So, Uh, What's Up With The Steam Awards?

The results of are in. Each year, Steam turns to the community to vote on the year’s best games across a wide variety of categories. This year saw Larian Studios’ RPG grab game of the year, while , a first person cooperative horror game, got the “Better With Friends Award” for its co op gameplay.

snagged Best Soundtrack, which seems odd because it came out in 2013, but it technically wasn’t added to Steam until 2023. Then there were some stranger choices. Bethesda’s much hyped and mostly fine RPG won Most Innovative Gameplay? And perhaps even more confusingly, Rockstar’s won the “Labor of Love Award,” a title reserved for games that continue to receive updates and support years after release.

that wouldn’t receive any future updates. The Steam Awards are voted on by the Steam community, not in a secretive, smoke filled room of mysterious judges. No, the awards are chosen by your average gamer—many of which were equally ready to as of December 25, 2023. I had more than enough , and to be honest, my opinion of it has probably only soured with time.

But while there’s fun and value to be had romping around Bethesda’s 1,000 planet rich galaxy, one can hardly say it’s . At best it’s a fragmented Bethesda RPG joint of the kind we’ve been playing since 2011. And games like or have certainly done more with the concept of space travel, right? Can someone please explain to me how is innovative? Aside from its clever use of new game plus, which plays with the idea of infinite universes, I’m hard pressed to find the innovation here—especially when it is so .

And what about winning an award for the game with the most continued support this year? Over games like ? The online mode hasn’t received an update in literally years. snagged that award last year, but is there some reason it couldn’t have grabbed it twice in a row? is it was in 2022 following a substantial 2.0 update and satisfying expansion with .

Or what about ? It’s the game we all reference when we talk about comeback stories, yet it’s never won Steam’s Labor of Love. grabbed both ’s Labor of Love Award. Things get even weirder when you look at the Steam Awards’ selection of finalists in each category. , a soccer game currently ” review status, was in the running for Game of the Year and Best Game You Suck At.

A sports game is certainly an odd pick for . And though took home Outstanding Story Rich Game, it was competing with a game called ? Never heard of it? Don’t worry. We didn’t either, until we looked it up. is a full motion video dating sim game inspired by the devs who “want to date every day but will never step out of the house [into] the real world.

Check out e for the game here. Don’t worry, it’s mostly SFW. Strange as though these Steam Awards 2023 awards are, I guess that’s just how ..