When people think of video game development the first countries that pop into their head are probably the United States and Japan. And while those markets are filled with great studios, Canada has long been a hotbed for great game makers. To highlight that the Canadian Game Awards has revealed this years nominees for their annual award show, and its filled with great games and studios.

While perhaps not as prestigious as Geoff Keighley’s Game Awards or something like DICE, the Canadian Game Awards is still held in a high regard, especially up here in Canada. After taking a bit of a break the Award ceremony returned in 2025 and the big winner for the year was the well deserved Balatro.

This year the nominee list really shows off what Canada has to offer in the gaming space. Leading the way with 9 nominations this year is Assassin’s Creed: Shadows, developed by Ubisoft Quebec. This is followed up by 8 nominations for Compulsion’s South of Midnight, and 6 for Rogue Factor’s Hell Is Us. Hell Is Us was one of our nominees for Game of the Year here at GSC both it and South of Midnight won awards at our own show.

Of course those aren’t the only games receiving votes. Games like Lost Records: Bloom & Rage, 33 Immortals and Eternal Strands also pop up on a variety of the award shows 14 game and studio related categories. The CGA also recognizes great Canadian content creators and Esport players in 5 other categories.

Being from Canada and having launched Gamer Social Club in 2024 with a heavy emphasis on making sure we stuck to being a Canadian website, its always great to see the industry in Canada thrive. Perhaps one day we can even have a vote in shows like these!

The Canadian Game Awards will be held on May 21st, 2026 at the John Bassett Theatre in Toronto. Tickets are on sale now. You can see the full list of nominees below.

Best Art Direction

• South of Midnight
• 33 Immortals
• Eternal Strands
• Marvel Cosmic Invasion
• Lost Records: Bloom & Rage

Best Game Design

• South of Midnight
• Assassin’s Creed Shadows
• Hell Is Us
• Eternal Strands
• Battlefield 6

Best Score/Soundtrack

• South of Midnight
• Lost Records: Bloom & Rage
• Eternal Strands
• Assassin’s Creed Shadows
• Marvel Cosmic Invasion

Best Narrative

• South of Midnight
• Assassin’s Creed Shadows
• Lost Records: Bloom & Rage
• Hell Is Us
• Wanderstop

Best Performance

• Erica Luttrell (Battlefield 6)
• Momona Tamada (Assassin’s Creed Shadows)
• Elias Toufexis (Hell Is Us)
• Peter Shinkoda (Assassin’s Creed Shadows)
• Olivia Lepore (Bloom & Rage)

Best Audio Design

• South of Midnight
• Assassin’s Creed Shadows
• Hell Is Us
• Eternal Strands
• Battlefield 6

Best PC Game

• Aloft
• Foundation
• Ambrosia Sky: Act One
• Eternal Strands
• Battlefield 6

Best Console Game

• South of Midnight
• Assassin’s Creed Shadows
• Hell Is Us
• Marvel Cosmic Invasion
• Battlefield 6

Best Indie Game

• Ambrosia Sky: Act One
• Ctrl Alt Deal
• Wanderstop
• Fresh Tracks
• Marvel Cosmic Invasion

Best Mobile Game

• Elsewhere Electric
• LHEA and the Word Spirit
• Rainbow Six Mobile
• EA Sports FC 26 Mobile

Best VR/AR Game

• Verse VR
• Elsewhere Electric
• Fruit Golf
• Chronostrike
• Prison Boss Prohibition

Best in Accessibility

• South of Midnight
• SQUEAKROSS: Home Squeak Home
• EA FC 26
• Wanderstop
• Assassin’s Creed Shadows

Esports Player

• Brandon “Dashy” O’Tell
• Troy “Canadian” Jaroslawski
• Russel “Twistzz” Van Dulken
• Adam “mada” Pampuch
• Keith “NAF” Markovic

Esports Coach

• Loic “Eefys” Sauvageau
• Antonin “AEc” Tran
• Mervin-Angelo “Davyes” Lachica
• Shaun Byrne
• Kurtis “Aui_2000” Ling

Esports Org

• Shopify Rebellion
• Toronto Ultra / KOI / OverActive Media
• Vancouver Surge
• Raptors GC

Esports Event

• Bell Esports Challenge
• Electric Clash 2025
• Battle of BC 7
• Call of Duty Champs
• Raptors GC Tournament

Content Creator / Show

• Victor Lucas / Electric Playground
• Nicholas “NickEh30” Amyoony
• Alex “Vansilli” Nguyen
• Stef Sanjati
• Ashley Roboto

Game of the Year

• South of Midnight
• Assassin’s Creed Shadows
• Hell Is Us
• Lost Records: Bloom & Rage
• Wanderstop

Studio of the Year

• Compulsion Games
• Rogue Factor
• Tribute Games
• Yellow Brick Games
• Digital Extremes