Steam fans can now cast their nominations for the first-ever Steam Awards, coinciding with the kickoff of the Steam Autumn Sale running from Nov. 23 to Nov. 29.
Steam Awards Categories
Players may cast their nominations under eight available categories, the names of which aren't exactly representative of a prestigious caliber found on most mainstream awards shows for video games such as the forthcoming Game Awards in December or any art form for that matter.
However you look at it, though, awards are arbitrary and subjective, so Steam has replaced prestige with humor, pouring a dash of jesting spirits into the Steam Awards.
There's a "Test of Time" award for games that have aged well, accomplishing their retained excellence even when they're so far from their original release date. These are the type of games that you'll always come back to even when newer titles enter the fore, according to Steam.
The "I'm Not Crying, There's Something In My Eye" award recognizes the biggest tearjerkers in Steam's huge library.
There's the "Just 5 More Minutes" award for the game that pushes players on the brink of tardiness for the next day's work schedule or school day. These games are so compelling that "Just 5 More Minutes" becomes a sly translation for "Just Several More Hours."
The "The "Whoooaaaaaaa, dude!" award recognizes games that blow players' minds. The "Game Within A Game" award honors the best mini-games embedded inside main titles. The "I Thought This Game Was Cool Before It Won An Award" recognizes little-known titles — indie game Undertale comes to mind — that may have not been backed by significant marketing but remained an excellent title in and of itself despite. There's also a "Best Use Of A Farm Animal" award because why not?
Finally, users can submit their custom award name for the "We Didn't Think Of Everything" award, giving players the chance to come up with their own wacky award category. Steam will collect the most popular user-submitted entries and select the best ones.
How To Nominate Steam Games
Those who want to nominate their favorite games may search for the game on Steam and click "Nominate this game for an award" and select which category best fits for the game. Users who'll nominate will be given a badge, which comes with an extra 25 XP.
To get the badge, nominate at least one game, nominate a game in each category, play a game you've nominated and write up a review of the game you've nominated. Complete these tasks and the badge is yours.
Steam nominations are live now and will close Nov. 29, with the winners to be announced in December, according to PCGamer. Don't expect Digital Homicide games to be nominated, though.
What do you think? Could Witcher 3: Wild Hunt or Fallout 4 be locked for nominations? Feel free to sound off in the comments section below!
