The winner of the GamingonPhone Awards 2026 held in Bangkok on Oct 28 is none other than NetEase Games' Where Winds Meet. This is significant as it is indicative of a new trend in the mobile gaming landscape where in-depth open world games are starting to pose more of a direct challenge to traditional casual and battle royale games. This is an important recognition for the industry as a whole, which is increasingly shifting towards richer narratives and visual excellence in mobile games.
NetEase title beats casual rivals as Talking Tom Cat claims Update of the Year
The award specifically recognizes the efforts of NetEase Games's division EverStone Studio in Mobile Game of the Year. The GamingonPhone Awards ceremony itself is an important industry event that recognizes excellence in the mobile gaming sector. This award marks an important distinction for Where Winds Meet within the competitive mobile landscape which has been largely dominated by more straightforward, casual games.
For the 2026 GamingonPhone Awards, the final winners were decided based on a weighted voting system. In this model, a professional jury had 50% of the decision-making power, player votes 40%, and editorial staff had 10%. The voting system used for the GamingonPhone Awards blends jury scores with player and editorial votes in order to decide the winners, based on both critical appraisal and player appeal.
Other awards include the Player's Choice award which went to Heartopia. The award for Best On-going Mobile Game goes to Free Fire. Talking Tom Cat also won Update of the Year, interestingly against heavyweights like Genshin Impact. The breadth of games recognized, including live-service games as well as games with substantial content updates speaks to the diverse interests of the voting population.
Source: IXBT
Mobile games winning major awards is a solid shift. NetEase is doing well.