It may not be the most glamorous of video game accolades, but Valve’s annual Steam Awards has its own unique role to play in the gaming industry. This year is no different, asSteamset and broke its record for concurrent users multiple times throughout 2020. A swing toward digital gaming occurred off the back of the stay-at-home policies from the coronavirus pandemic, andSteamwas a major beneficiary.
The Steam Awards Game of the Year, the biggest award of the event, is now confirmed to beRed Dead Redemption 2. WhileRed Dead Redemption 2technically launched on PC in 2019, it still fits into this year’s consideration window due to an offset schedule.Red Dead Redemption 2won overDead Stranding,Doom Eternal,Fall Guys, andHades, all quality releases and some of Steam’s most popular and highest-grossing titles of 2020.
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Also prominently featured is the Steam Awards' VR Game of the Year, for understandable reasons. The winner wasValve’s ownHalf-Life: Alyx, the long-awaited sequel to the extremely popularHalf-Lifefranchise.Half-Life: Alyxdid have some stiff competition, however. The popular multiplayer horror gamePhasmophobiawas also a nominee, alongsideStar Wars: Squadrons,The Room VR: A Dark Matter, andThief Simulator.
Eight other awards were given out today as part of the Steam Awards. Labor of Love, the award for live service games, went to Valve’sCounter-Strike: Global Offensive. The multiplayer Better With Friends award went toFall Guys. Outstanding Visual Style was won byOri and the Will of the Wispsand Outstanding Story-Rich Game went toRed Dead Redemption 2. Most Innovative Gameplay went toDeath Stranding, Best Soundtrack went to therockingDoom Eternal, Best Game You Suck At was given toApex Legends, and the Sit Back and Relax Award went toThe Sims 4.
TheSteam Awardsare odd in how they do nominations. Users are able to nominate games, but Steam ultimately decides the five finalists in each category. Steam users then decide the winners from those choices, and as such Valve has a significant amount of control over the process. Some categories seem to allow for older games, while others don’t.
For those curious about sales and revenue from the past year, Steam shared that information this past week. Thetop-selling Steam games releases in 2020includeCyberpunk 2077,Doom Eternal, andFall Guys. Most-played includes those three previous titles, as well as some surprises likeLife is Strange 2. Needless to say, it was a great year forSteamand the gaming community at large, in spite of what a frustrating year 2020 was overall.
