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Made In Canada, Events

Canadian Game Awards are BACK on May 21, 2026

Sami-Jo Perruzza

• 4 min read
Canadian Game Awards are BACK on May 21, 2026

Toronto’s Canadian Game Awards are BACK and heading to the John W. H. Bassett Theatre on May 21, 2026, and this year’s show is shaping up to be a strong showcase for Canadian game talent, creators, and esports. The event is the sixth annual edition, and it continues the awards’ “by the industry, for the industry” approach while putting a spotlight on games released in 2025.

This year’s move to the Bassett Theatre puts the ceremony in a major downtown Toronto venue, alongside XP Game Summit, which makes the night feel even more connected to the wider games industry scene here in the city of Toronto. The awards also expand fan participation through the new Fan Choice of the Year Award, presented with ESAC, giving players a direct way to support their favorite Canadian game of the year.

The nominee list is especially strong for Montreal and Quebec City studios, with titles like Assassin’s Creed Shadows, Hell is Us, Lost Records: Bloom & Rage, South of Midnight, and Wanderstop all showing up across multiple major categories. Toronto also has a notable presence through nominees like Ambrosia Sky: Act One, Elsewhere Electric, and the city’s own creators and organizations in esports and content creation.

Victor Lucas is receiving this year’s Game Changer Award, a fitting recognition for someone who has spent decades championing Canadian gaming through The Electric Playground. With the mix of big-budget releases, indie standouts, esports names, and accessibility work, the 2026 CGAs look like a broad snapshot of where Canadian games are right now.

via Ubisoft Canada

Full List of Nominations

Best Art Direction

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

Best Game Design

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

Best Score/Soundtrack

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

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 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 Audio Design

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

Best PC Game

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

Best Console Game

  • Assassin’s Creed Shadows (Ubisoft Quebec — Quebec City, Que.)
  • Battlefield 6 (Battlefield Studios, 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 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 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 in Accessibility

  • Assassin’s Creed Shadows (Ubisoft Quebec — Quebec City, Que.)
  • EA FC 26 (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.)

Best Esports Player

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

Best Esports Coach

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

Best Esports and Gaming Organization

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

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.)
  • Bell Esports Challenge (Toronto, Ont.)

Best Content Creator/Show

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

The Big Nominations

Game of the Year

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

Studio of the Year

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