Valve is holding its first ever Steam Awards and you will get the chance to pick who wins for the 12 identified categories. The nomination process has already been completed and the company has released the official list of nominees.
If you have been following this development at Steam since its November announcement and probably participated in the nomination process, then you know that the categories are not what you will find in conventional game awards.
Where Is The Best Game?
Instead of the Best Game or Game of the Year, for instance, Valve has created the "I Thought This Game Was Cool Before It Won An Award" award. The nominees for this category include Euro Truck Simulator 2, Paladins, Starbound, Stardew Valley, and Unturned. These finalists were thought by Steam users as excellent titles but did not get any coverage for lack of marketing machine.
You can also argue that the "Whoooaaaaaaa, dude!" award should take the Best Game's place since it is described as the title that supposedly blew your mind for its sheer brilliance. You may be assured that this is where some of the most popular titles got lumped. The nominees are: Bioshock Infinite, DOOM, Grand Theft Auto V, Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, and The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.
The Cool, The Bizaare, And The Timeless
One other notable difference involves the eligibility of the entire games in Steam's library. This has been underscored by the "Test of Time" award, which counts the Age of Empires II HD, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Civilization V, Team Fortress 2, and Terraria as finalists.
Now, if you are a bit eccentric, you will probably appreciate the category called "Best Use Of A Farm Animal" award. Valve seems to hold the opinion that games are often better with animals in them so it has created a dedicated medal for games that made sure that they got integrated in the best way possible. The following titles turned out to have done this very thing: ARK: Survival Evolved, Blood and Bacon, Farming Simulator 17, Goat Simulator, and Stardew Valley.
Steam was also able to introduce really cool one's that could rival MTV's Best Kiss category such as the "Villain Most In Need Of A Hug" award and the "Better With Friends" award. If you are curious which titles dominated the former, they include the Borderlands 2 and the Dead by Daylight. For some reason, fans found the villains in these games worthy of some cuddling.
Write-In Categories
Valve has promised to select one category suggested by users. Submissions were reportedly numerous and interesting so that Valve was forced to pick four. Nevertheless, some are still grumbling that write-ins like "The game most in need of a sequel" got ignored. There are also users unhappy that their favorites did not make the cut.
One should remember that Steam users were behind the list of nominated games. The Steam Selection Committee merely tabulated the 15 million or so nominations. The incredible number involved is attributed to the fact that Valve decided that there will be no restrictions or criteria for a game to be nominated. As long it is part of the Steam library, it is qualified.
Valve stressed, however, that there are still rules when voting for the finalists. Voting will begin from Dec. 22 until Dec. 29. You will only be able to vote for a category within 24 hours. This will be the case for the nine original awards. Finalists of the four write-in categories will all get their votes on Dec. 30.
Head over to Steam for the complete list of categories, including their respective nominees and the schedule for voting.
