South Korea’s annual game awards now has its marquee showdown. The 2026 Korea Game Awards shortlist, announced on October 26 KST, puts NCSoft’s AION 2 and Pearl Abyss’s Crimson Desert in the running for the Grand Prize.
The main-award nominees are Dokkaebi’s World, Lost Eidolons: Veil of the Witch, MONGIL: Star Dive, Crimson Desert, Stone Age: Idle Adventure, Eclipse: The Awakening, The Seven Deadly Sins: Origin, Imjin War: Joseon’s Counterattack, Zeus: God of Arrogance, Chaos Zero Nightmare, AION 2, and MIMESIS. Eligible titles were Korean-developed games released between October 3, 2025 and October 12, 2026. Netmarble has the biggest presence among publishers, with three games making the shortlist.
Crimson Desert launched in March and reportedly sold 2 million copies on its first day. It then passed 6 million worldwide in 83 days. Its paid DLC, Unknown Journey, is due out on October 30.
AION 2 first launched in Korea and Taiwan in November 2025, then rolled out globally earlier this month. Reports say it has been hitting daily Steam peaks of 200,000 to 300,000 players. It’s also NCSoft’s first Korea Game Awards submission in 14 years, dating back to Blade & Soul winning the Grand Prize in 2012.
If you keep up with Korean games, this is one to watch.
Online voting runs until 5 p.m. KST on November 16. Winners will be decided by a 50 percent judges’ vote, 25 percent public vote, and 25 percent media vote, then announced at 4 p.m. on November 18 at BEXCO in Busan across 13 categories.
Author: Emmanuel Bosque
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"es-ES": "Emmanuel Bosque cubre videojuegos en Softonic: lanzamientos, actualizaciones que convierten un juego en otro sin decirlo y los movimientos de una industria que casi nunca avisa. Escribe pensando en quien va a jugar, no en quien va a discutir: qué se puede jugar hoy, en qué plataforma y si de verdad merece la descarga. Forma parte del equipo editorial de Softonic y trabaja a diario con herramientas de IA en la producción de contenido.",
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"it-IT": "Emmanuel Bosque si occupa di videogiochi su Softonic: uscite, aggiornamenti che trasformano un gioco in un altro senza dirlo e un'industria che quasi mai avvisa in anticipo. Scrive per chi ha intenzione di giocare, non per chi ha intenzione di discutere: cosa si può giocare oggi, su quale piattaforma e se vale davvero il download. Fa parte del team editoriale di Softonic e lavora ogni giorno con strumenti di IA nella produzione dei contenuti.",
"nl-NL": "Emmanuel Bosque schrijft bij Softonic over videogames: releases, updates die een spel stilletjes in een ander spel veranderen, en een industrie die haar stappen zelden vooraf aankondigt. Hij schrijft voor wie gaat spelen, niet voor wie gaat discussiëren: wat je vandaag kunt spelen, op welk platform en of de download het waard is. Hij maakt deel uit van de redactie van Softonic en werkt dagelijks met AI-tools in de contentproductie.",
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