South of Midnight Dominates Canadian Game Awards 2026 With a Near-Perfect Sweep Including GOTY

David Carcasole
The image shows the logo for the Canadian Game Awards alongside Prix du Jeu Canadien on a purple background.
Image credit: Canadian Game Awards

The Canadian Game Awards 2026 have come and gone to finally close out the awards season for 2025, and while its regional restrictions meant this was one awards show that Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 couldn't run away with, it did have a singular game dominating the night. South of Midnight was the clear winner of the evening, taking home seven awards, including the biggest award of the night.

Compulsion Games' story-driven adventure won in almost every category it was nominated in, save for Innovation in Accessibility, which Assassin's Creed Shadows took home as its singular win of the night. Compulsion Games even took home the award for Studio of the Year, beating out strong contenders like Warframe makers Digital Extremes and Hell is Us developer Rogue Factor.

Related Story Assassin’s Creed Shadows, South of Midnight, and Hell is Us Lead the 2026 Canadian Game Awards Nominations

Rogue Factor didn't go home empty handed, however, as Hell is Us was able to take home Best Game Design, and lead actor Elias Toufexis won Best Performance for his performance as the game's protagonist, Remi.

Elsewhere, it was a strong night of celebration for the Canadian video game industry, with Outlast developer Red Barrels celebrating its 15-year anniversary and the introduction of the Game Changer Award, a lifetime achievement-style award that was given to long-time video games media creator and host Victor Lucas for his work in media spanning over two decades.

The show also featured looks at upcoming Canadian-made games like Echo Generation 2, which is due to launch next week and will arrive on Xbox Game Pass on day one. You can check out the full show, which was hosted by Commander Shepard actor Jennifer Hale and Commander Shepard actor Mark Meer, and a full list of the winners below.

Disclaimer: Wccftech is on the judging committee for the Canadian Game Awards though is uninvolved with the production of the show itself.

Canadian Game Awards 2026 Winners

Best Art Direction

  • Eternal Strands
  • Lost Records: Bloom & Rage
  • Marvel Cosmic Invasion
  • 33 Immortals
  • South of Midnight - Winner

Best Audio Design

  • Assassin's Creed Shadows
  • Battlefield 6
  • Eternal Strands
  • Hell is Us
  • South of Midnight - Winner

Best Score/Soundtrack

  • Assassin's Creed Shadows
  • Eternal Strands
  • Lost Records: Bloom & Rage
  • Marvel Cosmic Invasion
  • South of Midnight - Winner

Best Performance

  • Erica Luttrell as Melissa Mills in Battlefield 6
  • Olivia Lepore as Swann Holloway in Lost Records: Bloom & Rage
  • Momona Tamada as Oni-yuri in Assassin’s Creed Shadows
  • Peter Shinkoda as Fujibayashi Nagato in Assassin’s Creed Shadows
  • Elias Toufexis as Rémi in Hell is Us - Winner

Best Console Game

  • Assassin's Creed Shadows
  • Battlefield 6
  • Hell is Us
  • Marvel Cosmic Invasion
  • South of Midnight - Winner

Best PC Game

  • Aloft
  • Ambrosia Sky: Act One
  • Battlefield 6 - Winner
  • Eternal Strands
  • Foundation

Best Mobile Game

  • EA Sports FC 26 Mobile
  • Elsewhere Electric
  • LHEA and the Word Spirit
  • Rainbow Six Mobile - Winner

Best VR/AR Game

  • Chronostrike
  • Elsewhere Electric - Winner
  • Fruit Golf
  • Prison Boss Prohibition
  • Verse VR

Best Esports Event

  • Battle of BC 7
  • Call of Duty Champs
  • Electric Clash
  • Raptors GC Tournament - Winner
  • Valorant Masters Toronto 2025

Best Esports Player

  • Adam “mada” Pampuch
  • Brandon “Dashy” Otell
  • Keith “NAF” Markovic
  • Russel “Twistzz” Van Dulken - Winner
  • Troy “Canadian” Jaroslawski

Best Esports Coach

  • Antonin “AEC” Tran
  • Kurtis “Aui_2000” Ling
  • Loic “Effys” Sauvageau - Winner
  • Mervin-Angelo “Dayos” Lachica
  • Shaun Byrne

Best Esports and Gaming Organization

  • Raptors GC
  • Shopify Rebellion - Winner
  • Toronto Ultra/KOI/OverActive Media
  • Vancouver Surge

Best Content Creator

  • Alex “Vansilli” Nguyen
  • Ashley Roboto
  • Nicholas “NickEh30” Amyoony
  • Stef Sanjati
  • Victor Lucas/Electric Playground - Winner

Innovation in Accessibility

  • Assassin's Creed Shadows - Winner
  • EA Sports FC 26
  • South of Midnight
  • Squeekross
  • Wanderstop

Best Narrative

  • Assassin's Creed Shadows
  • Hell is Us
  • Lost Records: Bloom & Rage
  • South of Midnight - Winner
  • Wanderstop

Best Game Design

  • Assassin's Creed Shadows
  • Battlefield 6
  • Hell is Us - Winner
  • Eternal Strands
  • South of Midnight

Best Indie Game

  • Ambrosia Sky: Act One
  • Ctrl Alt Deal
  • Fresh Tracks
  • Marvel Cosmic Invasion
  • Wanderstop - Winner

Studio of the Year

  • Compulsion Games - Winner
  • Digital Extremes
  • Rogue Factor
  • Tribute Games
  • Yellow Brick Games

ESAC Fan Choice Award - Lost Records: Bloom & Rage - Winner

Game of the Year

  • Assassin's Creed Shadows
  • Hell is Us
  • Lost Records: Bloom & Rage
  • South of Midnight - Winner
  • Wanderstop
David Carcasole Photo

About the author: David has been writing about videogames, technology, and culture since 2020, with a focus on reporting daily news across multiple publications, including GameDaily.Biz, GameSkinny, and PlayStation Universe before joining Wccftech in 2025. David started contributing as Canada/US reporter for Wccftech's gaming section in 2025. Besides being up-to-date on the industry's movements, he loves interviewing developers, reviewing games, and writing intricate essays about the symbolism and layered meanings to be found in rich narratives as he's done for publications like GamesIndustry.Biz, LostInCult, and others. Outside of games he loves movies, music, theatre, his hometown, and his family, though not necessarily in that order.

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