This is just Polygon’s guess of what they think will be nominated - pure crystal ball gazing.
That said on previous years there has been a few weeks between ballots being due and the cut off for a games release date:
Ballots were sent out to outlets on Oct. 29, due back on Nov. 6, […]. Outlets also had until Nov. 13 to send in updated versions of those ballots, if changes were necessary. […] To be eligible, the game must be released before Nov. 20 […]
This is just Polygon’s guess of what they think will be nominated - pure crystal ball gazing.
That said on previous years there has been a few weeks between ballots being due and the cut off for a games release date:
https://www.polygon.com/2020/11/18/21574150/the-game-awards-nominations-2020-games-list