Fans finding hilarious ways to air their grievances in first-ever Steam Awards
In case you haven’t heard, Valve is trying something new this year, with their first-ever Steam Awards. Players from the Steam community can nominate games in a number of categories, with Valve doing its best to include some tongue-in-cheek options as well:
- The “Test of Time” Award
- The “I’m Not Crying, There’s Something In My Eye” Award
- The “Just 5 More Minutes” Award
- The “Whoooaaaaaaa, dude!” Award
- The “Villain Most In Need Of A Hug” Award
- The “Game Within A Game” Award
- The “I Thought This Game Was Cool Before It Won An Award” Award
- The “Best Use Of A Farm Animal” Award
- The “We Didn’t Think Of Everything” Award
Plus, Valve has invited players to create their own categories and submit nominations for them. One of your faves got forgotten? No problem, just make your own award and give it the props it deserves. Sounds cool right?
But, this is 2016, the year of No Man’s Sky, among some other disappointments in gaming. Plus, any time a company gives people on the Internet a forum to go wild, things often go badly (remember when Pitbull got sent to Alaska? No? Yup.) So, not too surprisingly, the Steam Awards have already become a forum for fans to vent their anger at developers, as well as create some pretty hilarious categories. It all makes for some pretty entertaining reading.
As you can imagine, many players have taken the chance to air out their disappointment with No Man’s Sky. “Biggest Lie of 2016,” “Scam Of The Century” and “Most Hyped 2016 Letdown” are some of the fan categories so far for that much-maligned title. Others are even more vitriolic: “The Cake That Glados Was Talking About,” “Best Tech Demo 2016” and “Please Do Not Buy This Game.” Ouch. Apparently, Hello Games’ recent promise of a new update has not erased the bitterness for some.
It isn’t all bitterness, though. Fans who want a Half Life 3 are gently pushing Valve to create it by using the Steam Awards as a sneaky medium. See for example one fan’s category entitled “The Last Game in a Long-Standing Franchise Because the Developer Has Moved On to More Profitable Ventures” Award for Half Life 2.
Kudos to Valve for including the Steam community in its first-ever Steam Awards. Their hearts are in the right place – but unfortunately, history tells us that when you ask the Internet for its honest opinion, you often end up regretting it. Either way, this is making for one entertaining show to end the gaming year – grab your popcorn and stay tuned!