It’s January again. That means not only that we have to get used to writing in 2021 from now on, but also that the The winners of the Steam Awards 2020 have been announced. And there are a few exciting surprises! We introduce you to all the winners in the ten categories.
You can also jump right here to the titles that are of particular interest to you:
These are the winners of the Steam Awards 2020
On January 3, 2021, Valve announced the winners of all ten categories of the Steam Awards. Five games were nominated.
Game of the year 2020
Sieger: Red Dead Redemption 2
The open-world masterpiece by Rockstar wins the title of the best Steam game of 2020. And although Red Dead Redemption 2 only slipped a hair’s breadth into the nominations, it was released in late 2019 after a month of exclusive on Epic was available. And the start was anything but smooth.
First of all there was a lot of criticism in the user reviews: bugs, crashes, unclean PC port – at times almost half of the reviews were negative. But Red Dead Redemption 2 managed to reconcile the Steam players and is now very good with more than 100,000 reviews. Throughout the year, it appeared again and again in the weekly bestsellers, not least thanks to Red Dead Online.
The indie hit Hades missed the title, but is the winner of the hearts: The roguelike from Supergiant is proud to be number 1 of the best-rated Steam games 2020.
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Most Popular Steam Games 2020: Indies Beat Blockbusters
Nominated: Hades, Doom Eternal, Fall Guys, Death Stranding
VR game of the year 2020
Sieger: Half-Life: Alyx
Okay, if you are seriously surprised by the winner in this category, please raise your hand. Nobody? We thought. After all, Half-Life: Alyx has set new standards for virtual reality and convinced many players of the relatively new technology in the first place. There are already mods that transport the shooter to normal PCs, but the immersion is largely lost – and that’s what makes Half-Life: Alyx so special.
The players even liked it so much that most of Valve have since forgiven that the new part of the series was only released for VR.
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My first time: You don’t care about VR until you try it out
Nominated: Phasmophobia, The Room: A Dark Matter, Thief Simulator VR, Star Wars: Squadrons
Work of love 2020
Sieger: Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
Anyone expecting particularly romantic games in this category should be quite surprised by the winner. Counter-Strike: Global Offensive has of course not mutated into a dating simulator in 2020. Rather, it is about which game has received a lot of attention (read, updates) from the developers. And that’s where CS: GO really stands out: The shooter has been around for eight years. During this time it has changed a lot – the new content for the season “Broken Fang” even drove CS: GO into the Steam bestseller.
No Man’s Sky deserved the win too. After a catastrophic launch, it quickly died for many. But the space game fought its way back to life from the grave it had dug itself, with update after update it always went a little further. In the meantime, No Man’s Sky has saved its reputation and can look forward to an active fan community.
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No Man’s Sky test: Reward for 4 years of work
Nominated: Among Us, Terraria, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, No Man’s Sky
Better with friends 2020
Sieger: Fall Guys Ultimate Knockout
Anyone who stopped by Twitch in 2020 is guaranteed not to have missed Fall Guys. The cute Battle Royale was inspired by game shows such as Takeshi’s Castle and captured the hearts of hundreds of thousands of fans with its simple, but extremely fun game principle. And precisely because you can push your friends off platforms without a guilty conscience, it plays better together than alone. Teamwork is not always everything.
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Fall guys: why the battle royale party is going through the roof
Nominated: Sea of Thieves, Borderlands 3, Deep Rock Galactic, Risk of Rain 2
Innovativstes Gameplay 2020
Winner: Death Stranding
The winner in this category should cause heated discussions: For some, Death Stranding is a unique, ingenious revelation. For others, it’s a glorified walking simulator. All the more interesting that the Steam players chose this title as the winner, even though serious competition such as teardown and superliminal was nominated.
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Death Stranding in the test – is the PS4 hit also convincing on the PC?
Nominated: Control, Superliminal, Witch, Teardown
Outstanding game with a deep story 2020
Sieger: Red Dead Redemption 2
Arthur Morgan’s story takes a long time – too much for some players who would rather see more action. But apparently Red Dead Redemption 2 hit exactly the right nerve with most of them and snatches another price from under the nose of the strong competition.
