Gears of War: E-Day has a higher Metacritic score than four of the 12 Ultimate Game of the Year nominees, yet it’s not on the Golden Joysticks shortlist. Is that an Xbox tax, or just bad timing?
Gears of War: E-Day launched on 6 October, with Early Access from 1 October, and it’s sitting on a Metascore of 87 on Metacritic (Xbox Series X|S). That’s a better score than several games the judges did shortlist for Ultimate Game of the Year on 26 October.
To be clear, E-Day isn’t out of the Golden Joysticks entirely. It wasn’t nominated for Ultimate Game of the Year or for the 21 main categories, but it can still be recognised in the jury-picked awards revealed at the ceremony on 11 November.
How E-Day’s score stacks up
Ultimate Game of the Year nominees vs E-Day (Metascore)
| Game | Metascore |
|---|---|
| Big Walk | 91 |
| Forza Horizon 6 | 90 |
| Pokémon Pokopia | 89 |
| Resident Evil Requiem | 89 |
| Phantom Blade Zero | 88 |
| STAR WARS: Galactic Racer | 88 |
| 007 First Light | 87 |
| Dispatch | 87 |
| Gears of War: E-Day (not nominated) | 87 |
| PRAGMATA | 85 |
| CONTROL Resonant | 83 |
| The Blood of Dawnwalker | 83 |
| Crimson Desert | 77 |
Headline Metascores on metacritic.com, checked 27 October 2026. Scores can move as more reviews come in.
So E-Day beats PRAGMATA, CONTROL Resonant, The Blood of Dawnwalker and Crimson Desert, ties with 007 First Light and Dispatch, and trails the other six. It’s not the highest-rated game being left out, but it’s comfortably inside the range of games that made it.
The case for bad timing
The 21 main categories only covered games released by 25 September, under the Golden Joystick Awards 2026 rules, so E-Day was never in the running for those. Ultimate Game of the Year has a later window, running to 25 October, and E-Day did qualify. But it launched less than three weeks before that window closed.
That’s not long for a game to settle in with players and judges, especially next to games that have been out since the spring. Most of the shortlist has had months of attention. E-Day has had weeks.
It’s not a perfect explanation, though. STAR WARS: Galactic Racer, which Metacritic lists as launching on 6 October too, made the cut.
Or is it an Xbox tax?
“Xbox tax” is the shorthand some fans use for the idea that Xbox games get judged more harshly than everyone else. It came up on X as soon as the shortlist dropped. One player put it like this: “They put Control Resonant but not E-day. It’s a shame or some kind of Xbox tax. Maybe FH6 is too big to be ignored…” Not everyone buys it. Another said earlier this month that the idea “feels like something people invented to explain away Xbox’s underperformance”.
Nobody has shown any evidence that the judges marked E-Day down for being an Xbox game, and Future hasn’t explained why individual games were or weren’t picked.
What E-Day can still win
The jury-picked awards cover games released between 20 November 2025 and 11 November 2026, so E-Day is eligible. They’re the Critics’ Choice Award, the Breakthrough Award and the Streamers’ Choice Award. There’s no public shortlist, and the winners will be revealed on 11 November. Elsewhere, Fable is up for Most Wanted Game.
Our take: more bad timing than an Xbox tax
We think it’s more bad timing than an Xbox tax this time. Forza Horizon 6 is an Xbox game, and it’s on the Ultimate Game of the Year shortlist with the second-highest score of the 12. If the judges were shutting out Xbox, it wouldn’t be there. E-Day just arrived very late in the window, and it’s up against games people have been playing for months.
Everything else on the game is on our Gears of War: E-Day hub.
Timing or Xbox tax? Tell us what you think on X or Facebook.
