The Steam Awards 2023 Winners Are Getting Dragged Online

Valve announced the community-chosen winners for the Steam Awards 2023, and they’re getting dragged online.

Steam announced the winners of the awards on its website. Unsurprisingly, Baldur’s Gate 3 continued its streak of winning Game of the Years by winning GotY. Labyrinthine took home VR Game of the Year, with Hogwarts Legacy getting Best Game on Steam Deck, and Lethal Company earning the Better With Friends Award.

However, things get weird fast. Red Dead Redemption 2 took home the Labor of Love Award, and Starfield got the Most Innovative Gameplay Award. I’ve compiled a list of some notable reactions below. That’s where people started to wonder just what the heck was going on with voting.

There are, of course, many more that you can find by either going to Steam’s announcement on X or other platforms. That’s just the easiest one for me to embed in articles here. Still, there are some comments defending Starfield as innovative, particularly from those who actually finished the game and got to its New Game+ mode. No one, though, seems particularly happy with the idea of Red Dead Redemption 2 getting Labor of Love due in large part to the lack of support Rockstar Games has given the title. The list and dragging are, of course, all in good fun.

Other winners include Sifu for the Best Game You Suck at Award, The Last of Us: Part I for Best Soundtrack, Baldur’s Gate 3 (again) for Outstanding Story-Rich Game, and Dave the Diver for the Sit Back and Relax Award.

The Steam Awards started in 2016 and are voted on by users. This year’s voting took place between Dec. 21 and Jan. 2. Other nominated titles for the controversial Labor of Lobe pick included Apex Legends and Deep Rock Galactic. Remnant 2 and Contraband Police were among those contending for Most Innovative Gameplay.