The finalists of the 2026 Australian Game Developer Awards have been announced, with a host of critically-acclaimed and well-loved Australian-made games amongst the nominees.
Games including Bluey’s Happy Snaps, Don’t Stop, Girlypop!, Malys, Mixtape, Go-Go Town! and more have been nominated in categories celebrating excellence in art, gameplay, music, sound design, accessibility and beyond, with a focus on recognition for artful, creative and innovative games.
‘Every year I watch our industry punch above its weight, and every year it finds a way to punch harder,’ Ron Curry, CEO of industry body IGEA says.
‘These finalists are proof; we have ambition, craft and heart from studios of every size, going toe-to-toe with anything coming out of the biggest markets in the world. As an industry, we can all be proud of every name on this list. Congratulations to all our 2026 AGDAs finalists; you’ve earned every bit of this.’
AGDAs 2026 finalists – quick links
AGDAs 2026: Full list of finalists
Here’s the full list of finalists for the 2026 AGDAs.
AGDAs Game of the Year 2026
- Aether & Iron (Chaos Theory Games with Seismic Squirrel)
- Go-Go Town! (Prideful Sloth)
- Mixtape (Beethoven & Dinosaur)
- Momento (Fat Alien Cat & Nomo Studio with Screen Queensland & Silver Lining Interactive)
Excellence in Visual Art
- Bits & Bops (Tempo Lab Games)
- Key Fairy (Owl Machine)
- Mixtape (Beethoven & Dinosaur)
Excellence in Gameplay
- Bits & Bops (Tempo Lab Games)
- Isopod: A Webbed Spin-off (Sbug Games with Supertonic)
- Schrodinger’s Cat Burglar (Abandoned Sheep with SuperTonic, Actuator Digital & Translationz)
Excellence in Narrative
- Crabmeat (Nicholas McDonnell with Mitchell Pasmans)
- Mixtape (Beethoven & Dinosaur)
- Schrodinger’s Cat Burglar (Abandoned Sheep with SuperTonic, Actuator Digital & Translationz)
Excellence in Sound Design
- Bits & Bops (Tempo Lab Games)
- Crabmeat (Nicholas McDonnell with Mitchell Pasmans)
- Mixtape (Beethoven & Dinosaur)
Excellence in Music
- Don’t Stop, Girlypop! (Funny Fintan Softworks with Intr Studio, Subzero Sound & Kwalee)
- Malys (Summerfall Studios)
- Mixtape (Beethoven & Dinosaur)
Excellence in Accessibility
- Bits & Bops (Tempo Lab Games)
- Key Fairy (Owl Machine)
- Schrodinger’s Cat Burglar (Abandoned Sheep with SuperTonic, Actuator Digital & Translationz)
Excellence in Extended Reality
- Espire: MR Missions (Digital Lode Immersive Media)
- Hyper Bullet (Protostar)
- On Point (Actuator Games)
Excellence in Impact
- Bluey’s Happy Snaps (Gameloft Brisbane with BBC Studios, Ludo Studio & Bandai Namco)
- The Last Werewolf (Unnatural Freaks)
- The Walks We Used to Take (Junebug)
Excellence in Debut
- Bits & Bops (Tempo Lab Games)
- Key Fairy (Owl Machine)
- Momento (Fat Alien Cat & Nomo Studio with Screen Queensland & Silver Lining Interactive)
Excellence in Ongoing
- Crossy Road Castle (Hipster Whale)
- Forts (EarthWork Games)
- Static Shift Racing (Timbo Jimbo)
The winners of the 2026 AGDAs will be announced in a livestreamed ceremony on 7 October.
Also on ScreenHub: PAX Aus 2026 Indie Showcase winners announced
The winners of the PAX Aus 2026 Indie Showcase have been announced, with a dozen projects across the world of video games and tabletop games earning a supported place on the show floor. Each year, game developers submit their works for consideration in the annual showcase for the chance to show off in their own dedicated booth spaces supported by the PAX Aus team. Each winner represents the bright, creative future of game-making within Australia. For audiences, visiting the Indie Showcase area is a chance to discover something new and exciting.
‘The developers behind these games are taking big swings that push technology, creativity and connectivity further every day,’ Paul Tyler, CEO of this year’s Indie Showcase sponsor Superloop, says.
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