Japan Game Awards Named Pokémon Pokopia Best Game of 2026

Ahead of the Tokyo Game Show, which begins tomorrow, on September 17, there was also a Japan Game Awards ceremony in which the best games in several categories were chosen. The contest was open to titles developed in Japan between June 1 of last year and May 31, 2026—and there were certainly a few surprises.

Although Resident Evil Requiem seemed like the obvious winner in the Grand Award category (the equivalent of “Game of the Year”), the award went to Pokémon Pokopia, which also received some of the highest ratings from players and critics this year. However, Capcom still took home the Breakthrough Award thanks to Pragmata—the studio’s new IP, released this past April. The full list of winners for the Japan Game Awards 2026, as revealed by Nintendo Everything, can be seen below:

• Grand Award – Pokémon Pokopia
• Breakthrough Award – Pragmata
• Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Award – Pokémon
• Movement Award – Meccha Chameleon
• Game Designers Award – Word Game
• Special Award – The Super Mario Galaxy Movie
• Award for Excellence: Death Stranding 2: On the Beach, Digimon Story: Time Stranger, Donkey Kong Bananza, Ghost of Yotei, Inazuma Eleven: Victory Road, Kirby Air Riders, Magical Girl Witch Trials, Paranormasight: The Memraid’s Curse, Pokemon Pokopia, Pragmata, Resident Evil Requiem, Silent Hill f.

This isn’t the first time in the first nine months of 2026 we’ve seen reputable outlets and award ceremonies announce their nominees for Game of the Year. Earlier, Empire named Resident Evil Requiem as the winner, while GQ deemed 007 First Light from IO Interactive the best game of 2026. Pokémon Pokomia has joined this list, but according to Polygon, no one stands a chance of beating GTA 6 in the race for the best game of 2026.

Released this March, Pokémon Pokopia has a score of 89 on Metacritic. Same score on OpenCritic, where 98% of critics recommend this Nintendo Switch 2 exclusive.