Dispatch can again qualify for The Game Awards 2026

• AdHoc Studio’s episodic game fully released on 12 November 2025, within the cited 2025 cutoff of 21 November.
• The Game Awards 2026 is scheduled for 10 December 2026; a new nomination for Dispatch has not been confirmed.

What happened

Dispatch is an episodic superhero game from AdHoc Studio. The first two episodes launched on 22 October 2025, and the full first season of eight episodes was available on 12 November 2025. That placed the game in a window where late releases can sometimes still fall into an awards cycle, depending on that year’s exact eligibility rules.

According to the available information, Dispatch was already mentioned at The Game Awards 2025 in the Best Debut Indie Game category. Polygon now წერს that AdHoc Studio was told by Geoff Keighley that the game also remains eligible for The Game Awards 2026. In Polygon’s account, this is not a confirmed nomination, but eligibility for the next edition.

That fits the usual setup of The Game Awards, where an annual eligibility window can push late releases into the following awards cycle. The 2026 edition is scheduled for 10 December 2026. The available information also says the 2025 cutoff was 21 November, meaning Dispatch’s full release on 12 November 2025 fell within that period.

Polygon links the situation to the fact that Dispatch was already on the awards radar in 2025, while AdHoc Studio has now reportedly received confirmation that the game also counts for 2026. That makes Dispatch an unusual case, since the game could appear in two consecutive award years without a new nomination having been announced yet.

Whether Dispatch will actually be nominated again, and in which category, is still unknown. The available information only confirms eligibility for 2026, not a nomination, shortlist, or win.

Background

The Game Awards uses a yearly eligibility period, which means a game released late in the year can sometimes end up counting fully in the next edition instead. In this case, Polygon notes that Dispatch, despite already appearing at the 2025 ceremony, can also qualify again for 2026. The publication says Geoff Keighley, as owner and host of The Game Awards, confirmed the 2026 eligibility to AdHoc Studio.

That confirms eligibility for 2026, but not a new nomination or award. According to Polygon, AdHoc Studio has received confirmation that Dispatch counts for the next edition. That distinction matters, because eligibility and nomination are two different steps at The Game Awards. A game can qualify without already having a spot on the nominee list.

The situation around Dispatch also matches the game’s release structure. With an initial launch on 22 October 2025 and a full season release on 12 November 2025, the title landed close to the cited 21 November cutoff. That makes it understandable why the game is part of the discussion around the 2025 and 2026 awards cycles.

Polygon also describes Dispatch as an episodic superhero game from AdHoc Studio. That context explains why the release happened in stages and why the timing of the final episode matters for awards eligibility. The available sources also note that the game appeared in 2025 in the Best Debut Indie Game category, which increases the chance that the title will be tracked again in the next awards round.

For now, it remains a confirmed case of eligibility for The Game Awards 2026. A nomination, category, or possible win has not been announced, and the available information does not provide certainty on that front.

Related GAME-scanner articles

• Dispatch seems to qualify again for Game of the Year at The Game Awards 2026

Sources

• Polygon: Dispatch can again qualify for The Game Awards 2026
• Game Rant: Dispatch 2026 Game Awards eligibility
• The Game Awards Wiki / Fandom: Dispatch