Starfinder Second Edition Named a 2026 Origins Awards Roleplaying Game Finalist

Paizo Publishing's Starfinder Second Edition earned a spot among the finalists for Roleplaying Game of the Year at the 49th annual Origins Awards, the Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts & Design (AAGAD) and the Game Manufacturer's Association (GAMA) announced in mid-March. The news landed alongside a crowded and competitive slate that stretches from Darrington Press's Daggerheart Core Set to Cubicle 7's Warhammer: The Old World Roleplaying Game Player's Guide, making this one of the more wide-ranging RPG shortlists the Origins Awards has produced in recent memory.

J.R. Zambrano at Bell of Lost Souls, writing on March 16, captured the breadth of the field: "The 49th annual Origins Awards were announced at GAMA this year – and it's got everyone from Daggerheart to Warhammer Fantasy RP." That breadth is not an exaggeration. The full Roleplaying Game of the Year finalist list includes Age of Vikings from Chaosium, CHEW: The Roleplaying Game from Imagining Games, Coriolis: The Great Dark from Free League, Cthulhu Bay from MS Edizioni and Ares Games, Daggerheart Core Set from Darrington Press, Land of Eem Deluxe Box Set from Exalted Funeral, Cosmere RPG Stormlight Starter Set from Brotherwise Games, Starfinder Second Edition from Paizo Publishing, The Bonsai Diary from Gene Koo, and Warhammer: The Old World Roleplaying Game Player's Guide from Cubicle 7.

For Paizo, the nomination marks significant recognition for a game that launched as a full second-edition rebuild of the Starfinder system. Sharing the ballot with properties backed by publishers as established as Chaosium and Free League, alongside the cultural momentum behind Brotherwise Games' Cosmere RPG adaptation, puts Starfinder 2E in genuinely competitive company.

The Roleplaying Supplement of the Year category is equally well-stocked, with Chaosium holding three of the ten slots. The full supplement shortlist: Advent-ure Calendar 19: Kitty Clacks Christmas from Black Oak Workshop; ALIEN RPG: Rapture Protocol from Free League; Call of Cthulhu: The Sutra of Pale Leaves – Twin Suns Rising from Chaosium; Cthulhu by Gaslight: Keeper's Guide from Chaosium; Full Art Dice Set: Porcelain from Q Workshop; Green Oaks from MS Edizioni and Ares Games; Pendragon: Gamemaster's Handbook from Chaosium; The Field Guide to Floral Dragons: Explorer's Box Set from Hit Point Press; The Vault of Mini Things from Tinkerhouse Games; and Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay: High Elf Player's Guide from Cubicle 7.

The Origins Awards are run by the Game Manufacturer's Association and presented at the annual Origins Game Fair, which this year runs June 17–21. Winners across all categories will be announced at the fair in June. Bell of Lost Souls noted at the time of their reporting that "the official Origins Awards site doesn't actually have the finalists' list out yet," with industry outlets including BoardGameWire, Enworld, and Ddoplayers circulating the lists in the days that followed.

For anyone tracking Paizo's post-remaster momentum, an Origins Awards finalist nod puts Starfinder Second Edition squarely in the conversation heading into summer.