Steam Awards


The Steam Awards are an annual user-voted award event for video games published on Valve's digital game distribution service Steam. They were introduced in 2016.

Format

The Steam Awards are selected in two phases. In the first phase, Valve selects a number of categories, atypical of those used in gaming awards, and allows any registered Steam user to select one game available on Steam for that category. Valve subsequently reviews the nominations and then selects the top five games for final voting. These nominations are then presented to Steam users, giving them the opportunity to vote in each category. Following this, Valve announces the winners. Game nomination and voting periods are concurrent with Steam's annual autumn and winter holiday sales.

Awards

2016

The nomination process took place from November 23–29, 2016. The voting took place from December 22–30, 2016, with the winners announced on December 31, 2016. Valve stated they received about 15 million nominations.
The 'Villain Most In Need Of A Hug' AwardThe 'I Thought This Game Was Cool Before It Won An Award' Award

  • Euro Truck Simulator 2
  • * Paladins
  • * Starbound
  • * Stardew Valley
  • * Unturned
    • The 'Test of Time' AwardThe 'Just 5 More Minutes' Award
  • * Age of Empires II HD
  • * Sid Meier's Civilization V
  • * Team Fortress 2
  • * Terraria
  • * Rocket League
  • * Sid Meier's Civilization VI
  • * Fallout 4
  • * Terraria
    • The 'Whoooaaaaaaa, dude!' AwardThe 'Game Within A Game Award' Award
  • Grand Theft Auto V
  • * BioShock Infinite
  • * Doom
  • * '
  • * '
  • Grand Theft Auto V
  • * Garry’s Mod
  • * The Stanley Parable
  • * Tabletop Simulator
  • * '
    • The 'I'm Not Crying, There's Something In My Eye' AwardThe 'Best Use Of A Farm Animal' Award
  • The Walking Dead
  • * Life Is Strange
  • * To the Moon
  • * This War of Mine
  • * Undertale
  • Goat Simulator
  • * '
  • * Blood and Bacon
  • * Farming Simulator 17
  • * Stardew Valley
    • The 'Boom Boom' AwardThe 'Love/Hate Relationship' Award

    • Doom
    • * BroForce
    • * Just Cause 3
    • * Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes
    • * Kerbal Space Program
  • Dark Souls III
  • * Darkest Dungeon
  • * Dota 2
  • * Geometry Dash
  • * Super Meat Boy
    • The 'Sit Back and Relax' AwardThe 'Better With Friends' Award

    • Euro Truck Simulator 2
    • * Abzu
    • * Cities Skylines
    • * Mini Metro
    • * Viridi
  • Left 4 Dead 2
  • * Don't Starve Together
  • * Gang Beasts
  • * Golf With Your Friends
  • * Magicka

    • 2017

    The nomination process took place from November 22–28, 2017. The voting took place from December 20, 2017 to January 2, 2018, with the winners announced on January 3.

    2018

    The nomination process began on November 21, 2018. Finalists were revealed in December, with the winners announced during a live broadcast on Steam.tv on February 8, 2019.
    The "Game of the Year" AwardThe "VR Game of the Year" Award

    • PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds
    • * '
    • * '
    • * Hitman 2
    • * Assassin's Creed Odyssey
  • * VRChat
  • * Beat Saber
  • * Fallout 4 VR
  • * Superhot VR
    • The "Labor of Love" AwardThe "Best Developer" Award
  • Grand Theft Auto V
  • * Dota 2
  • * No Man's Sky
  • * Path of Exile
  • * Stardew Valley
  • CD Projekt Red
  • * Bandai Namco Entertainment
  • * Bethesda
  • * Capcom
  • * Digital Extremes
  • * Klei
  • * Paradox Interactive
  • * Rockstar Games
  • * Square Enix
  • * Ubisoft
    • The "Best Environment" AwardThe "Better With Friends" Award
  • * Subnautica
  • * Shadow of the Tomb Raider
  • * Far Cry 5
  • * Dark Souls III
  • Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege
  • * '
  • * Payday 2
  • * Dead by Daylight
  • * Overcooked! 2
    • The "Best Alternate History" AwardThe "Most Fun with a Machine" Award
  • Assassin's Creed Odyssey
  • * '
  • * Hearts of Iron IV
  • * Civilization VI
  • * Fallout 4
  • Rocket League
  • * Euro Truck Simulator 2
  • *
  • * Factorio
  • * Space Engineers

    • 2019

    The nomination process began on November 26, 2019. Finalists were revealed starting on December 11, 2019, with one category a day. Unlike previous years, eligibility for awards was restricted by release date, with only games released after November 2018 able to be nominated, except for the "Labor of Love" category. Users were able to vote from December 19–31, with the winners announced on the final day.
    The "Game of the Year" AwardThe "VR Game of the Year" Award

  • Beat Saber
  • *Blade and Sorcery
  • *Borderlands 2 VR
  • *'
  • *Gorn
    • The "Labor of Love" AwardThe "Better With Friends" Award
  • Grand Theft Auto V
  • *'
  • *Dota 2
  • *Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege
  • *Warframe
  • DayZ
  • *'
  • *Dota Underlords
  • *Ring of Elysium
  • *Risk of Rain 2
    • The "Most Innovative Gameplay" AwardThe "Outstanding Story-Rich Game" Award
  • My Friend Pedro
  • *Baba Is You
  • *Oxygen Not Included
  • *Planet Zoo
  • *Slay the Spire
  • *Disco Elysium
  • *Far Cry New Dawn
  • *Gears 5
  • *GreedFall
    • The "Best Game You Suck At" AwardThe "Outstanding Visual Style" Award
  • Mortal Kombat 11
  • *Code Vein
  • *'
  • *Mordhau
  • *'
  • Gris
  • *Astroneer
  • *Katana Zero
  • *'
  • *'