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The Steam Awards show was short and to the point

Today's award show host: Al Gorithms!

Dominic Tarason avatar
News by Dominic Tarason Contributor
Published on
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While last year's Steam Awards were just a poll on the store, Valve are stepping up their game this year. Starting in a few minutes (at the time of writing) is the Steam Awards 2018 show, broadcasting live on the company's own Steam TV site. While I doubt there'll be anything as surprising as Epic's coup at the Game Awards before the holidays, there's still a chance for unexpected announcements in there, plus I'm curious just how fancy the show will be. Tune in here on Steam TV - the show starts soon. Below, a reminder of the categories and the nominees in the running.

Update: Show's over, and honestly I'm a bit underwhelmed, even starting with low expectations. No surprises, no human faces, no pageantry. Barely any time to breathe, even. The show began immediately with the awards and hammered through them in under twenty minutes. At least each of the winning studios recorded a little award acceptance clip - that was nice. You can see a recording of the show on the Steam Awards page here.

Game Of The Year

A straightforward category with a handful of AAA competitors lined up. I'm personally rooting for Monster Hunter: World - Capcom finally released a game in the series on our humble system and seem surprised that people actually like it. I'm just hoping for another expansion after Iceborn. The nominees are:

  • Playerunknown's Battlegrounds
  • Monster Hunter: World
  • Kingdom Come: Deliverance
  • Hitman 2
  • Assassin's Creed Odyssey

VR Game Of The Year

Thanks to some minor family disasters, I still don't have a fancy pair of space goggles, but I'll be spoilt for choice when I do. I'm rooting for Beat Saber - I get exhausted just watching videos of that game. Nominees are:

  • The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim VR
  • VR Chat
  • Beat Saver
  • Fallout 4 VR
  • Superhot VR

Labor Of Love

Games can grow for years upon years, even if they're not MMOs. These are some still-growing highlights. My pick goes to Path Of Exile, which has grown from humble independent beginnings to an action-RPG colossus. Nominees are:

  • Grand Theft Auto V/Online
  • No Man's Sky
  • Path Of Exile
  • Dota 2
  • Stardew Valley

Best Developer

A shout-out to your favourite team making games. I'm giving my thumbs up to Digital Extremes, for their rags-to-riches story with Warframe, as well as very candid communication with their audience. Nominees are:

  • CD Projekt Red
  • Ubisoft
  • Bethesda
  • Rockstar Games
  • Digital Extremes
  • Square Enix
  • Capcom
  • Paradox Interactive
  • Bandai Namco
  • Klei

Best Environment

There's been some utterly stunning places to explore in games these past few years. Even games that first launched years ago are often gorgeous, too. My pick goes to Dark Souls III, for its intensely greebled world, dense with gothic moodiness. Nominees are:

  • The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
  • Subnautica
  • Shadow Of The Tomb Raider
  • Far Cry 5
  • Dark Souls III

Better With Friends

To this day, even playing MMOs, I'm a bit of an antisocial creature. I can't deny there's some games that are just plain better with a crew of your closest buddies. My pick here goes to Overcooked 2, for being just a pure, simple joy accessible to almost all members of the family. Nominees are:

  • Payday 2
  • Dead By Daylight
  • Rainbow Six Siege
  • Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
  • Overcooked 2

Best Alternate History

Getting into oddball categories here, but my pick for best historical twist has to go to Wolfenstein II. Where else am I going to shoot that many Nazis? It's pure catharsis. Nominees are:

  • Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus
  • Assassin's Creed Odyssey
  • Hearts Of Iron IV
  • Civilization VI
  • Fallout 4

Most Fun With A Machine

And the award for most scattershot category goes to... A bit weird, but I'm afraid there's no choice outside of Nier: Automata here. I've been a fan of Yoko Taro's twisted morality plays since the original Drakengard (as janky as it was), so more of that kind of thing, please. Nominees are:

  • Euro Truck Simulator
  • Rocket League
  • Nier: Automata
  • Factorio
  • Space Engineers

I don't think a single one of my picks won an award. Unsurprisingly, GTA V, Skyrim and The Witcher 3 came away big, despite being games of yesteryear. Still good and pretty, but maybe make room for some fresh faces next year, okay, Valve? You can watch the recorded show here.

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