Assassin’s Creed Shadows, South of Midnight, and Hell is Us Lead the 2026 Canadian Game Awards Nominations

The 2026 Canadian Game Awards are shaping up to be one of the strongest showcases yet for Canadian development talent, and this year’s nominations are being led by three major names: Assassin’s Creed Shadows, South of Midnight, and Hell is Us. The sixth annual show will celebrate games made in Canada and by Canadians, with the ceremony set for May 21, 2026 at the John W. H. Bassett Theatre in Toronto alongside the XP Game Summit. The official Canadian Game Awards channels have also confirmed the nominees through the awards site and the official nominees reveal video.

Assassin’s Creed Shadows leads the field with 9 nominations, giving Ubisoft Quebec a commanding presence across major categories including Game of the Year, Best Narrative, Best Game Design, Best Audio Design, and Best Console Game. South of Midnight follows closely with 8 nominations, and effectively 9 if Compulsion Games’ Studio of the Year nomination is included. Hell is Us sits just behind with 6 nominations, or 7 when Rogue Factor’s studio nomination is counted as part of its overall awards footprint. Taken together, the three games underline how dominant Quebec and Quebec connected studios are in this year’s awards conversation.

One of the most emotionally charged nominations this year is Wanderstop. The game is up for Game of the Year, Best Narrative, Best Indie Game, and Innovation in Accessibility, but that recognition arrives just days after Ivy Road confirmed the studio is closing its doors on March 31, 2026. That gives Wanderstop’s presence at this year’s show a bittersweet tone, turning it into both a celebration of the game and an unintended farewell to the studio behind it. You can read Ivy Road’s studio update through the official announcement from Ivy Road.

The Game of the Year lineup captures the broader mood of the awards very well. Assassin’s Creed Shadows, Hell is Us, Lost Records: Bloom & Rage, South of Midnight, and Wanderstop together represent a mix of large scale blockbuster production, auteur driven storytelling, and indie creativity. It is also notable that nearly all of the Game of the Year contenders have strong ties to Quebec, reinforcing just how central the province remains to Canada’s position in the global games industry.

Canadian Game Awards 2026 Nominees

• Best Art Direction

  • Eternal Strands

  • Lost Records: Bloom & Rage

  • Marvel Cosmic Invasion

  • 33 Immortals

  • South of Midnight

• Best Audio Design

  • Assassin’s Creed Shadows

  • Battlefield 6

  • Eternal Strands

  • Hell is Us

  • South of Midnight

• Best Score and Soundtrack

  • Assassin’s Creed Shadows

  • Eternal Strands

  • Lost Records: Bloom & Rage

  • Marvel Cosmic Invasion

  • South of Midnight

• Best Performance

  • Erica Luttrell as Melissa Mills in Battlefield 6

  • Olivia Lepore as Swann Holloway in Lost Records: Bloom & Rage

  • Momona Tamada as Oni yuri in Assassin’s Creed Shadows

  • Peter Shinkoda as Fujibayashi Nagato in Assassin’s Creed Shadows

  • Elias Toufexis as Rémi in Hell is Us

• Best Console Game

  • Assassin’s Creed Shadows

  • Battlefield 6

  • Hell is Us

  • Marvel Cosmic Invasion

  • South of Midnight

• Best PC Game

  • Aloft

  • Ambrosia Sky: Act One

  • Battlefield 6

  • Eternal Strands

  • Foundation

• Best Mobile Game

  • EA Sports FC 26 Mobile

  • Elsewhere Electric

  • LHEA and the Word Spirit

  • Rainbow Six Mobile

• Best VR and AR Game

  • Chronostrike

  • Elsewhere Electric

  • Fruit Golf

  • Prison Boss Prohibition

  • Verse VR

• Best Esports Event

  • Battle of BC 7

  • Call of Duty Champs

  • Electric Clash

  • Raptors GC Tournament

  • Valorant Masters Toronto 2025

• Best Esports Player

  • Adam “mada” Pampuch

  • Brandon “Dashy” Otell

  • Keith “NAF” Markovic

  • Russel “Twistzz” Van Dulken

  • Troy “Canadian” Jaroslawski

• Best Esports Coach

  • Antonin “AEC” Tran

  • Kurtis “Aui 2000” Ling

  • Loic “Effys” Sauvageau

  • Mervin Angelo “Dayos” Lachica

  • Shaun Byrne

• Best Esports and Gaming Organization

  • Raptors GC

  • Shopify Rebellion

  • Toronto Ultra, KOI, OverActive

  • Media

  • Vancouver Surge

• Best Content Creator

  • Alex “Vansilli” Nguyen

  • Ashley Roboto

  • Nicholas “NickEh30” Amyoony

  • Stef Sanjati

  • Victor Lucas, Electric Playground

• Innovation in Accessibility

  • Assassin’s Creed Shadows

  • EA Sports FC 26

  • South of Midnight

  • Squeekross

  • Wanderstop

• Best Narrative

  • Assassin’s Creed Shadows

  • Hell is Us

  • Lost Records: Bloom & Rage

  • South of Midnight

  • Wanderstop

• Best Game Design

  • Assassin’s Creed Shadows

  • Battlefield 6

  • Hell is Us

  • Eternal Strands

  • South of Midnight

• Best Indie Game

  • Ambrosia Sky: Act One

  • Ctrl Alt Deal

  • Fresh Tracks

  • Marvel Cosmic Invasion

  • Wanderstop

• Studio of the Year

  • Compulsion Games

  • Digital Extremes

  • Rogue Factor

  • Tribute Games

  • Yellow Brick Games

• Game of the Year

  • Assassin’s Creed Shadows

  • Hell is Us

  • Lost Records: Bloom & Rage

  • South of Midnight

  • Wanderstop

With nominations this strong, the 2026 Canadian Game Awards look ready to deliver a meaningful snapshot of where Canada’s game industry stands right now. Quebec’s influence is unmistakable, but the broader nominee slate also shows the range of talent spread across blockbuster action games, narrative driven projects, indie releases, mobile, VR, esports, and creator culture. For Canadian game development, this year’s show feels less like a niche celebration and more like a reminder of how important the country remains to the modern games business.

Which game do you think deserves to take Game of the Year at the 2026 Canadian Game Awards?