The winners of the Steam Awards 2023 have been announced – and of course there’s some grumbling

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At the turn of the year 2024, the Steam community once again selects the winners of the past year. Including some quite controversial favorites

The turn of the year is always a reason to look back on the past year, take stock and answer the crucial question: Was my hair always this thin in the front? After the gaming world had to get over more than a few receding hairlines in 2022, things looked very different in 2023: Heaps of fantastic games were released – and Valve wants to honor them with its community.

The 2023 Steam Awards were therefore chosen as part of the Steam Winter Sale. The nominations took place in the fall, now all the votes have been counted, the results have been determined and are causing quite a bit of discussion online – at least in the case of two candidates.

Let’s go through it

The winners of the Steam Awards 2023

The Steam Awards were chosen in a total of eleven categories:

  • Best Soundtrack: The Last of Us Part 1
  • Best game you suck at: Sifu
  • Excellent game with a deep story: Baldur’s Gate 3
  • Lean back and relax: Dave The Diver
  • Most innovative gameplay: Starfield
  • Outstanding visual style: Atomic Heart
  • Better with friends: Lethal Company
  • The best game on the Steam Deck: Hogwarts Legacy
  • Work of Love: Red Dead Redemption 2
  • VR Game of the Year: Labyrinthine
  • Game of the Year: Baldur’s Gate 3

It should come as no surprise to anyone that Baldur’s Gate 3 is also a big winner here – what was already apparent during the Game Awards 2023 is continuing on Steam.

The two bigger bones of contention, however, can be found elsewhere.

Critical voices on the Steam Awards 2023

Criticism is mainly directed at Starfield and Red Dead Redemption 2 in the Innovation and Longevity categories. On X (formerly Twitter) there are various voices that cannot understand the community’s rating:

In the case of Starfield, the criticism remains rather vague. Some people can’t understand why Bethesda’s open world deserves an innovation award when they themselves criticize the game for making far too little out of its potential to be really interesting

Significantly more negative voices can be found about Red Dead Redemption 2. Rockstar’s Red Dead Online has been criticized for years for having far too little new content. In 2022, the community symbolically buried the game after a year without any significant updates. The fact that this game of all games should now earn an award for many years of content maintenance is a source of anger for many fans

What do you think of the Steam Awards 2023? Do you share the criticism of Starfield and/or Red Dead Redemption 2? Would you have preferred Hunt: Showdown on all the winners’ podiums? Or are you satisfied with the community vote? Let us know what you think. By the way, the Steam Sale lasts until January 4, 2024 – until then you have the chance to get many of the winners at a significantly reduced price