The nominees for the 2018 Steam Awards were announced in December, just ahead of the start of the most recent Steam Winter Sale. Now the results are in, and you'll never guess who won!
(It was PUBG.)
I said when the categories were announced that they were "more grounded" than in previous years, when we had to grapple with categories like "Mom's Spaghetti" and "Soul of Vitruvius." At the time, that clarity struck me as a plus overall, but in hindsight I realize that it's just kind of boring. "Winner of the 'Whoooaaaaaaa, Dude! 2.0' Award" isn't something that's likely going to boost sales if you splash it across the back of a box, but at least it gets your attention.
The 2018 winners are more conventional, but they still represent some great games and studios. The video below, which was reposted from Steam by GamersPrey, has some cool "thank you" clips from developers, and the full list of winners is just a little further down.
- Most Fun With a Machine: Rocket League (Euro Truck Simulator 2, Nier: Automata, Factorio, Space Engineers)
- Best Alternate History: Assassin's Creed Odyssey (Wolfenstein 2, Hearts of Iron 4, Civilization 6, Fallout 4)
- Better With Friends: Rainbow Six Siege (Payday 2, Dead By Daylight, CS:GO, Overcooked! 2)
- Best Environment: The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (Subnautica, Shadow of the Tomb Raider, Far Cry 5, Dark Souls 3)
- Best Developer: CD Projekt Red (Ubisoft, Bethesda, Rockstar, Digital Extremes, Square Enix, Capcom, Paradox Interactive, Bandai Namco, Klei)
- Labor of Love: Grand Theft Auto 5 (No Man's Sky, Path of Exile, Dota 2, Stardew Valley)
- VR Game of the Year: The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim VR (VR Chat, Beat Saber, Fallout 4 VR, Superhot VR)
- Game of the Year: Playerunknown's Battlegrounds (Monster Hunter: World, Kingdom Come: Deliverance, Hitman 2, Assassin's Creed: Odyssey)
