fishing, and puzzle elements. Combat features tag battles where players swap heroes on the fly based on the situation, alongside combo attacks that change the action depending on weapon and hero pairings.

Developed by AButton and serviced by Com2uS starting August 26, Zeus: The God of Arrogance is also tipped as a nominee. It is an MMORPG sporting a world inspired by a fresh take on Greek mythology, featuring eight distinct classes and a backdrop where cracks have formed in a world ruled by the absolute power and arrogance of Zeus, the supreme god of Greek mythology.

Players prove their worth as 'vessels of the gods'. The core revolves around competitive content like 'Tartarus', an inter-server battlefield where users from different servers clash head-on, and free-for-all boss raids out in the field. An AI mode keeps characters hunting even after the game is shut down, taking the edge off the grind of repetitive gameplay.