2022 is winding down and the bomb cyclone is spinning up, and that means the most wonderful time of the year is finally here: The Steam Winter Sale is live!
The 2022 Steam Winter Sale features deep discounts on all kinds of games, the best of which we'll be rounding up in a recommendation post that should be up soon. (The sale just started, you know. These things take time.)
But that's not the only thing going on. There will also be deals on various bits of digital goodies in the Steam Points Shop, and the traditional free festive stickers—also digital, for the record—that will be up for grabs throughout the sale.
The end of the year on Steam also signals the start of voting in the annual Steam Awards. Voting is live now and will remain open until 9 am PT/12 pm ET on January 3.
Here are the 2022 nominees, spread across 11 mostly-familiar categories:
Game of the Year
- Dying Light 2: Stay Human
- Elden Ring
- Stray
- God of War
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (2022)
VR Game of the Year
- Bonelab
- Hitman 3
- Green Hell VR
- Among Us VR
- Inside the Backrooms
Labor of Love
- Dota 2
- Project Zomboid
- No Man's Sky
- Deep Rock Galctic
- Cyberpunk 2077
Better With Friends
- Raft
- Ready or Not
- Monster Hunter Rise
- Multiversus
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (2022)
Outstanding Visual Style
- Scorn
- Bendy and the Dark Revival
- Cult of the Lamb
- Spider-Man: Miles Morales
- Kena: Bridge of Spirits
Most Innovative Gameplay
- Mount and Blade 2: Bannerlord
- Teardown
- Stray
- Neon White
- Dome Keeper
Best Game You Suck At
- GTFO
- Victoria 3
- Total War: Warhammer 3
- Elden Ring
- FIFA 23
Best Soundtrack
- Metal Hellsinger
- Sonic Frontiers
- Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade
- Persona 5 Royal
- Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA Mega Mix+
Outstanding Story-Rich Game
- A Plague Tale: Requiem
- God of War
- Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection
- The Stanley Parable Ultra Deluxe
- Spider-Man Remastered
Sit Back and Relax
- Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga
- Power Wash Simulator
- Disney Dreamlight Valley
- Dorf Romantik
- Slime Rancher 2
Best Game on the Go
- Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel
- Vampire Survivors
- Death Stranding Director's Cut
- Brotato
- Marvel Snap
The 2022 Steam Winter Sale is live now and runs until 10 am PT/1 pm ET on January 5, 2023. It's the big one, but as always, we strongly recommend that you shop around before you push the button: GOG, Epic, and Humble are having very nice holiday sales of their own, so you might as well be sure you're getting the best deal you can.
And if you saw something in the Winter Sale trailer up above that looks cool and want to know what it's all about, here's the full lowdown on every game that appeared, in order of appearance:
