Valve reveals Steam Awards nominees

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12 categories, 12 winners—voting opens December 22.

In line with the conclusion of the Steam Autumn Sale, Valve announced its inaugural Steam Awards last month. Nomination voting across eight pre-set categories was put to the public, while a ninth heading—the “We Didn’t Think Of Everything” Award—asked voters to suggest a grouping of their own, and four have now been chosen. All categories have been finalised and voting is set to kick off on December 22. 

All told, Valve says 15 million nominations were submitted—here's the shortlist in full, and when voting opens for each award (the headings are pretty self-explanatory, however details on why each game features in its respective class can be found here):

December 22nd 6pm GMT/10am PT

The 'Villain Most In Need Of A Hug' Award

  • Borderlands 2
  • Dead by Daylight
  • Far Cry 3
  • Far Cry 4
  • Portal 2

December 23rd 6pm GMT/10am PT

The 'I Thought This Game Was Cool Before It Won An Award' Award

  • Euro Truck Simulator 2
  • Paladins
  • Starbound
  • Stardew Valley
  • Unturned

December 24th 6pm GMT/10am PT

The 'Test of Time' Award

  • Age of Empires II HD
  • The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
  • Sid Meier’s Civilization V
  • Team Fortress 2
  • Terraria

December 25th 6pm GMT/10am PT

The 'Just 5 More Minutes' Award

  • Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
  • Rocket League
  • Sid Meier’s Civilization VI
  • Fallout 4
  • Terraria

December 26th 6pm GMT/10am PT

The 'Whoooaaaaaaa, dude!' Award

  • Bioshock Infinite
  • DOOM
  • Grand Theft Auto V
  • Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain-The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

December 27th 6pm GMT/10am PT

The 'Game Within A Game Award' Award

  • Garry’s Mod
  • Grand Theft Auto V
  • The Stanley Parable
  • Tabletop Simulator
  • The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

December 28th 6pm GMT/10am PT

The 'I’m Not Crying, There’s Something In My Eye' Award

  • Life Is Strange
  • To the Moon
  • This War of Mine
  • Undertale
  • The Walking Dead

December 29th 6pm GMT/10am PT

The 'Best Use Of A Farm Animal' Award 

  • ARK: Survival Evolved
  • Blood and Bacon
  • Farming Simulator 17
  • Goat Simulator
  • Stardew Valley

Community-created awards

December 30th 6pm GMT/10am PT

The 'Boom Boom' Award

  • BroForce
  • DOOM
  • Just Cause 3
  • Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes
  • Kerbal Space Program

 The 'Love/Hate Relationship' Award 

  • Dark Souls III
  • Darkest Dungeon
  • Dota 2
  • Geometry Dash
  • Super Meat Boy

 The 'Sit Back and Relax' Award

  • ABZU
  • Cities Skylines
  • Euro Truck Simulator 2
  • Mini Metro
  • Virid

The 'Better With Friends' Award

  • Don’t Starve Together
  • Gang Beasts
  • Golf With Your Friends
  • Left 4 Dead 2
  • Magicka

Over to Valve for the awards' voting rules: 

"Every day, from December 22nd to December 29th, starting at 10 AM Pacific [6pm GMT and everything in between], a new category will be available for voting. Each category will only be open for voting for 24 hours before moving onto the next category, so be sure to check in every day to vote. 

"All four write-in categories will be voted on simultaneously on December 30th. On New Year’s Eve, the winners will be announced and we can bask in the collective glory of the 2016 Steam Award Winners."

Joe Donnelly
Deputy Editor, PC Gaming Show