The Steam Awards 2023 nominees sure seem weird to me
Starfield? Really?
The nominees for the public-voted Steam Awards have been announced and they are, perhaps more than ever before, baffling to me. If I was being uncharitable, I'd say that's because the list is overrun by games with large multiplayer communities that can be encouraged to vote for them - but who would want to be uncharitable? Let's instead say that the list is certainly not boring, even if Starfield gets a nod for "most innovative gameplay".
Here's the full list of nominees:
Game Of The Year award- Resident Evil 4
- Hogwarts Legacy
- Lethal Company
- Baldur's Gate 3
- EA Sports FC 24
- Gorilla Tag
- I Expect You To Die 3
- Labyrinthine
- F1 23
- Ghosts Of Tabor
- Red Dead Redemption 2
- Dota 2
- Deep Rock Galactic
- Rust
- Apex Legends
- The Outlast Trials
- Dredge
- Diablo 4
- Brotato
- Hogwarts Legacy
- Warhammer 40K: Darktide
- Lethal Company
- Party Animals
- Sunkenland
- Sons Of The Forest
- Atomic Heart
- High On Life
- Cocoon
- Darkest Dungeon 2
- Inward
- Your Only Move Is Hustle
- Remnant 2
- Shadows Of Doubt
- Contraband Police
- Starfield
- Sifu
- Lords Of The Fallen
- Overwatch
- EA Sports FC 24
- Street Fighter 6
- Pizza Tower
- The Last Of Us: Part One
- Hi-Fi Rush
- Persona 5 Tactica
- Chants Of Sennaar
- Resident Evil 4
- Star Wars Jedi: Survivor
- Love Is All Around
- Baldur's Gate 3
- Lies Of P
- Train Sim World 4
- Coral Island
- Dave The Diver
- Cities Skylines 2
- Portion Craft
Are those big, pretty battery-drainers really better on Steam Deck than, say, Dave The Diver? Is EA Sports FC 24 really the best game "you suck at", over and above any difficult platformer or roguelike or another of this year's many Soulslikes? I'm unconvinced.
You can see more of all the nominees over at the Steam Awards site. Voting opens on December 21st and coincides with the beginning of the Steam winter sale. Voting closes on January 2nd while the sale will continue until January 4th, according to its recent trailer.