Mafia bosses, suffering androids and two radically different post-apocalypses – each of the nominated games tells a completely different kind of story. But in the end, the Wild West puts them all in the saddlebag.
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Tips & guides to play through RDR2 completely
Nominated: Detroit: Become Human, Mafia: Definitive Edition, Metro Exodus, Horizon Zero Dawn
Best game you are bad at 2020
Winner: Apex Legends
We are a little surprised that Doom Eternal with its nightmare mode was not nominated here. But well, this category is meant with a twinkle in the eye anyway. The winner is called Apex Legends and 2020 had a very successful year. The 7th season started in November, bringing a new map and the first vehicle to the Battle Royale.
Actually, Paradox could easily have secured the price with Crusader Kings 3. After all, in the intellectual predecessor EU4 you are still considered a complete beginner with a hundred hours of play. But no, in 2020 the developers released the strategy forge’s most accessible game to date. Well, you have it now.
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Test: Is Crusader Kings 3 the dream strategy you are hoping for?
Nominated: Crusader Kings 3, Ghostrunner, FIFA 21, GTFO
Outstanding Visual Style 2020
Sieger: Ori and the Will of the Wisps
In the most beautiful Steam game of 2020, the melancholy, painterly style of Ori 2 prevails against its competitors, who almost all rely on much more realism. Except there is no game. This relies on confusing us bottomlessly and making us laugh again and again with its wild parodies. Brave, but the world of the small forest creature is just beautiful to fall in love with and most Steam players saw it too. Heiko explains why you should definitely play Ori 2 in the test:
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Ori and the Will of the Wisps im Test
Nominated: Battlefield 5, There is no Game, Marvel’s Avengers, Black Mesa: Definitive Edition
Bester Soundtrack 2020
Sieger: Doom Eternal
Doom Eternal owes this award primarily to a music veteran who has since turned his back on the game: Mick Gordon, who has already composed for the Doom predecessors, Need for Speed, Wolfenstein and Prey. His bombastic soundtrack makes the demons twice as fun, drives us breathlessly and stays in our ears long after the game is over. But even more dramatic than the music is the dispute that broke out between Gordon and developer id Software:
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Doom Eternal: The Soundtrack Controversy
Nominated: Halo (MCC), Helltaker, Need for Speed Deluxe Edition, Persona 4 Golden
Sit back and relax 2020
Winner: The Sims 4
After a hard day at work, many Steam players prefer to throw in The Sims 4 to relax. Perhaps the special circumstances of the Corona year 2020 also contributed to the popularity of the simulation – at least virtually, we could meet neighbors, visit friends and celebrate parties. EA provides The Sims 4 with new expansions again and again, but does not always meet the taste of the players. The Star Wars DLC, for example, was heavily criticized by many because they would much rather see features that were taken for granted in its predecessors. For example babies you can interact with.
Nevertheless, Sims 4 prevails against all competitors. At the latest in the next part of the cult series, the developers should fulfill some wishes, otherwise The Sims 5 could have a difficult time. Geraldine explains in her column what needs to be improved in the future:
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Why the Sims 5 will have a hard time
Nominated: Flight Simulator, Satisfactory, Untitled Goose Game, Factorio
This is how the Steam Awards are presented
The platform operator Valve selects five games from the community’s nominations, which in turn are then approved for voting. Steam accounts can vote every day and receive trading cards and badges in return. The winning games receive a trophy that they can display on their shop page.
Different picture than the top rated games: It’s exciting to see how different the 2020 Steam Awards winners are from the top rated Steam games. While big blockbusters are clearly ahead of the game when it comes to Valve prices, smaller indies easily outperform all of the better-known titles.
Of course, this is partly due to the pre-selection that Valve makes by selecting the nominees. Another reason is probably that blockbusters have a higher total number of fans, even if the percentage of dissatisfied is higher.
What are your winners in the 2020 Steam games? Do you agree with the awards or do you miss a particular game in them? Let us know in the comments!
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