The 2023 Steam Awards winners are very confusing

results Steam Awards 2023 Every year, Steam turns to the community to vote on the best games of the year across a wide range of categories. This year saw an RPG from Larian Studios Baldur's Gate 3 Grab the game of the year, while The killer companyA cooperative first-person horror game, It received a “Better With Friends Award” for its co-op gameplay. The Last of Us Part One It received the award for Best Original Score, which seems odd since it came out in 2013, but it technically wasn't added to Steam until 2023.

Then there were some strange choices. Bethesda's fantastic and brilliant action RPG Starfield Did it win for most innovative gameplay? And perhaps even more confusing is Rockstar Red Dead Redemption II It won the “Labor of Love Award”, a title reserved for games that continue to receive updates and support years after their release. Rockstar announced in 2022 Which Red Dead Online You will not receive any future updates.

Read more: Red Dead Online You won't get major updates with Rockstar's shift to GTA 6

The Steam Awards are voted on by the Steam community, not in a secret, smoke-filled room of mysterious judges. No, the prizes are chosen by the average player, and many of them were just as willing Sends Starfield To mostly negative review status As of December 25, 2023.

I had more than enough criticism Starfield last yearTo be honest, my opinion of him has deteriorated over time. But while there's fun and value in wandering around Bethesda's 1,000-planet-rich galaxy, it's hard to say it's fun. creative. At best, it's a fragmented shared Bethesda RPG of the kind we've been playing since 2011. And games like No sky man or Dangerous elite They've certainly done more with the concept of space travel, haven't they? Can someone explain to me how Starfield Innovative? Aside from its clever use of New Game Plus, which plays with the idea of ​​infinite universes, I have a hard time finding innovation here – especially when it's Very poor on the accessibility front.

And what about Red Dead Redemption II Winning the award for the game with the most sustained support this year? On games like Deep Rock Galactic? The online mode hasn't received an update in literally years. Cyberpunk 2077 She got that award last year, but is there a reason she can't get it twice in a row? Cyberpunk 2077 He is Hardly the same game That was in 2022 after a major 2.0 update and a satisfactory expansion with Illusory freedom. Or how about No sky man? It's the game we all point to when we talk about comeback stories, yet it's never won Steam's Labor of Love. Grand Theft Auto V He grabbed both 2018 And 2019Labor of Love Award.

Things get even weirder when you look at the Steam Awards' selection of finalists in each category. EA Sports FC 24Football game offline Sitting in 'Mixed“Review Status, It was in the process of being nominated for Game of the Year and Best Game to Excite. Sports game is definitely a strange choice for you A year full of huge releases. Although Baldur's Gate 3 I got Outstanding Story Rich Game, and it was competing with a game called Love is everywhere? never heard of it? Don't worry. We didn't either, until we looked it up. Love is everywhere is a full-motion video dating simulation game inspired by the developers who “want to date every day but will never get out of the house.” [into] The real world. paying off Steam pageIts for the game here. Don't worry, it's mostly SFW.

Although the Steam Awards 2023 seem strange, I think this is the case Democracy works.